Beijing should not take military action against ISIS: commentary｜Politics｜News｜WantChinaTimes.com
China should not join the international community in taking direct military action against the Islamic State, formerly the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the brutal jihadist group that claims religious authority over all Muslims across the world, says a Chinese economic researcher.
As the influence of the Islamic State continues to spread across the globe, the international community, led by the United States, is building a coalition to take on the militant organization. On Sept. 5, the US announced a "core coalition" of nine countries comprising the US, the UK, France, Australia, Canada, Germany, Turkey, Italy, Poland and Denmark to strengthen allies on the ground in Iraq and Syria while also bombing Islamic State forces from the air.
"There is no containment policy for ISIL," US secretary of state John Kerry said at the announcement. "They're an ambitious, avowed, genocidal, territorial-grabbing, caliphate-desiring quasi state with an irregular army, and leaving them in some capacity intact anywhere would leave a cancer in place that will ultimately come back to haunt us."
On Sept. 7, the Arab League also passed a resolution to combat the Islamic State, while there are reports that one of the main objectives of US national security advisor Susan Rice's visit to Beijing this week is to seek China's cooperation in joining the fight against the Sunni Muslim militants.
In a commentary published Wednesday in the nationalistic tabloid Global Times however, Mei Xinyu, a researcher with China's Ministry of Commerce, said he believes China is not suited to taking direct military action against the Islamic State because of the country's "political and economic fundamentals."
One of the purported reasons for attacking the Islamic State is to ensure the supply of oil from the Middle East at stable prices because there is fear that prices will soar from militants taking control of or damaging oil fields, Mei wrote. The situation right now is the complete opposite, he added, stating that the Islamic State is not capable of controlling Iraq's main oil fields and has no intention of destroying gold mines.
The world economy, especially emerging markets relying on energy resources, is slowing down, and China's economic structure has evolved as the services industry continues to grow while energy-intensive industries continue to shrink, Mei said.
Coupled with the fact that supply and demand in the global oil market has eased since 2012 and is continuing to loosen, the so-called geopolitical risk brought on by the Islamic State will not damage oil production in the Middle East and will actually stabilize it, he added.
Secondly, China's political fundamentals also mean it should not take on the Islamic State with military action, Mei said. Despite China's increasingly audacious operations off the mainland aimed at "maintaining stability," Beijing would never engage in such activities in places such as West Asia and North Africa because it does not enjoy a sufficiently strong political consensus in and out of the country.
China does not have that consensus against the Islamic State either domestically or overseas right now, as there are still people in and out of the country who support the religious extremists and their ideology, Mei said, adding that there are also others who may be against the militants but are not willing to risk lives or money to take them on.
Beijing must therefore have serious concerns of being dragged into a long-term battle when public support could dry up in a hurry, he said, which could land China in the same "post-war stability trap" experienced by the US in Iraq and Afghanistan.
China need to resolutely oppose extremist forces including the Islamic State and be wary of their actions and permeating influence in the country, but it should not reach into the fire to become a "martyr" in this protracted war, Mei concluded.
China should not join the international community in taking direct military action against the Islamic State, formerly the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the brutal jihadist group that claims religious authority over all Muslims across the world, says a Chinese economic researcher.
As the influence of the Islamic State continues to spread across the globe, the international community, led by the United States, is building a coalition to take on the militant organization. On Sept. 5, the US announced a "core coalition" of nine countries comprising the US, the UK, France, Australia, Canada, Germany, Turkey, Italy, Poland and Denmark to strengthen allies on the ground in Iraq and Syria while also bombing Islamic State forces from the air.
"There is no containment policy for ISIL," US secretary of state John Kerry said at the announcement. "They're an ambitious, avowed, genocidal, territorial-grabbing, caliphate-desiring quasi state with an irregular army, and leaving them in some capacity intact anywhere would leave a cancer in place that will ultimately come back to haunt us."
On Sept. 7, the Arab League also passed a resolution to combat the Islamic State, while there are reports that one of the main objectives of US national security advisor Susan Rice's visit to Beijing this week is to seek China's cooperation in joining the fight against the Sunni Muslim militants.
In a commentary published Wednesday in the nationalistic tabloid Global Times however, Mei Xinyu, a researcher with China's Ministry of Commerce, said he believes China is not suited to taking direct military action against the Islamic State because of the country's "political and economic fundamentals."
One of the purported reasons for attacking the Islamic State is to ensure the supply of oil from the Middle East at stable prices because there is fear that prices will soar from militants taking control of or damaging oil fields, Mei wrote. The situation right now is the complete opposite, he added, stating that the Islamic State is not capable of controlling Iraq's main oil fields and has no intention of destroying gold mines.
The world economy, especially emerging markets relying on energy resources, is slowing down, and China's economic structure has evolved as the services industry continues to grow while energy-intensive industries continue to shrink, Mei said.
Coupled with the fact that supply and demand in the global oil market has eased since 2012 and is continuing to loosen, the so-called geopolitical risk brought on by the Islamic State will not damage oil production in the Middle East and will actually stabilize it, he added.
Secondly, China's political fundamentals also mean it should not take on the Islamic State with military action, Mei said. Despite China's increasingly audacious operations off the mainland aimed at "maintaining stability," Beijing would never engage in such activities in places such as West Asia and North Africa because it does not enjoy a sufficiently strong political consensus in and out of the country.
China does not have that consensus against the Islamic State either domestically or overseas right now, as there are still people in and out of the country who support the religious extremists and their ideology, Mei said, adding that there are also others who may be against the militants but are not willing to risk lives or money to take them on.
Beijing must therefore have serious concerns of being dragged into a long-term battle when public support could dry up in a hurry, he said, which could land China in the same "post-war stability trap" experienced by the US in Iraq and Afghanistan.
China need to resolutely oppose extremist forces including the Islamic State and be wary of their actions and permeating influence in the country, but it should not reach into the fire to become a "martyr" in this protracted war, Mei concluded.
