Terrorism a challenge to civilization that calls for concerted endeavors to counter: China Daily editorial

By attacking a concert hall in a Moscow suburb on Friday night, which has resulted in at least 143 deaths and more than one hundred people being hospitalized for their injuries, the perpetrators have once again exposed to the world how morally low terrorists can be.

Wearing the false mask of "the weak against the strong", terrorist organizations attack only the most vulnerable targets. Often, as in this instance, concertgoers intent on enjoying live music or people going about their daily lives, commuting or shopping.

It's ordinary people that suffer from the cruelty of these cold-blooded killers.

The Chinese government and Chinese people stand in solidarity with the victims and their families at this time. In a statement released on Saturday, the Chinese leader extended his deep condolences to the bereaved families of the victims, and extended his sincere sympathy to the injured.

He emphasized that China opposes all forms of terrorism, strongly condemns terrorist attacks, and firmly supports the Russian government's efforts to maintain national security and stability.

According to the Russian authorities, the four suspected gunmen and seven others have been arrested and are being detained and questioned in Moscow.

The global response to the attack shows that it is a common understanding that nothing can justify such heinous acts.

The United Nations Security Council has condemned "the heinous and cowardly terrorist attack" and called it "reprehensible", while other members of the international society have expressed similar statements of sympathy and outrage.

Despite the complexities of international affairs and the conflicts of interests among countries, it is a consensus of the international community as a whole that terrorism targeted at civilians is intolerable. So even though some countries are at odds with Russia, they have still decried the terrorist attack on Moscow concertgoers on Friday.

This is the right response because terrorism poses a challenge to all countries and people around the world. What happened in Moscow on Friday could happen anywhere at any time. The attack is a reminder that terrorism remains one of the most serious threats to global peace and security, and it requires a unified and resolute response from all nations. The international community must work in close cooperation to ensure that all those responsible are swiftly brought to justice in accordance with international law.

As a major member of the international community and close neighbor with friendly relations with Russia, and a country that has also been the victim of terrorist attacks, China engages in practical cooperation with Russia and other countries on multiple aspects in the fight against the evil forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism.

The nation has joined 12 global counterterrorism conventions and it has played an important role in facilitating joint efforts to promote regional security and stability through agreements such as the Shanghai Convention on Combating Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Member States Agreement on Border Defense Cooperation.

Founded in 2001, the SCO has grown from six member states to a big family of over 20 member states, observers and dialogue partners. As a major political, economic and international security and defense organization, the SCO's counterterrorism mechanism is of great practical importance in the regional approach to fighting terrorism, which is an inherently cross-border threat to countries. The SCO now needs to further strengthen its collective and collaborative counterterrorism capacities.

The terrorist attack in Moscow on Friday is a call of action for all nations to stand together in the fight against extremism and to work tirelessly to prevent such tragedies from occurring in the future.