State media says 'around 300 Chinese extremists' fighting in Islamic State

The always-reliable Global Times has reported that there are 'around 300' Chinese citizens in the ranks of the Islamic State in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.

This is far from the first time that there has been reported Chinese involvement in the terrorist organization. In September, four Chinese men were arrested in Indonesia with ties to the Islamic State and in the same month, an ethnically Chinese man was photographed after he was reportedly found fighting with IS in Iraq. Previously, in August, IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi told followers that the Islamic State's ultimate goals include expansion into Xinjiang, and asked all Chinese muslims to "pledge allegiance" to him.

The latest news reported by the Global Times explicitly ties Chinese fighters in IS to the ETIM (East Turkestan Islamic Movement), an anti-Beijing Xinjiang separatist group. Global Times says that hundreds of ETIM members have used illegal visas gained in South East Asia (i.e. as the previous men captured in Indonesia may have been trying to do.)

So far the Global Times report doesn't seem to have been corroborated by other sources, and there is no photographic or video evidence that links Chinese fighters to the current upheaval in Iraq and Syria, with the exception of the one photo from October. Time will tell if Global Times' stats are on the mark.