Al-Qaeda declares war on China. The Diplomat.

Ayman Al-Zawahir. The Diplomat/Andres Perez. 

In their new English language magazine, Resurgence, Al-Qaeda seems to be calling for war against China. The Diplomat. Al-Qaeda argues that the Muslim area of Xinjaing has been brutally suppressed by Beijing and the Han Chinese majority. In one article, "10 facts about East Turkistan", Al-Qaeda's name for Xinjaing, they list their grievances and accuse Beijing of various crimes including murdering Muslims and banning the teaching of the Koran. Elsewhere in the magazine Al-Qaeda claims that China will be dealt a deathblow along with America, Iran, and Russia. The threats come after ISIS made similar complaints and threats against China recently, and Al-Qaeda's deceleration is widely seen as a competitive response to ISIS. Although there has been a large spike of domestic terrorism from China's Uyghur Muslims, the declaration is largely seen as a desperate attempt for Al-Qaeda to stay relevant.

My Comment:

The article is right. Al-Qaeda is desperate. ISIS has completely overshadowed them and their funding and recruits are drying up. The Uyghur Muslims are not the answer for Al-Qaeda since none of them speak English and they are so far under China's boot that they can't mount anything but token resistance. They have and will continue to be a problem for China but there is no way that the will be able to pull off a 9/11 style attack on China. 

As for China, expect them to be even more brutal to the Uyghur Muslims then they are already. The Uyghur's are already second class citizens but if they were to pull off a major terror attack or start an insurgency they would be utterly destroyed by China's massive and experienced internal security forces. Terrorism generally requires a free society, access to arms, and are greatly hampered by extreme governments like China. China is also a homogeneous society where any foreign fighters would stick out like a sore thumb. In short, China is a very difficult place to pull off a terror attack more sophisticated then a bunch of people grabbing knifes and rocks.