It’s China’s turn to face transnational terrorism threats

One of the less-heralded features of the Global War on Terror—roughly, the two decades that followed the 9/11 attacks—were the conversations that the United States shared with Russia and China about counterterrorism. Though Moscow and Beijing were targets of Sunni jihadists such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, there was always some skepticism in Washington about whether China’s terrorism problem was as dire as Beijing proclaimed. Was the Chinese Communist Party exaggerating the threat to justify the repression—which the U.S. and other countries have called genocide—of its Uyghur population?

Now, in 2025, there is less doubt that China is in the crosshairs of transnational terror groups. Capable and determined violent non-state actors could give China trouble in various hotspots around the world—in Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and elsewhere.

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