Explainer

China wary of Syria's Uyghur militants, but business keeps growing

China’s biggest advantage in Syria may be not aggressive spending but the lack of meaningful Western competition.

Joyce Karam

May 28, 2026

You're reading an excerpt from Al-Monitor China-Middle East, where we analyze China's deepening engagement with the region. To get this newsletter in your inbox weekly, sign up here.

WASHINGTON — A new groundbreaking report suggests Uyghur fighters played a significant role in the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria. NPR reported that thousands of Uyghur militants became one of the most organized and battle-hardened foreign fighting forces within Syria’s opposition movement over the course of the civil war.

The fighters are grouped under the banner of the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP), a Uyghur jihadist organization that Beijing considers a major security threat.

This new Syrian reality underscores a dilemma for China: Syria’s new leadership includes factions that for years hosted Uyghur militants hostile to Beijing, but the country is also an attractive landscape economically. 

As Elizabeth Hagedorn reported,........

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