China today termed the killing of Osama bin Laden by US special forces as a "milestone" in the war against terrorism and appealed to the international community to step up cooperation to jointly combat the menace.
In its reaction a day after the al Qaeda chief was eliminated in Abbottabad near Pakistan's capital Islamabad, the Chinese foreign ministry said bin Laden's death was a "milestone and a positive development for the international anti-terrorism efforts."
"China has taken note of the announcement (by US President Barack Obama on Osama's death)," foreign ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu was quoted as saying by official Xinhua news agency.
"Terrorism is the common enemy of the international community. China has also been a victim of terrorism," she said in an apparent reference to the East Turkistan Islamic Movement, a separatist outfit active in the Xinjiang province bordering Pakistan.
Jiang said China has always been opposed to terrorism of all forms and has been actively participating in the global anti-terrorism efforts.
"China upholds that the international community should step up cooperation in working together to fight terrorism," she said.
"China believes that it is necessary to seek both a temporary solution and a permanent cure in fighting terrorism and to make great efforts to eliminate the soil on which terrorism relies to breed," she said.
In its editorial titled "End of bin Laden", state-run China Daily said the existence of various terrorist and extremist groups has posed the biggest security threat for humanity in recent years, casting a dark shadow over people's lives and prompting nations to embrace counter measures and engage in international collaboration.
"The demise of the world's No 1 terrorist could be a heavy blow to international terrorists and extremists, who have long taken bin Laden to be their inspiration," it said.
"Yet, the road to rid the world of the scourge of terror remains arduous and long. Past experience indicates military action alone will not remove the soil in which terrorism grows," it said.
Although international terrorism and extremism take many forms, in the final analysis, they are rooted in the injustice and inequity of the world's economic and political order.
"Needless to say, international efforts to combat terrorism should target these root causes too," the daily said.
"To build on the good momentum ushered in by the US success in bringing bin Laden to justice, stronger commitment, wider consensus and more international cooperation are needed so that progress can be made in the fight against terrorism in the near future," it said.
