nsnbc : Up to 5,000 ethnic Uighur from China’s Xinjiang province are fighting in various militant groups in Syria, said Imad Moustapha, Syria’s ambassador to the Chinese capital Beijing. Moustapha added that the government in Beijing should be extremely concerned about this. Militant Uighur have been linked to a cohort of terrorist attacks throughout Asia as well.
The central government of the People’s Republic of China has long been concerned about the radicalization of ethic Uighur; A predominantly Muslim, Turkic language speaking group in China’s Xinjiang province. Ambassador Imad Moustapha noted that many Uighur who have been attracted by radical Islamist ideology have travelled to Syria illegally via Southeast Asia and Turkey.
The majority of those who have arrived in Syria are believed to have joined the ranks of the self-proclaimed Islamic State (a.k.a. ISIS, ISIL, Daesh, etc.). Attempts to bring the armed struggle and terrorism to Xinjiang has since 2015 resulted in hundreds of death in the province. The majority of the population in Xinjiang province are han Chinese. The central government in Beijing blames the unrest in the province on Islamist militants who want to establish a separate state called East Turkestan.
The situation in Xinjiang province is complex and multi faceted. Several Uighur civil society organizations and NGOs have legitimate grievances with regard to their minority rights in China and in Xinjiang province. The support of a number of such NGOs by foreign sponsors, especially U.S.-based sponsors has on the other hand led to attempts to delegitimize legitimate grievances and such NGOs as “foreign agents”.
This, as well as the fact that militant Uighur have joined the ranks of the Islamic State also helps Beijing with delegitimizing otherwise peaceful NGOs and civil society organizations. Rights groups and Uighur exiles say many Uighurs have fled to Turkey simply to escape Chinese repression at home, accusations Beijing denies.
That said, ambassador Moustapha said China did not pick favorites with rebel groups, like Western countries, and China and Syria were cooperating to fight the threat. he added that the Chinese government does not have “mixed messages” and that “They (members of the government of China) understand the true nature of the ultra-Islamic jihadi doctrine of these groups. Yes, we do exchange information and a little bit more than information regarding these terrorist groups.”
While Uighur NGOs and civil society organizations complain about the lack of rights and recognition, the government in Beijing claims that religious freedom in Xinjiang province is “unprecedented” and that Beijing opposes “foreign meddling”. Uighur with links to the Islamic State and according to some analysts Turkish intelligence networks and Turkey’s notorious Hizbullah (the Islamist version of Turkey’s notorious Grey Wolves), have been involved in a number of terrorist attacks in Malaysia, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries.
CH/L – nsnbc 09.05.2017
Source Article from https://nsnbc.me/2017/05/09/5000-chinese-uighurs-joined-islamist-insurgents-in-syria/
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