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Chinese experts called "groundless" a US think tank's report claiming China's policies in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region have driven Chinese Muslims to join the Islamic State (IS).
The Washington DC-based New America Foundation on Wednesday released a report based on leaked registration documents of Islamic State fighters provided by a defector from the jihadist organization, which include 3,500 foreign recruits, among whom 114 came from Xinjiang.
The report said Xinjiang has become one of the main sources of IS fighters due to "significant economic disparities between the ethnic-majority Han Chinese" and the local Uyghur Muslim population, who are "subjected to substantial state repression through restrictions on Islamic practices like growing beards or wearing head coverings."
Pan Zhiping, a research fellow at the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that the report is groundless and illogical since the Chinese government never interferes in normal religious activities in Xinjiang, and both the Han people and Uyghurs enjoy holidays during Ramadan.
Pan said many IS fighters were found to have come from Western countries, including the US, the UK and France. Does it mean "they (the fighters) join the IS because of their governments' repression?" Pan added.
According to the report, 37 fighters were from France, 53 from the UK, 24 from Germany, nine from the US and 194 from Russia.
Li Wei, an expert at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times people coming to Iraq or Syria to join the IS has become a global issue. The UN has urged all countries to intensify efforts to stem the flow of foreigners looking to fight for IS and to prevent and suppress sources of funds for terrorism.
The US' excessive international military intervention is the main reason for the IS' rise, said Li, adding that the US has become a troublemaker rather than a global defender of peace and stability, as the country has been inciting disputes in the South China Sea instead of fighting terrorism in the Middle East.
(GLOBAL TIMES)
