HONG KONG—China responded with anger after the U.S. State Department removed from its list of terrorist organizations a largely defunct Uighur separatist group that Beijing partly blames for ethnic tensions in its remote northwest.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ordered the delisting of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, a group that once advocated for an independent state in China’s Xinjiang region, on Oct. 20, according to the latest issue of the Federal Register, published Thursday.
Beijing deplored and rejected the decision, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Friday.
The U.S. “has an ugly two-faced approach toward terrorist organizations,” Mr. Wang said, alleging the Uighur group had a long history of violent activity that posed a threat to China’s national security.
U.S. officials didn’t respond to the criticism from Beijing. A State Department official said Friday that the delisting occurred “because, for more than a decade, there has been no credible evidence that ETIM continues to exist.”
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