China can help fight terrorism in SE Asia

At the 43rd Philippine Business Conference in October, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said the bullet that killed Isnilon Hapilon, Islamic State's "emir" in Southeast Asia, in Marawi was fired from a sniper rifle made in China. "It was only China who gave it on time and plenty, plenty," he said. Among those attending the conference was Zhao Jianhua, China's ambassador to the Philippines.

Duterte was referring to Chinese military assistance to the Philippines in two shipments in June and October, which included high-precision rifles, sniper rifles, automatic rifles and ammunition. Beijing's assistance was aimed at strengthening Manila's campaign against the IS group-inspired terrorists.

Radical Islamic and jihadi groups in Southeast Asia such as Jemaah Islamiyah, Abu Sayyaf, al-Qaida and the offshoots of terrorist outfits are almost as diversified as the fauna in its tropical forests, but what is most alarming is the speed of their rise and their affiliation to the IS group. No wonder Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has called Southeast Asia a "key recruitment area" for the IS group.