Characteristics Of Contemporary Terrorist Attacks And China's Countermeasures

Contemporary Terrorist Attacks,by definition,are purposeful acts of violence or threats to use violence directly against non-combat targets and vital facilities in urban areas when people and infrastructure are concentrated,in order to create an atmosphere of terror in society for attention,and to threaten the government or society for certain political goals.In terms of targets of attacks,soft targets such as unprotected commercial sites and civilians are main targets,while urban lifelines,such as systems of communication,transport and water-supply are also potential targets.As to forms of attacks,in order to cause large-scale casualties,armed attacks and explosions are the preferred methods for terrorists,while suicide bombing incidents are rapidly on the rise with their low costs and high efficiency.With regard to strategies of attacks,in order to raise chance of success and amplify the impact on society,terrorists often adopt tactics of launching attacks at multiple locations simultaneously.The trend of “localized” and “grass-roots” terrorist attacks is increasingly evident,and “lone wolf” terrorist attacks have become a major threat to urban security.Terrorist organizations opt for “maximization of terror atmosphere”instead of the previous pursuit of “maximization of symbolic values”,and in consequence,terrorist attacks now intend to be more deadly and cold-blooded,with the dangers of terrorism more elevated than before.The terrorist threats China is currently faced with are mainly twofold: on the one hand,terrorist activities are rampant in China's surrounding countries,with their numerous terrorist organizations,and wide spread of extreme ideologies,which makes it more convenient for cross-border flow of terrorists and infiltration ofextreme ideologies;on the other hand,domestic terrorism has expanded from southern Xinjiang to its northern part,and even to mid-eastern China,which increases anti-terrorism pressure in major cities of those areas.In recent years,the number and intensity of terrorist attacks in China are on the rise.Soft targets are major targets,but attacks on hard targets have also increased.Means of attacks are usually explosives and cold weapons,while lately suicide attacks have occurred more than once.The trend of localization of terrorism is manifest,and the feature of internal and external collusion is distinct.The emphasis of anti-terrorism is on prevention,so this thesis proposes China should build “four lines of defense” against terrorism,namely,overseas defense line,border defense line,inter-provincial defense line and key areas defense line.The first two are based on cooperation among countries,wherein the establishment of an information exchange and sharing mechanism is most important,and cooperation should be facilitated in the model of “platform plus mechanism” to avoid “empty shell” cooperation.The latter two are mainly based on domestic anti-terrorism needs,which should be promoted in the model of “government plus grassroots”,wherein grass-roots organizations and the masses are the core force.