AQAP Vows to Target Chinese Interests on "Land and Sea”, Plus a Brief History of AQ’s Hostilities Toward China

AQAP’s latest statement fits into a broader trend of Al‑Qaeda branches adopting increasingly hostile rhetoric and kinetic action against Chinese interests, even when Uyghurs or Xinjiang are not explicitly mentioned. Beyond AQAP’s own messaging, groups such as Al‑Shabaab have used attacks, kidnappings, and propaganda to frame China as an adversarial power whose economic and political footprint in Africa is fair game for jihadist violence, while JNIM has targeted foreign workers without building a specific anti‑China narrative. As China rises as a great‑power rival to the United States and deepens its influence in Muslim‑majority regions, militant focus on Beijing is likely to intensify.

AQAP’s New Threat to China

In a recent audio statement circulated on jihadist channels, AQAP emir Sheikh Saad bin Atef al‑Awlaqi opens by praising “all the heroic operations carried out against Jews and Americans throughout the world,” describing them as part of a righteous struggle against a “dual evil.” He urges “every honorable and zealous Muslim, and every free, courageous, and noble person” to “take the initiative and hasten to eradicate this dual evil: Jews and Americans, wherever they may be found,” branding them “the root, substance, and filthy swamp of all calamity” and “the raw material, root, and vile seed of evil.”

Al‑Awlaqi then pivots to China, declaring that “the pagan, infidel Chinese regime must understand that we are monitoring every move it makes against our Uyghur Muslim brothers.”