Chinese nationals 'stop over in Malaysia' on way to Mideast IS battlegrounds

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Chinese nationals 'stop over in Malaysia' on way to Mideast IS battlegrounds

Mainlanders stopping over in SE Asia on way to Mideast battlegrounds

PUBLISHED : Friday, 23 January, 2015, 2:13am
UPDATED : Friday, 23 January, 2015, 2:13am

Kristine Kwok [email protected]



More than 300 Chinese nationals have used Malaysia as a transit point to join up with militant Islamic State forces in the Middle East. Photo: Bloomberg

More than 300 Chinese nationals have used Malaysia as a transit point to join up with militant Islamic State (IS) forces in the Middle East, Kuala Lumpur has revealed as Beijing worries about the domestic risks the recruits pose.

According to Malaysian media reports, the country's home affairs minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, said the Chinese citizens would go to a third country from Malaysia before entering Syria and Iraq.

"Although there exists an arrangement between Malaysia and China to combat terrorism, this problem is serious. This is because ties exist at the international level between terrorists in China and those in other countries in Southeast Asia," Zahid was quoted by Malaysian news agency Bernama as saying.

Zahid reportedly said he was "updated on the issue" by vice-minister of public security Meng Hongwei during a meeting in Malaysia on Wednesday.

Chinese authorities have admitted that some of its citizens have had combat training from IS but have been vague about the number of people. A greater concern for Beijing, many security experts say, is that these citizens may one day return to China and pose domestic security threats.

Malaysia's tally, if accurate, could significantly increase estimates of the number of Chinese IS recruits. In December, state-run tabloid Global Times put the total to make the trip via various countries at about 300.

Chinese media and security experts have claimed that most of the Chinese IS recruits are Uygurs and members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, a separatist group blamed for several terrorist attacks in Xinjiang in western China.

Southeast Asian countries, particularly Malaysia and Indonesia, have become popular transit points for Chinese nationals travelling to jihadist hotspots, according to Rohan Gunaratna, a terrorism expert and head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.

"They used to travel via Pakistan, but more of them are going via Southeast Asia now because Pakistan is working closely with China," Gunaratna said.

Four Uygurs were arrested in Indonesia last year on suspicion of trying to meet the country's most wanted extremist, who had sent followers to IS in Syria.

Gunaratna said that from Southeast Asia, the Chinese citizens would go to Turkey before entering Syria and Iraq. A growing number were taking their families with them to take advantage of financial incentives offered by IS.

Li Wei, director of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations' anti-terrorism research centre, said China would probably share more intelligence with Southeast Asian countries and tighten travel to the region for Chinese Muslims.





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