China says IS song in Mandarin shows need for global cooperation

A Chinese-language song purportedly released by the militant Islamic State (IS) group shows the need for closer global cooperation against terrorism, China’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, as a senior official said the fight against militant IS group had made progress.

China relies on the Middle East for oil supplies, but tends to leave diplomacy there to the other permanent members of the United Nation Security Council, namely the United States, Britain, France and Russia.

It has urged greater coordination to fight terrorism after attacks in Mali and Paris and the downing of a Russian warplane by Turkey, but has long said there is no military solution in Syria, with state media criticising the West and Russia for air strikes there.

Over the weekend, IS’s propaganda arm, Al Hayat media centre, appears to have put online a four-minute recording in Mandarin.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she could not comment on whether the recording was issued by IS, but said it showed that “terrorism is the common enemy of mankind” and the need to stop extremists using the Internet.

“In the face of terrorism, no country can stand on its own, and the international community should stand closer together and cooperate to jointly strike against all forms of terrorism,” Hua told a regular news briefing on Tuesday.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping told a separate briefing Beijing had already joined in anti-terrorism cooperation with Washington and Moscow, but gave no details.

“At present, relevant countries have proactively coordinated and consulted on their anti-Islamic State actions in Syria and they have had definite progress on fighting terrorism,” Cheng added.