When the US and China discuss cooperating against Islamic State (IS) later this month, the most prominent outcome is likely to be less criticism of each other’s anti-terrorism policies.
Both countries have signaled that US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) will discuss the issue when they meet on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Beijing.
Cooperation like sharing intelligence will be difficult and China will not commit troops or weapons, but simply seeing eye-to-eye on the problem of Islamic State — the Sunni extremist group formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) — can pay political dividends, experts and diplomats say, as the US launches air strikes against the militants in Iraq and Syria, while China faces condemnation of its hardline tactics in its Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
“You’re mostly likely to see China sit back and not criticize the United States. That is what cooperation looks like,” said Philip Potter, an assistant professor at the University of Virginia who studies global terrorism.
In return, Beijing would value more recognition from Washington of what Chinese authorities say is the threat of militant Islamic separatists in the western Xinjiang area.
China charges that a group called the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) is seeking to set up a separate state in Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur ethnic minority.
Rights groups and Uighur exiles dispute the extent of the ETIM threat, and argue that economic marginalization of Uighurs is one of the main causes of violence there.
Washington deemed ETIM a terrorist organization in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the US, but a few officials have privately questioned the extent of the organizations influence in Xinjiang.
However, some experts note that the US’ rhetoric on the movement may be swinging back in favor of Beijing.
“The United States stands by its decision to designate ETIM a terrorist organization by executive order in 2002. Furthermore, we support the UN designation of ETIM,” US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel told reporters.
Still, Russel said that Chinese government measures in Xinjiang “stoke discontent” and dismissed the idea that there was a shift to lend Beijing’s policies more credence in return for China criticizing US operations in Syria in Iraq less.
“I reject the implicit premise that there’s a quid pro quo for China’s cooperation against ISIL. We believe China should continue and expand its contributions to the international efforts against ISIL because it is in China’s interest to do so,” Russel said.
China has significant energy interests in Iraq and its state media has reported that militants from Xinjiang have sought training from Islamic State fighters for attacks at home.
It has offered humanitarian and reconstruction assistance in Iraq, pledges not lost on the US.
Nevertheless, Beijing has often pressed Washington to abandon “double standards” when it comes to combating extremists.
“The fight against ETIM is a component of the global fight against terrorism. We hope for the support of the international community,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Hong Lei (洪磊) told reporters on Thursday.
Beyond that, China has been vague in public about what it hopes for in cooperation with the US.
Asked if it would work with the US to limit financial transactions by militant groups, Hong said China wanted to treat the “cause and symptoms of terrorism.”
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