China is unlikely to directly join in the current stage of the US-led fight against the radical Islamic State (IS) but will provide moral support instead, analysts said Thursday, following US President Barack Obama's call to build a broad anti-IS coalition to crush jihadists in Iraq and Syria.
In a broad escalation of the fight against the IS, which occupies large swaths of land in Iraq and Syria, Obama said in a televised speech Wednesday night that the US will extend airstrikes to Syria and expand operations in Iraq.
Obama also said he was building a broad anti-IS coalition involving Sunni-led governments in the region and Western allies.
His speech came after reports that US National Security Adviser Susan Rice requested China's support in forming the coalition during her visit to Beijing earlier this week. The Washington Post quoted an anonymous official as saying that, "The Chinese expressed interest [at the proposal]."
On Thursday, Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for China's foreign ministry, didn't directly respond to the question of whether China will join the coalition, but said "China is ready to abide by the principle of mutual respect, equality and cooperation in strengthening anti-terrorist cooperation with the rest of the international community and maintaining global peace and stability."
Dong Manyuan, a deputy director of the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times that he does not expect China to directly step into the fray, despite some shared interests between the US and China in combating terrorism.
Last week, Iraq's defense ministry posted on its Facebook page photos that it said show a captured Chinese man fighting on behalf of the IS, reported the New York Times.
The Chinese government has yet to confirm the report, but various sources previously suggested that jihadists from Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region are fighting alongside IS fighters in Syria.
Wu Sike, China's former special envoy to the Middle East, told a press conference in late July that around 100 jihadists from Xinjiang, most of whom are members of the separatist group East Turkestan Islamic Movement, are fighting or being trained in the Middle East.
Turmoil in Iraq, a major source of China's oil imports, also posed a threat to Chinese businesses operating in the country.
Zhao Weiming, a professor of Middle East Studies at Shanghai International Studies University, said China may support the US in its fight against the IS, but that its support will be limited to the diplomatic level, and "it is not going to participate in any military actions against the IS."
However, Zhao told the Global Times that support for the US fight against the IS doesn't mean that China supports all US military actions carried out in the name of fighting terrorism.
"China opposes the US using anti-terrorism as an excuse to serve its own ends," he said, referring to the US decision to strike Syria.
Obama Wednesday also asked Congress to authorize $500 million to train and arm "moderate" Syrian rebels outgunned by the IS and President Bashar al-Assad's forces.
"We hold that in the international struggle against terrorism, international law should be respected, as well as the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the countries concerned," Hua told Thursday's press briefing.
The US plan for airstrikes in Syria drew protest from Ali Haidar, Syria's Minister of National Reconciliation Affairs, who said any military action without Damascus' permission is an act of aggression.
"China might give a tacit consent to strikes against IS targets [in Syria], but it has a bottom line - no attack on Syrian government targets or civilian facilities," Zhang Jiadong, a professor with the Center for American Studies at Shanghai-based Fudan University, told the Global Times.
Zhang added that China will not allow the US to weaken Assad's regime or destabilize Syria under the disguise of anti-terrorism.
China's stated policy is consistently one of non-intervention, which has been criticized by some observers in the West.
In an August interview with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, Obama said China has been a "free rider" for the last 30 years, referring to the crisis in Iraq.
Dong argued that US Middle East policy is the cause for turmoil in the region, and has forced some Chinese companies to pull out of the region. "The US not only failed to give Chinese companies a free ride, but actually made trouble for them."
Zhao shared similar views, noting that China played a significant role in Iraq and Afghanistan's reconstruction following US-led wars, and contributed to local economic development.
In the fight against the IS, Zhang noted that China can play a unique role in bridging the differences between Washington and Damascus.
US hostility toward both Assad's regime and the IS, combined with close ties between Damascus and Baghdad, have made it very difficult for the US to carry out its policy, as its anti-terrorist efforts might be offset by the complex situation, Zhang told the Global Times.
"China should press the US to change its policy toward Damascus, and push for national rebuilding in Syria to ensure its stability and security and weaken the foundation of the IS," he said.