After days of silence on the issue, the Chinese government is now claiming an alleged attempt to crash a China Southern flight from Urumqi to Beijing earlier this month was the work of Uighur separatists. From the Associated Press:
A male suspect confessed to masterminding the plot to crash the China Southern flight on March 7, the Xinhua News Agency reported, citing Xinjiang’s Communist Party Secretary Wang Lequan.
The failed plot was part of a terror campaign to turn Xinjiang into an independent nation called East Turkestan, the news agency reported.
“According to the investigation, it is now clear that this is a serious sabotage activity carried out by East Turkestan splittists outside of China,” Wang said in comments published separately on a provincial government news Web site.
