Iraqi forces claim to capture first Chinese ISIS militant

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-09-04

The photo of the man, said to be from China, who was captured
by the Iraqi Army. (Internet photo)

Iraqi forces are claiming to have captured a Chinese man fighting for the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the brutal jihadist group that has declared a caliphate in the areas under its control.

Two photos posted on a Facebook page purportedly operated by the Iraqi Ministry of Defence on Sept. 1 show a badly beaten man apparently captured by the Iraqi Army, along with a short message describing the man as a Chinese member of Islamic State.

If authenticated, the photos will be the first evidence of a Chinese national fighting for the extremist Sunni militants, who have already recruited fighters from the UK, Australia and the US.

Neither the Iraqi nor the Chinese government has commented on the matter thus far.

China's special envoy to the Middle East, Wu Sike, has stated that Islamic State may have already recruited as many as 100 Chinese citizens, most of whom belong to the Muslim Uyghur minority from northwest China's restive Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region. Uyghurs have been blamed by the Chinese government for several high-profile organized attacks on police stations and civilians in public places in and out of Xinjiang over the last few years, including a riot late last July which led to more than 100 deaths and 200 arrests, the most violent incident to rock the region since the infamous 2009 riots in the regional capital of Urumqi that left 197 people dead and another 1,700 injured.

In July, Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared in a video that he would seek vengeance against those who take away the rights of Muslims in 20 countries across the world, with China being the first country mentioned. The video made several other references to China and Xinjiang, criticizing Beijing's policy against Muslims in the region and calling on all of China's Muslims to pledge allegiance to Islamic State.

On Aug. 15, Liu Jieyi, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, called upon the international community to strengthen efforts to combat Islamic State, calling the extremist group "a serious threat to peace and security in the Middle East and the world as a whole."

"China is also a victim of terrorism. We strongly oppose all forms of terrorism and will continue to actively participate in international counter-terrorism cooperation and to combat the threat of terrorism together," Liu added.

Hong Kong newspaper Ta Kung Pao said in a commentary that China cannot afford to be under the impression that it won't be affected by the rise of Islamic State, adding that apart from protecting its oil interests in the Middle East and the security of its western border, China can learn a lot from Iraq's failed efforts to contain terrorism.

After the US first carried out airstrikes against Islamic State positions in early August, China's foreign ministry released a statement expressing support for Iraq in safeguarding its sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and efforts to combat terrorism, adding that, with all due respect to Iraq's sovereignty, China is keeping an open attitude about all measures designed to protect Iraq's security and stability.

According to the paper, the statement is a carefully worded one in which China was able to criticize Islamic State and support the US attack, but at the same time stick to Beijing's "non-interference" principle when it comes to the internal affairs of other countries.

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