Majority believe terrorists seek foreign support: poll

Around 75 percent of respondents consider the major aim of the terrorist attack in Kunming was to create national panic, a Global Times poll revealed on Sunday.

Also, about three-quarters of respondents believe the attack meant to provoke the government right before the country's top parliament meetings are scheduled to kick off on Monday, the poll shows.

The poll, conducted by the Global Times Global Poll Center on Sunday, collected 862 responses from nine cities including Kunming and Urumqi.

Some 56 percent of respondents also thought the attackers want to seek international attention and support.

More than 80 percent of respondents are cautious about China's anti-terrorism situation, with only 14 percent feeling optimistic.

While the attack triggered wide public outrage, many also criticized opinions that tried to find excuses for the crime.

Some called for reflection on social conflicts that "brewed" the violent act, such as the increasing wealth gap, power abuse and inequality in society. They claimed that the attackers must have suffered from miserable experiences that drove them to take revenge.

Others, including online opinion leaders, blamed government policies and the social mechanism, stating that the "soil of evil" in the country has generated "sins."

Similar arguments were slammed by a majority of Net users that support relentless punishment for terrorist attacks that targeted innocent civilians for a political agenda, no matter what "justifiable excuses" they have.

Some major foreign media's attitude of avoiding viewing the incident as a terrorist attack, even calling it an evolving fight against "institutionalized repression," drew criticism.

They apply a double standard on such organized, brutal slaughter of civilians because complicated conflicts of interest with the Chinese government were involved, said observers.

Many also called for a clear distinction between terrorists and the general public in Xinjiang. "To bring up irrational hatred to a certain group or ethnicity is also a major aim of the terrorists and separatists," wrote a Sina Weibo user named Xiaojuwo.