From a 2018 article by the Al-Mesbar Studies & Research Center that provides some context on the recent rise of a violent jihadist-takfiri strain of Salafism in China:
With the penetration of Global Salafism of the Takfiri and Jihadi strain in the 1990s worldwide, Central Asian Muslims were affected. A tiny minority of China’s Uighur Muslim community in Xinjiang and Uzbekistan’s Uzbekh community joined the global movement led by al Qaeda. The Uighur group known as the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), originated as an ethno-nationalist group, but transformed from a separatist into a politico-religious movement with Salafi orientations in the late 1990s and 2000s. Under al Qaeda’s influence, ETIM embraced Global Salafism fighting not only Eastern but Western Turkistan but beyond. Renamed Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), the group fight side by side with other Salafi groups – al Qaeda, Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Islamic jihad Union, Jabat al Nusra, and the Islamic State.
The vast majority of the Chinese Muslims are Hanafi and Sufi, schools antithetical to Salafism and its virulent strains. Like other countries, China is challenged by the growth of Salafism especially the Jihadist and Takfiri strain.
Today, Muslims worldwide including in China are influenced by the spectrum of Salafist ideologies. Its most virulent strain, Salafi-Jihadi-Takfiri ideology influences a tiny segment of the Uighurs to join TIP and serve in the frontlines of Xinjiang, Pakistan-Afghanistan and Syria-Iraq theatres of conflict. They present a threat to China and beyond. The current threat to China stems from foreign fighters who return with the motivation, skills set and a network to mount attacks. The counter terrorism resources largely focus on suppressing the terrorist groups, not engaging the vulnerable and affected communities.
As TIP needs a constant supply of fighters, its strategy is to train their fighters both in the Afghanistan-Pakistan and Iraq-Syria region and then bring them back to fight the Chinese state. Due to the appeal of the ideology and the lack of an ideological counter weight, jihadist-takfiri ideology continues to spread. As such, the terrorists have been able to replenish their human losses and material wastage. The TIP pace of recruitment outpace Chinese government catch and kill policy. It is paramount that suppressive measures are reinforced with strategies to engage community to disengage from extremism and violence.
Uighur fighters trained by the Islamic State in Iraq have vowed to plant the jihadists’ black flag in China promising that the country will “flow in rivers of blood”.
In a video released on social media and authenticated by the SITE terror monitoring website, the ethnic Uighur fighters in Iraq from western China’s Xinjiang region vow revenge against the country’s communist government in a half-hour long video.
In the footage, which shows the Isis fighters from the majority Muslim ethnic group training, one shot shows an image of Chinese President Xi Jinping followed by a burning Chinese flag.
“Hey, brothers. Today, we are fighting with infidels across the world. I’m telling you this: Don’t be complacent in this. Stay strong,” one of the fighters says, according to Uighur speakers who analysed the video for Reuters.
The Chinese government has expressed concern over Uighurs who have fought for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, travelling illegally to the region via Southeast Asia and Turkey.
From an article that provides further details on the crisis in Xinjiang:
Between 1990 and 2016, the Xinjiang region was shaken by thousands of terrorist attacks traced to the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM).
Other members have fought with al-Qaeda in Syria and other countries “for so-called battle practice” before returning to Xinjiang.
The U.S. has provided ideological support to separatist movements in Xinjiang through various “non-governmental organizations,” like the World Uyghur Congress, an outfit funded by the National Endowment for Democracy, long a front group for U.S. interference in other countries’ affairs.
ETIM was designated a terrorist organization by the United Nations in 2002. It calls for the separation of Xinjiang from the rest of China in order to establish an ultra-right theocratic state. Luring people in with the promise of paradise, the ETIM has assaulted traditional Uyghur culture by forbidding people from making music, drinking wine, singing and dancing, or crying at funerals. ETIM also proclaims that taking out bank loans or allowing women to work and earn money is not permissible, not halal.
Some articles from mainstream publications that acknowledge that the repression in Xinjiang did not reach the level of genocide and also provide pushback against the US State Department narrative:
Gareth Porter and Max Blumenthal provided in-depth coverage of Xinjiang policies and refuted atrocity propaganda from the far-right ideologue Adrian Zenz. Ajit Singh also exposed how the Newlines Institute report relied upon the discredited work of the religious extremist Adrian Zenz (who claimed to be "led by God" against China), the US government propaganda outlet, Radio Free Asia, right-wing US government/NED-funded groups like the World Uyghur Congress, and a collection of right-wing neoconservative regime change activists that include figures like David Kilgour and David Matas, who have ties to the far-right, anti-China Falun Gong cult. The Qiao Collective has an ongoing extensive overview of events and coverage of Xinjiang. Economist Asatar Bair also analyzed Western claims of repression in Xinjiang in a number of detailed threads:
Another common source of Xinjiang atrocity propaganda is the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), which is an organization founded by the Australian government and is funded by the US State Department, the Australian Department of Defense, NATO, and military contractors like Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. ASPI also continues to collaborate with the far-right Israeli Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA), which is notoriously Islamophobic.
There is clearly a crack down on basically anything associated with recent foreign far-right Salafi influence linked to terrorist organizations like the Turkistan Islamic Party/ETIM. This even extends to restrictions against ultra-conservative Salafi customs like burqas, niqab, and full-face veils that are not part of traditional Uyghur culture or Islamic practices. Uyghurs in Xinjiang overwhelmingly practice a moderate form of Sufism and traditionally do not even observe hijab. These types of restrictions against Salafi/Wahhabi practices have also been seen in many Muslim countries including Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Chad, Senegal, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. Imo some of these restrictions and counter-terrorism policies can get repressive and draconian. The more religious aspects of Uyghur society could still be potentially marginalized as a consequence of heavy-handed enforcement of “anti-extremism” measures. The CPC may also potentially face some blowback if they continue to get too overzealous in their counter-terrorism measures (mass surveillance, excessive security check points, and sloppy profiling where they may end up with false positives in re-education/deradicalization centers). So far, there have been no terrorist attacks since 2017.
From a 2018 article by the Al-Mesbar Studies & Research Center that provides some context on the recent rise of a violent jihadist-takfiri strain of Salafism in China:
From an IBTimes article:
In response to a rise in Islamophobic rhetoric on social media in China after some of the terrorist attacks, the Communist Party of China banned Islamophobic speech on the internet and social media.
From an article that provides further details on the crisis in Xinjiang:
Some articles from mainstream publications that acknowledge that the repression in Xinjiang did not reach the level of genocide and also provide pushback against the US State Department narrative:
Gareth Porter and Max Blumenthal provided in-depth coverage of Xinjiang policies and refuted atrocity propaganda from the far-right ideologue Adrian Zenz. Ajit Singh also exposed how the Newlines Institute report relied upon the discredited work of the religious extremist Adrian Zenz (who claimed to be "led by God" against China), the US government propaganda outlet, Radio Free Asia, right-wing US government/NED-funded groups like the World Uyghur Congress, and a collection of right-wing neoconservative regime change activists that include figures like David Kilgour and David Matas, who have ties to the far-right, anti-China Falun Gong cult. The Qiao Collective has an ongoing extensive overview of events and coverage of Xinjiang. Economist Asatar Bair also analyzed Western claims of repression in Xinjiang in a number of detailed threads:
Another common source of Xinjiang atrocity propaganda is the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), which is an organization founded by the Australian government and is funded by the US State Department, the Australian Department of Defense, NATO, and military contractors like Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. ASPI also continues to collaborate with the far-right Israeli Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA), which is notoriously Islamophobic.
There is clearly a crack down on basically anything associated with recent foreign far-right Salafi influence linked to terrorist organizations like the Turkistan Islamic Party/ETIM. This even extends to restrictions against ultra-conservative Salafi customs like burqas, niqab, and full-face veils that are not part of traditional Uyghur culture or Islamic practices. Uyghurs in Xinjiang overwhelmingly practice a moderate form of Sufism and traditionally do not even observe hijab. These types of restrictions against Salafi/Wahhabi practices have also been seen in many Muslim countries including Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Chad, Senegal, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. Imo some of these restrictions and counter-terrorism policies can get repressive and draconian. The more religious aspects of Uyghur society could still be potentially marginalized as a consequence of heavy-handed enforcement of “anti-extremism” measures. The CPC may also potentially face some blowback if they continue to get too overzealous in their counter-terrorism measures (mass surveillance, excessive security check points, and sloppy profiling where they may end up with false positives in re-education/deradicalization centers). So far, there have been no terrorist attacks since 2017.
Thank you for writing this out and providing links and sources!