Bangkok bomb linked to East Turkestan Islamic Movement, as Chinese media stops downplaying issue due to sensitivities over Uygurs

A state-run publication has linked the Bangkok blast that killed at least six Chinese last month to the East Turkestan Islamic Movement - ending a period in which mainland media downplayed the incident due to its links with the Uygur minority.

Global Times said on Wednesday the bomb attack might have been plotted by the ETIM as revenge against Thailand's cooperation with China in deporting more than 100 Uygurs in July.

The report follows a period of low-profile coverage about the incident. Journalists from three mainland news organisations said they had been told this month not to follow up developments, due to sensitivities surrounding the Uygurs.

The report, citing unnamed Chinese officials, came after Thai police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri confirmed that the alleged bomber, Yusufu Mieraili, held a genuine Chinese passport. However, the travel document belonging to another suspect, who identified himself as Adem Karadak from Turkey, was false.

The report said Mieraili had left China in 2013, and described the attack as an "organised crime". It said the suspects arrested by Thai authorities were not all mainland passport holders.

Mainland journalists said the incident was sensitive, but it was not clear whether there was a gag order from propaganda officials or if they were self-censoring.

READ MORE: Thailand arrests ‘main suspect’

Xu Liping , a professor of Southeast Asian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Beijing had played down the incident fearing the blast might hinder its counterterrorism work with other countries.

"There is no doubt that links between the blast and the repatriation of Uygurs is the last thing Beijing wants to see," Xu said.

He was referring to Thai authorities' deportation of more than a hundred Uygurs in July. The move has already prompted protests against the Thai embassy in Turkey, where many feel affinity with Uygurs.

If the blast turned out to be revenge for this, Xu said, other countries would have second thoughts about helping Beijing repatriate Uygurs.

Beijing would also hate its citizens to think they had become a target of terrorists abroad due to its counterterrorism operations, said Raffaello Pantucci, from Britain's Royal United Services Institute. "The public will start to question - hang on, what have you [authorities] been doing, you are not protecting us."

And if the middle class started to think the government's actions were putting them at risk on holiday, it would be "worrying for Beijing in a real way", he said.

Additional reporting by Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Kyodo