By Shannon Tiezzi
The song urges Muslims to “wake up” after a century of humiliation.
ISIS has released a new piece of propaganda specifically aimed at Chinese. The nasheed (an a cappella song extolling Islam) is in Mandarin Chinese, and urges Muslims to “wake up” and take up weapons to “rebel” in accordance with Allah’s commands. You can listen to the full song on the website Jihadology.
The video comes on the heels of the first confirmed Chinese casualty at the hands of ISIS – hostage Fan Jinghui, who was executed by the group.
It’s unusual from ISIS to produce recruiting materials in Mandarin Chinese, but this isn’t the first time it has mentioned China. China was one of 60 countries identified as part of a “coalition of devils” in a recent ISIS propaganda video – although the United States remains the most obvious target and focus of the video. Chinese territory in Xinjiang was also included on a map of ISIS’s territorial ambitions. In 2014, ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi mentioned China first in a list of states where “Muslim rights are forcibly seized,” a fact quickly picked up on by Hong Kong-basedPhoenix Weekly.
Chinese officials have also expressed concern about the dangers ISIS poses to China. In July 2014, China’s special envoy to the Middle East, Wu Sike, said that China was concerned about extremists fighting for ISIS, then returning to China to carry out an attack. “After being immersed in extremist ideas, when they return home they will pose a severe challenge and security risk to those countries,” he said. Wu estimated the number of Chinese fighters with ISIS to be around 100; the Global Times put the figure at 300.
Read the full story at The Diplomat