WASHINGTON - Behind a carefully constructed image as a peaceful movement, a Washington DC-based anti-China Uygur separatist group operated a militia-style gun club that trains with ex-US special forces, an independent news website, The Grayzone, has reported.

An investigation by The Grayzone uncovered that the Uygur American Association (UAA) operated the right-wing club and have its members drilled in advanced combat techniques with former members of US special forces who also train private mercenaries and active-duty US servicemen, said an article released by the website on March 31.

The UAA's gun-obsessed subculture was on full display when members of the group and its affiliates drove by a gathering against anti-Asian racism in downtown Washington D.C. on March 21, barking anti-China insults at the demonstrators, said The Grayzone.

It said that the UAA members helped inflame anti-Asian resentment by spreading far-right propaganda referring to COVID-19 as the "Chinese virus" during the pandemic, and groundlessly claimed that China was waging a "virus war" against the world.

The UAA is a US-affiliate of international anti-China separation network which received millions of dollars of funding from the National Endowment for Democracy, a US government-sponsored entity. The current UAA prescient, Kuzzat Altay, has organized several separatist events in collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in recent years, said the website.