Syria Support One China Principle Amid Reports Of Plan To Extradite Uyghur Jihadists

Click to see full-size image. (Syrian Foreign Ministry)

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani has pledged to deepen collaboration on “counterterrorism” with China on his first visit to Beijing since the fall of the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad last year, amid reports suggesting that the country could extradite Uyghur jihadists.

A statement published by the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said that al-Shaibani and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi agreed during the visit on November 17 that they would work together on combating “terrorism” and other security matters.

Al-Shaibani also promised that Syria would not allow its territory to be used for any actions against Chinese interests, per the statement.

China, from its side, said that it hoped Syria would take “effective measures” to fulfil its commitment, “thereby removing security obstacles to the stable development of China-Syria relations”, according to a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement.

The main issue for China is Uighur jihadists who had gone to Syria after war broke out in 2011 to fight al-Assad, with many joining the Uighur-dominated Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP).

Up to 4,000 Uighurs were reportedly members of the TIP, which was integrated after the fall of the Assad regime into the 84th Division, a unit of the new Syrian military made up largely of foreign jihadists. The Emir, or commander, of the party, Abdulaziz Dawood Hudaberdi, also known as Abu Muhammad Turkistani or Zahid, was even given the rank of Brigadier General.

A source from the Syrian Foreign Ministry denied on November 17 a report by the news agency AFP that cited officials from the country as saying the government planned to hand over 400 jihadists to China “in batches”.

The “report regarding the Syrian government’s intention to hand over fighters to China is without foundation”, said the source in a brief statement to SANA.

Interestingly, al-Shaibani also renewed Syria’s support for the One China principle, establishing formal diplomatic ties with the Chinese government, rather than with Taiwan, as the sole legal representative of the territory.

Wang stated in return that China viewed the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel since 1967, as an integral part of Syrian territory.

The positive remarks by both al-Shaibani and Wang indicate that the two countries have made progress in relaunching partial relations. However, it is still unclear how the issue of the Uighurs will be solved. Damascus has denied AFP’s report, but it may have done this to avoid an escalation by foreign jihadists.

Coming out from a devastating war, Syria can’t possibly afford to make an enemy out of China. In fact, Damascus will not likely be able to rebuild and recover economically without the help of Beijing, one of its few main trade partners.

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