3/5/2015 China has an ISIS problem

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A N A L Y S I S

(Illustration by Sarah Eberspacher | Photos courtesyGetty Images)

China has an ISISproblem

Kyle Mizokami

March 2, 2015

S even Chinese nationals wererecently detained in Turkeyas they attempted to enterSyria. The Chinese, described

as hailing from the traditionally Muslimprovince of Xinjiang, were detained byborder guards.

The incident has highlighted China'sgrowing problem with its own Muslimminority. Chinese officials are worriedradicalized Uighurs traveling abroad totrain and fight will return with skillsthat could bolster China's domesticinsurgency.

This is a small problem that will becomea much bigger problem in the nearfuture. 

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Xinjiang Autonomous Region is China'swesternmost territory. Twice as large asTexas, it was incorporated into China inthe 18th century. The Uighur people,the traditional dominant ethnic group,are Central Asians of Turkic origin andpredominantly Muslim. 

They are also unhappy. Since 1955, theChinese government has ran asettlement program for other Chinese— particularly Han Chinese — tomigrate to Xinjiang. Native Uighurs feeltheir homeland is being colonized byoutsiders, their culture is now theminority and there are fewer economicopportunities for them as there are forrecent arrivals. Uighurs have also feltpressure on their Muslim faith.

The result has been a growing Uighurinsurgency that has allegedly carried outterrorist attacks not only in Xinjiang butthe rest of China. The Chinesegovernment blames Uighur terroristsnot only for attacks against HanChinese and government facilitieswithin Xinjiang and also an attack inBeijing's Tiananmen Square in October2013 and a mass knife attack atKunming train station that killed 29 andleft 140 injured. China claims the EastTurkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) isresponsible, a radical group thatadvocates an independent EastTurkestan incorporating part ofXinjiang.

Chinese Uighurs have been goingabroad to train and fight. Aspiring

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jihadis travel overland to Vietnam orThailand, then on to the Middle East.More than 800 have been stopped inVietnam in one year alone. China haseven set up a special police unitnicknamed “4.29” to stop humantraffickers in southern border statesneighboring Southeast Asia.

Chinese Jihadists were first reported inSyria in 2012, and in September of lastyear one was captured by the Iraqimilitary. China's state-run tabloidGlobal Times reported in December that300 Chinese nationals were fighting inIraq and Syria. In 2014, Islamic Stateleader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi criticizedChinese rule in Xinjiang and askedBeijing's Muslims to pledge allegiance tohim instead. 

Chinese jihadists aren't just traveling tothe Middle East. Last year an Israeliforeign policy analyst warned a Chinesedelegation to Israel that 1,000 jihadiswere training at a Pakistani militarybase. Chinese have also been detained inIndonesia seeking out extremist Islamicgroups. 

The insurgency in Xinjiang, bolsteredwith ex-former fighters, would make theChinese government's job of pacifyingthe region much harder. The prospect ofhaving to face returned fighters withmilitary experience and training inlaying improvised explosive device andsuicide attacks is deeply concerning toBeijing.

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The jihadist movement represents amajor challenge to China's CommunistParty rule. Terrorist attacks strike at oneof the Party's core mandates, thepreservation of order. It also cutsagainst the Party's survival instincts: thegovernment worries such attacks wouldshow that rebellion against thegovernment is possible, even violentrebellion, and encourage other groupswith grievances to push back againstParty rule.

In addition to attacks inside Xinjiangand throughout the rest of China,jihadists are well positioned to conductattacks against China's energyinfrastructure. Much of China's naturalgas — which the government plans tomore than double in an attempt tocombat pollution — passes throughXinjiang on its way from Central Asia.Attacks on natural gas pipelines andfacilities could have a negative impacton China's economic growth.

China's response to this problem hasbeen ham-handed. A recent call byChinese leader Xi Jinping to increaseeconomic opportunity for Uighurs isprobably too little, too late. Thegovernment instituted bans on beardsand veils on city buses in Xinjiang, amove that could only further alienatethe general population. China's statemedia has stepped up reports thatUighurs traveling to the Islamic Statehave been used as cannon fodder, orexecuted for desertion.

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The Chinese government is completelyopposed to all of the insurgents'demands and even if it wasn't,negotiations with jihadists seldom gowell. China's crackdown on Uighurs isonly adding fuel to the revolt, and theincreasing number of extremistmovements worldwide means greateropportunity to fall in with radicals.China's ISIS problem is not going awayany time soon.

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