U.S. defense officials have revealed that China may soon join the global military campaign against terrorists in Iraq and Syria as Beijing is concerned about the growing number of its citizens joining the Islamic State (IS), according to the Washington Times.

China's official guidelines for dealing with counterterrorism, which was formulated in December, advocates further involvement in defense activities overseas. On Wednesday, Beijing also released a document calling on for closer defense and military cooperation with the Arab world against terrorism.

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There are speculations that China could dispatch troops to Iraq and Syria and join forces with Russian troops, who are currently carrying out airstrikes in Syria.

China is worried over the rising number of extremist in the Uyghur Muslim community in the Xinjiang autonomous region in Western China, which has reportedly become a source of support for the Islamic State terrorists.

According to the Turkish army, a majority of the 913 ISIS terrorists captured while crossing the Syrian border since January last year were 'Chinese Muslims.'

There are speculations that Chinese forces will not be joining the US-led military coalition currently operating in Syria and Iraq but will instead join Russian forces who are involved in heavy bombing of terrorist targets in Syria.

China has expressed alarm over the growing influence of the Islamic State in Xinjiang Province.

Uyghur extremists have been known to conduct terrorist attacks in the country with guns and explosives prompting the Chinese military to crack down on the region.

In July last year, ISIS released a rare video calling on all Uyghurs in China to join them in the Middle East. This was the first time that the Islamic State appealed to the Uyghurs in China to join their organization.

TagsISIS, Uyghur Muslim Community, 'Chinese Muslims'