China had lodged strong representation with the United States for transferring six terrorist suspects of the "East Turkistan" forces to Palau, said a Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday.

According to the U.S. Justice Department on Saturday, six Chinese Uygur terrorist suspects formerly held at the Guantanamo Bay had been sent to the Pacific island nation of Palau.

"We express strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition to the U.S. side for their transfer of these suspects to the third party in spite of our objections," Ma Zhaoxu said in a statement.

China's position on the Uygur terrorist suspects in Guantanamo is consistent and clear, said Ma.

He said these suspects were members of the "East Turkistan Islamic Movement," a terrorist group on the sanction list of the UN Security Council committee, and should be dealt with according to law by the Chinese side.

He said China demanded the United States to implement relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and the international counter-terrorism obligations, stop transferring these suspects to a third party, and repatriate them back to China as soon as possible.

China also opposed any third country taking these suspects, he added.

The suspects, from China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, were swept up by the United States during the Afghanistan war launched after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

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