China saw 16-fold increase in returning jihadists in 2017, analyst says
Beijing must continue to tighten security as terrorist groups gain footholds close to its borders
China is facing a growing threat from trained jihadists re-entering the country, security and diplomatic analysts warned, after it was revealed that the number of such people intercepted by the authorities in 2017 was 16 times as high as the year before.
The size of the increase was revealed by Ji Zhiye, head of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, though he did not provide absolute figures.
The steep rise in the number of people apprehended might have been a result of China tightening its border controls, but the complicated geopolitical situation in neighbouring countries had heightened the risk, he said.
Jihadists could return to China via Russia or central Asia, and their options had been increased as a result of Beijing’s growing ties with the latter through its “Belt and Road Initiative”, Ji said.
Li Shaoxian, director of the China-Arab Research Institute at Ningxia University, said there were multiple channels that jihadists could use to get back into the country and that authorities needed to remain on high alert, even for those travelling with genuine documents.