@ASPI_org has produced a new report called “The architecture of repression” by Xu, Leibold & Daria Impiombato. I will be analysing this document in the next few weeks. Here’s a taster.
Reference 21.
Context
International experts agree that Uyghur militants exist in Syria and Pakistan in small numbers, but argue that they pose little direct security threat to China. 21
Note
Michael Clarke, ‘China’s “war on terrorism”’, in Michael Clarke (ed.), Terrorism and counter-terrorism in China: domestic and foreign policy dimensions, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2018.
Comment
Apart from the vague “international experts agree”, not appropriate for any kind of scholarly or serious report, Clarke is not a terrorism or counter-terrorism expert. His expertise is history, which does not necessarily lend itself to understanding the practical problems with implementation of anti-terror programs.
He has no experience in security issues, nor has he served in a police service. He is also not an expert in surveillance or deradicalisation. It is doubtful that he has engaged with the lived experience of moderate Muslims who have been silenced, bullied, harassed and killed by extremists. (See interview with K in Beyond deradicalisation centres – Beijing takes a holistic and rational approach to poverty alleviation in which this lived experience is described after an interview with K)
Thus, his opinion is irrelevant and can be disregarded.
Additionally, his recent article, quoted here, is contradicted by his own words in 2017
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/bloody-isis-video-puts-china-in-cross-hairs
“It appears to be the ISIS group’s “first direct threat” against China, Dr. Michael Clarke, an expert on Xinjiang at the National Security College of Australian National University, told AFP. “It is the first time that Uighur-speaking militants have claimed allegiance to IS,” he added, referring to the group by its other name.
The video showed China is now “very firmly a target of jihadist rhetoric,” Clarke said, marking a shift from years past when it rarely figured in statements by global militant groups.
But Clarke said it also could indicate a possible split among Uighur fighters, as it includes a warning to those fighting with the Al Qaeda-aligned Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) in Syria.” Clarke said the hints of a Uighur split could “intensify the threat to China” as it indicates Uighur militants may be able to tap into the capabilities of both ISIS and Al-Qaeda.
Like so many of the references in this document, the full work of the source author is not considered. Clarke has, in the past, completely contradicted the claim in the report, but, like so many academics, has changed his ‘tune’.