China and US to discuss joint action on Islamic State at Beijing summit

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China and US to discuss joint action on Islamic State at Beijing summit

Xi and Obama plan talks next month in Beijing on uniting against terror group

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 08 October, 2014, 4:39am
UPDATED : Wednesday, 08 October, 2014, 4:39am

Kristine Kwok [email protected]



President Xi Jinping will discuss with his US counterpart Barack Obama possible cooperation in intelligence sharing, a crackdown on terrorism funding and blocking arms sales to terrorist organisations. Photo: AP

The leaders of China and the United States will discuss how to jointly fight the terrorist group Islamic State at a summit in Beijing next month, according to analysts familiar with the situation.

President Xi Jinping will discuss with his US counterpart Barack Obama possible cooperation in intelligence sharing, a crackdown on terrorism funding and blocking arms sales to terrorist organisations.

Bonnie Glaser, a senior adviser for Asia at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said the Chinese foreign ministry initiated a meeting with the US State Department in July to discuss anti-terrorism issues. The last time the two countries held such talks was after the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US in 2001.

The fact that Beijing initiated the idea indicates China's increasing concern over domestic terrorist groups having links to foreign sources. Reports about Chinese nationals - mostly Uygurs - receiving training or even fighting with jihadis in the Middle East worries Chinese leaders.

Cooperation on counter-terrorism was also a good way to ease suspicions between the world's two major powers, the analysts said.

Xi and Obama will hold the summit on November 12, a day after the Asia Pacific Economic Forum concludes in the Chinese capital. With a full day scheduled for the summit, the two leaders are expected to discuss a wide range of issues to strengthen bilateral ties, which would shape geopolitics in the region and beyond.

"Stabilising the bilateral relationship is a main goal for both countries. To achieve this goal, both sides will focus on cooperation measures that can lead to tangible results," said Jin Canrong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing.

Apart from counterterrorism, the two leaders would also discuss cooperation on climate change and containing the Ebola outbreak, Jin and Glaser said.

While Obama was expected to raise the issue of the pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong - as part of the human rights dialogue - it would be overshadowed by other concerns, Jin said.

He said Hong Kong would only be discussed in passing. "Hong Kong does not have any strategic value for the US. What is more important is the stability of the bilateral ties," he said.

But Glaser said if the situation deteriorated in Hong Kong, it would take a higher priority on Obama's agenda.

The discussion on counterterrorism was likely to centre on the issue of Islamic State, although it was still not clear whether China would prefer to work through a bilateral or a multilateral framework, Glaser said.

He said the two countries could work together on information exchanges, and that this could involve the military and civilian intelligence agencies of both countries.

Jin said another area for cooperation was to identify and cut the funding links of Islamic State and other terror groups. The two countries worked together to crack down on terrorism financing after September 11, Jin noted.

Washington and Beijing could also provide training for Iraq's special police, Jin said.

This would be similar to what happened in 2001, when China and the US put aside their bitter diplomatic spat over the collision of fighter jets over the South China Sea to cooperate on the fight against al-Qaeda, the terrorist group that claimed responsibility for the September 11 attacks.

Glaser hoped the fight against Islamic State would take a similar path.

"Cooperation on a real threat can help both of our countries. It gives us a common adversary that we can work against and something that we can work together for. That does carry the potential for improving [the bilateral] relationship," Glaser said.

China has so far been unwilling to participate in the US-led air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Still, there are some thorny issues the two sides would have to address. The US is expected to express concern over China's claims on disputed islands in the South China Sea.

Another source said the US business community was also pressing Obama to raise the issue of China's allegedly biased enforcement of antitrust laws against foreign multinationals.





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