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11/02/2024 03:29:51 pm

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Why China Should Not Get Involved In ISIS Fight

Chinese ISIS

(Photo : Iraqi Ministry of Defense) Iraqi forces caught what some claim to be a Chinese citizen fighting for the Islamic State

Beijing should not directly involve itself in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), wrote an economic researcher in a nationalistic Chinese paper on Wednesday.

In the commentary published in the Chinese edition of Global Times, Mei Xinyu, a researcher for the Ministry of Commerce said Beijing is not suited to join the international military campaign against the Islamic State militants because of China's "political and economic fundamentals."

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The commentary follows national security advisor Susan Rice's visit in Beijing this week to smooth out affairs between U.S. and China ahead of President Barack Obama's visit in November.

Rice reportedly urged top Chinese officials to support Obama's campaign against the growing terrorism threat in the Middle East.

Beijing has yet to confirm its possible contribution to the international coalition formed by the Obama administration to combat ISIL. But an unnamed senior U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Washington Post that Beijing has "expressed interest" in the proposition.

Xinyu argued that the Islamic State group poses no real threat to China's economy and to the global oil market. According to the pundit, the main thrust of the campaign against the Islamic extremists is to ensure that oil market in the Middle East remains stable.

The Islamic State group is capable of neither damaging Iraq's major oil fields and gold mines nor causing oil price in the global market to spike up, Xinyu explained.

On the contrary, the so-called geopolitical threat brought on by the extremist Islamic State will help stabilize the global oil market, Xinyu suggested.

Chinese dependence on oil has also slowed down, said Xinyu, citing how the country's energy-intensive industries and the global economy's reliance on energy resources have eased since 2012.

On the issue of Beijing's political fundamentals, Xinyu argued that China presently has no domestic and international political consensus against the Islamic State.

While there may be Chinese support for the extremist ideologies of the Middle East, there are many in China who strongly oppose investing resources in combating foreign terrorism.

Pumping in huge resources to stabilize the Middle East will "deplete our national strength," BBC quoted Xinyu as saying.

China, therefore, must not be dragged into the war against terror campaigned by the United States and its international allies. It must not become a "martyr" in this war, the article concluded. 

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