China Called. They Want Their Terrorists Back...

I have previously advocated that the US send the Chinese Uighurs that it holds in GITMO back to China. Now that the Government has found a home for them on Fantasy Island, the Chinese are demanding that they be sent back to China.

China has demanded the return of 17 Chinese Muslim Uighur detainees held by the United States at Guantanamo Bay.

America should "stop handing over terrorist suspects to any third country," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said.

Palau, a former US Pacific territory which does not recognise China, has agreed to accept the ethnic Uighurs. - BBC

As I mentioned before (here), the last time I checked, China is a Full Member of the United Nations right up to holding a permanent Seat on the UN's Security Council. What happens to the Chinese Uighurs upon their return to China by the US is not our problem. If the Chinese decide to torture the hell out of them, then they would surely be in violation of their commitments to the UN. The issue should be taken up there if the Uighurs end up being mistreated upon their return. Sure it sucks to be them, but if China is really a problem, then they should be confronted about this at the UN. That is why it exists.

The news likes to point out that these Chinese detainees are not 'enemy combatants' and are not dangerous to the US. Problem is, they were not in Afghanistan attending a wedding. They were there getting terrorist training. Just because their target is not the US does not make them harmless. What if they were training to strike France? Would the US still call them not dangerous? China has declared them terrorists. Don't they have a right to get them back? They surely think so.

Beijing says Uighur insurgents are leading an Islamic separatist movement.

China says the 17 due to be sent from Guantanamo to Palau are members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, which is on the United Nations list of terrorist groups.

"China urges the US to implement the UN Security Council's relevant resolutions and its international obligations on counter-terrorism," Mr Qin said. - BBC

If the US does anything with the Uighurs, they should use them as bargining chips, trading them to get the Chinese to turn the screws on North Korea. At any rate, they should go back to China. If China tortures them, it is only our and the UN's fault for not pushing human rights reform more strongly in the past.

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