Al Qaeda's Cells in China

The begining of Islam in China is found 14 centuries ago in records of the Tang dynasty.

The Caliphate of Uthman ibn Affan, (eighteen years after the death of Muhammad) sent a delegation headed by Sa’ad ibn Waqqas to China. Sa’ad Ibn invited Chinese Emperor Yung-Wei to embrace Islam. To show admiration, the Emperor ordered establishment of China’s first mosque, the grand mosque in Canton, known, after fourteen centuries, as the memorial mosque.


Less than 15% of Muslims are Arab. Most are Asian. China’s Muslim population numbers 29 million. While this is less than 3% of China's total population, it is more than adequate for recruiting discontents for al Qaeda's exploition.

Why is al-Qaeda not a threat to China? It is now:
In November, an al Qaeda team that had been diverted from Iraq was smuggled into the Chinese border town of Kushi in the Xinjiang Uygur province. Once there, the terrorists were quickly absorbed into al Qaeda cells of Uygur muslim extremists.

Good news or bad?
Al-Qaeda terrorism is a plague –it can potentially wipe out civilized society. Although plague contagion appears to lie dormant, vectors suddenly spread it to many victims. Likewise, Al Qaeda terror cells colonize and patiently plot, aided by sympathetic hosts. Will China sponsor terror cells against its competitors? That is a distinct possibility, but not without risks. The largest risk is escape of the virus internally.

The avowed aim of Islamic radical terrorism is their worldwide supremacy.
Its virulence is determined only by the imagination and patience of its leadership network, the effectiveness of constantly updated planning, and the willingness of faceless fanatics, recruited of late over the internet, to sacrifice themselves for paradisiacal martyrdom.
Before Usama bin Laden there was Timur the Lenk (Tamorlane). This ruthless Muslim, calling himself “the Scourge of God,” led an army that exterminated 80,000 souls in Delhi, vanquished Afghanistan, and beheaded thousands of Christians in the process. Tamorlane died in 1405 at age 69. Pacification and appeasement were futile.

The enemy of al-Qaeda, like a plaque's enemy, is widespread innoculation. By spreading into China, al-Qaeda may have unwittingly helped to innoculate a greater part of humanity against itself. To attain radical Islam's primary goal of placing themselves in positions of world power, Islamists must first infiltrate, and then topple, individual governments in infidel and (non extremist) Islamic countries, one-by-one.

China would be a welcomed ally in the global anti-terrorism war. First at stake are China's hotels and lucrative tourist enemy, then its economic health.

According to the DEBKAfile, counter-terror sources affirm issuance of a terror alert in major Chinese cities.