The Uighurs in Post-Assad Syria

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/syria-assad-hts-china-future/

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3291393/syria-xinjiang-link-china-warns-leaders-damascus-not-threaten-security-elsewhere

Foreign Policy magazine and The Economist have articles on this topic but due to firewalls there's little point in linking them.

Instead I'm linking this piece from (of all places) The Atlantic Council. It's biased to be sure (and even misleading at points) but given that it's readership is a little more high-brow, it's intelligent and touches on things that an AP story, let alone something from CNN or CBS wouldn't even address.

This larger story of the Uighurs in Syria receives very little attention in the Western press and makes even less of an impression on the Western mind. However this story is not only sure to pique the interest of Beijing - it's likely to stoke fear. These Uighur fighters are linked to al Qaeda - and if you can look past the smoke and mirrors it's clear they have a political affiliate based in Washington DC - a point the corporate/Establishment press will be careful to obfuscate.

Beijing knows all this and this is why it launched its oppressive campaign in Xinjiang in the 2010's. Beijing has attempted to create a situation in which groups like the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) will not be able to find a means of gaining a foothold in Xinjiang. The aforementioned smoke and mirrors refers in part to the fact that the TIP has in the past overlapped with the ETIM (East Turkestan Independence Movement) - which the US removed from terrorist designation and the organisation (it is argued) no longer exists. Others would say it's very simple - ETIM is TIP. That's Beijing's contention. And both are al Qaeda - supported by the United States.

To add to the confusion there is ETNAM (East Turkestan National Awakening Movement) and the East Turkestan Government in Exile - both of which are based in Washington. It has been argued these entities relate to the ETIM (or TIP) in a way analogous to how Sinn Fein was related to the IRA during The Troubles.

The article does touch on some of the now forgotten (or deliberately forgotten) incidents from the 2000's and 2010's that led to Beijing's paranoia regarding Xinjiang and its clampdown on the people there. China was beset by protests and not only in Xinjiang but also in Tibet and much of the rest of China. It was the hope of US strategic thinkers that China would face a crisis by the 2010's which would lead to mass protests and demonstrations which in turn would bring down the CCP regime. Instead, the CCP installed Xi Jinping and under his leadership, China took an authoritarian turn - clamping down on not only protests in the heartland, but in the periphery. Tibet and Xinjiang felt the boot of Beijing on their necks as did the growing resistance in Hong Kong. And in response to financial pressures, Xi turned outward and China started down the road of capitalist imperialism - bringing us to the new Cold War of today.

But Xi and the Beijing Establishment have not forgotten about the Uighurs abroad who have attacked Chinese interests in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. They are also aware of their clandestine backing from both Ankara and Washington. And Beijing has long looked askance at their presence in Central Asia - right next door to Xinjiang or old Chinese Turkestan as it was once known.

The Uighur Salafists in Syria (again, affiliates of al Qaeda) have been very transparent about their desire to use their acquired skills and weaponry to return to Xinjiang and fight CCP rule. You can be sure China has its spies in Syria, Central Asia, and in Washington watching for signs of movement. The US would love to see turmoil on China's western periphery and for a long time it was assumed that the movement would receive its backing from the US proxy regime in Afghanistan - but that opportunity was lost.

The South China Morning Post story is short on details but it further emphasizes that Beijing is watching the situation in Syria closely.