The fall of the Bashar al-Assad Regime in Syria has revived the Uyghur crisis in China. Since the victory of the rebel forces in the Syrian Civil War on December 8, 2024, the Uyghur Muslims have targeted Beijing, announcing that they would break the Asian nation to create Free East Turkistan! The Red Army has rightly realised the gravity of the situation and started counter-attacking the rebels. Political analysts are of the opinion that a bloody civil war may also begin in China at any time.

After the fall of the al-Assad Regime in Damascus, the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) directly threatened Beijing, saying that they would break China to create a new country. It may be noted that TIP played an important role in the fall of the former Syrian President. The Syrian rebels consider China as an enemy because of the Xi Jinping Administration‘s brutal persecution of Uyghur Muslims. Uyghur fighters, who lead the TIP, are ready to wage a war against the Asian Giant.

Islam plays an important role in Uyghur culture and identity, as an estimated 80% of Uyghurs live in Xinjiang Province of China. From religious practices to food habits, Beijing has reportedly taken away all their freedoms. Uyghurs are being transferred to camps of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) for staging protests. The PLA has allegedly demolished a number of mosques in Xinjiang and rebuilt them in the style of ancient Chinese culture. Forced conversions, detention without trial or executions, too, have made life miserable for the Uyghurs.

In such a situation, TIP released a video, threatening Beijing, immediately after the fall of the al-Assad Regime in Syria. The armed rebel outfit announced that it would launch a jihad in Kashgar, Ürümqi, Aksu and other major cities of Xinjiang. This war would continue until the formation of a separate country for the Uyghurs within China. The Telegraph reported that many Syrian rebels fled Xinjiang in the past. Now, they have decided to return to China. Abdul Haq al-Turkistani, a Uyghur Islamic militant who leads the TIP, has stressed on the liberation of East Turkistan from China. Interestingly, he has been active in Syria for more than a decade.

Although the distance between Syria and China is several thousand miles, defence experts are seriously considering the threat of TIP as a real danger for Beijing. They believe that Uyghur rebels can carry out suicide attacks inside China. According to analysts, the US may help TIP to create troubles for the Asian Giant as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has always provided foreign rebels with financial aid and weapons to destabilise any country. Hence, it would not be impossible for the Uyghurs to create a civil war-like situation in major Chinese industrial hubs or in Xinjiang.

China has become quite stronger, both financially and militarily, in recent times. As a result, the Asian Dragon has started challenging the US on various issues. Hence, the Pentagon may hand over deadly weapons to the TIP in order to destabilise China. Even before taking charge as the 47th US President, Donald John Trump has threatened to launch a tariff war against the Asian Powerhouse, announcing that he would impose huge tariffs on all goods imported from Beijing. It seems that the veteran Republican leader has prepared a policy to damage the Chinese foreign trade. Experts have opined that the upcoming Trump Administration would make major changes in the US’ China policy. Apart from waging a tariff war, the US may also try to weaken China from within with the help of TIP!

The US made an attempt to weaken Russia by imposing economic sanctions (on Moscow) after the beginning of the Ukraine War in February 2022, but failed. As Russia maintains cordial ties with China, Washington DC would try to corner the Asian nation. US Secretary of State Antony John Blinken has admitted that the US has been in contact with Syrian rebel leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani and his Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) outfit since the fall of the al-Assad Regime. Similarly, the CIA or the Pentagon may also establish contact with the TIP leaders. The US may even use Pakistan to strengthen Uyghur rebels as the relation between Islamabad and Beijing has touched a new low over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). It would not be possible for a weak China to counter the dominance of the US in Southeast Asia and other parts of the globe.

Meanwhile, China has responded to the Uyghur issue, stating that the TIP would have to suffer badly, if it wants to destabilise the country. One has to wait to see whether the Uyghur issue would break China into pieces in the future.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das