Story of Bin Laden a tale of pure fiction
Su Yang  Updated: 2004-10-22 09:57

One of yesterday's top stories on Sina, one of the most popular news websites in China, was the Foreign Ministry's response to a story about Osama Bin Laden.

When asked about a British journalist's recent report that Osama Bin Laden was hiding in western China, Zhang Qiyue was quoted as saying: "I do not know what he has based the story upon, but it is irresponsible. I can say in clear terms that Bin Laden is not in China."

Were it not for such an outlandish question at the widely covered press conference, most Chinese people would not know there had even been these suggestions about the whereabouts of the al-Qaida chief.

Carried in the Spanish newspaper El Mundo on October 13, the story by Gordon Thomas described Bin Laden's current situation in detail, and even went as far as to claim that the Chinese Government had allowed him to stay in this country to keep stability in a region where Chinese Muslims live.

Ever since Bin Laden became the most wanted terrorist of the United States, stories about his hiding have been flying around.

When Thomas wrote his story, he seemed to invite the readers to believe that Chinese Muslims live in an independent kingdom full of bombs, murder and other violence. The Chinese Government, he implied, is so incapable of controlling the region that it has to seek assistance from a powerful figure among Muslims.

Anyone with any knowledge at all of China's real situation would laugh at a description so vastly far from reality.

In fact, violence and incidents of terrorism that do happen in the country's western or Muslim regions are themselves related to the al-Qaida terrorist organization, directly or indirectly.

China, like many other countries, has also been hurt by terrorism. It will make every effort to keep Bin Laden and his followers out of the country, rather than play host to him.

As well as making an error of judgment in China's fundamental stance on terrorism, Thomas's report is full of "quotes" and "facts." None of them lead to any inferences made with common sense.

The report should be carried in the fiction section, which allows flights of fantasy rather than hard facts.

(China Daily)

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