Al-Qaeda's China problem
Asia Time Online ^ | Feb 27, 2007 | Martin I Wayne
atimes.com
Al-Qaeda has a China problem, and no one is watching. Despite al-Qaeda's significant efforts to support Muslim insurgents in China, Beijing has succeeded in limiting popular support for anti-government violence.
The latest evidence came on January 5, when China raided a terrorist facility in the country's Xinjiang region, near the borders with Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. According to reports, 18 terrorists were killed and 17 were captured, along
with 22 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and material for thousands more.
Chinese reportage on terrorism is notoriously problematic, at times imprecise or simply fabricated. For the skeptics, photos of a policeman killed in the raid were also released, showing emotional relatives amid a sea of People's Armed Police paying their final respects. Ironically, China's ability to kill or capture militants without social blowback demonstrates the significant degree to which it has won the population's "hearts and minds", however grudgingly.
China's successful efforts to keep the global jihad from spreading into its territory present a real challenge for al-Qaeda. The organization reportedly trained more than 1,000 Uighurs, a Turkic ethnic group that is predominantly Muslim, in camps in Afghanistan prior to September 11, 2001. In late December, al-Qaeda's No 2, Ayman al-Zawahiri, called for action against "occupation" governments ruling over Muslims, including reference to the plight of Uighurs in western China.
Yet despite this commitment of resources and rhetorical energy, Uighurs across Xinjiang's social spectrum explain that violent resistance is no longer a viable path. Many in Xinjiang believe that insurgents worsen Uighurs' plight by making the Chinese more fearful, thereby more repressive. Uighurs today increasingly participate in the Chinese system as local government and Communist Party officials, educators, informants and police.
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