China wants detainees if Gitmo closes

BEIJING, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman says his country wants all Chinese terror suspects being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, repatriated if the U.S. site closes.

Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said if U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's administration decides to close the U.S. military detention center in Cuba, all Chinese suspects should be sent to China, the China Daily said Wednesday.

"The Chinese government has always called for the early repatriation of Chinese terrorist suspects and firmly opposes any country accepting them," Qin said Tuesday.

"These terror suspects are members of the Eastern Turkestan Islamic Movement, which has been listed as a terrorist organization by the United Nations," he added.

Obama has plans to close down U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay's detention facility once he assumes office on Jan. 20, 2009. Six European countries have suggested resettling some of the site's detainees as a show of support for the new U.S. president, the Daily said.

Since the military site opened in 2002, it has housed more than 750 international suspects and has been the focus of allegations of human rights violations.