Uyghur Militant Activity in Southeast Asia and Its Security Implications

Abstract

The Uyghur ethnic groups from Xinjiang, China, have been trying to travel to the Middle East through Southeast Asian countries for many years. Many of these Uyghur accepted the extremist ideology and formed the Uyghur military organization link to international terrorism organizations. Although most of these militants went to the Middle East, we recently found that some members tried to use Southeast Asia as their new base of activity. This chapter argues that these Uyghur militants have formed a coalition with local armed groups in Southeast Asia and have participated in a series of terrorist attacks, but their impact on China’s Belt Road Initiative (BRI) is limited. These Uyghur militants have had a multifaceted impact on the stability and security of the Southeast Asian region. And the Southeast Asian countries are more willing to take bilateral or trilateral cooperation to deal with this threat.