3/5/2015

China has an ISIS problem

THE WEEK

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ANALYSIS

China has an ISIS

problem
Kyle Mizokami

(Illustration by Sarah Eberspacher | Photos courtesy

Getty Images)

March 2, 2015

even Chinese nationals were

recently detained in Turkey
as they attempted to enter
Syria. The Chinese, described

as hailing from the traditionally Muslim

province of Xinjiang, were detained by
border guards.
The incident has highlighted China's
growing problem with its own Muslim
minority. Chinese officials are worried
radicalized Uighurs traveling abroad to
train and fight will return with skills
that could bolster China's domestic
insurgency.
This is a small problem that will become
a much bigger problem in the near
future.
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China has an ISIS problem

Xinjiang Autonomous Region is China's

westernmost territory. Twice as large as
Texas, it was incorporated into China in
the 18th century. The Uighur people,
the traditional dominant ethnic group,
are Central Asians of Turkic origin and
predominantly Muslim.
They are also unhappy. Since 1955, the
Chinese government has ran a
settlement program for other Chinese
particularly Han Chinese to
migrate to Xinjiang. Native Uighurs feel
their homeland is being colonized by
outsiders, their culture is now the
minority and there are fewer economic
opportunities for them as there are for
recent arrivals. Uighurs have also felt
pressure on their Muslim faith.
The result has been a growing Uighur
insurgency that has allegedly carried out
terrorist attacks not only in Xinjiang but
the rest of China. The Chinese
government blames Uighur terrorists
not only for attacks against Han
Chinese and government facilities
within Xinjiang and also an attack in
Beijing's Tiananmen Square in October
2013 and a mass knife attack at
Kunming train station that killed 29 and
left 140 injured. China claims the East
Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) is
responsible, a radical group that
advocates an independent East
Turkestan incorporating part of
Xinjiang.
Chinese Uighurs have been going
abroad to train and fight. Aspiring
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China has an ISIS problem

jihadis travel overland to Vietnam or

Thailand, then on to the Middle East.
More than 800 have been stopped in
Vietnam in one year alone. China has
even set up a special police unit
nicknamed 4.29 to stop human
traffickers in southern border states
neighboring Southeast Asia.
Chinese Jihadists were first reported in
Syria in 2012, and in September of last
year one was captured by the Iraqi
military. China's state-run tabloid
Global Times reported in December that
300 Chinese nationals were fighting in
Iraq and Syria. In 2014, Islamic State
leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi criticized
Chinese rule in Xinjiang and asked
Beijing's Muslims to pledge allegiance to
him instead.
Chinese jihadists aren't just traveling to
the Middle East. Last year an Israeli
foreign policy analyst warned a Chinese
delegation to Israel that 1,000 jihadis
were training at a Pakistani military
base. Chinese have also been detained in
Indonesia seeking out extremist Islamic
groups.
The insurgency in Xinjiang, bolstered
with ex-former fighters, would make the
Chinese government's job of pacifying
the region much harder. The prospect of
having to face returned fighters with
military experience andtraining in
laying improvised explosive deviceand
suicide attacks is deeply concerning to
Beijing.
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China has an ISIS problem

The jihadist movement represents a

major challenge to China's Communist
Party rule. Terrorist attacks strike at one
of the Party's core mandates, the
preservation of order. It also cuts
against the Party's survival instincts: the
government worries such attacks would
show that rebellion against the
government is possible, even violent
rebellion, and encourage other groups
with grievances to push back against
Party rule.
In addition to attacks inside Xinjiang
and throughout the rest of China,
jihadists are well positioned to conduct
attacks against China's energy
infrastructure. Much of China's natural
gas which the government plans to
more than double in an attempt to
combat pollution passes through
Xinjiang on its way from Central Asia.
Attacks on natural gas pipelines and
facilities could have a negative impact
on China's economic growth.
China's response to this problem has
been ham-handed. A recent call by
Chinese leader Xi Jinping to increase
economic opportunity for Uighurs is
probably too little, too late. The
government instituted bans on beards
and veils on city buses in Xinjiang, a
move that could only further alienate
the general population. China's state
media has stepped up reports that
Uighurs traveling to the Islamic State
have been used as cannon fodder, or
executed for desertion.
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China has an ISIS problem

The Chinese government is completely

opposed to all of the insurgents'
demands and even if it wasn't,
negotiations with jihadists seldom go
well. China's crackdown on Uighurs is
only adding fuel to the revolt, and the
increasing number of extremist
movements worldwide means greater
opportunity to fall in with radicals.
China's ISIS problem is not going away
any time soon.
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