Chinese leaders have long been wary of joining global efforts against terrorism, worried about becoming entangled in foreign conflicts. But in recent days, after a series of terrorist attacks that killed several Chinese citizens, China has faced pressure to play a more active role.

On Friday, gunmen in Mali ambushed a Radisson Blu hotel, killing three Chinese railway executives. Also last week, the Islamic State said it had executed Fan Jinghui, 50, a former teacher in Beijing.

Christina Lin, a fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, is an expert on China’s antiterrorism efforts and its relations with Middle Eastern countries. She worked as a China policy planner for the United States Defense Department and an analyst for the National Security Council. In an interview, she discussed China’s antiterrorism strategy, the impact of the recent attacks in Paris and elsewhere and the current crackdown in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang.

Q: Chinese leaders have spoken out forcefully against terrorism in recent days, with President Xi Jinping saying it is the “common enemy of humanity.” How will China handle the threat posed by the Islamic State, which for the first time has executed a Chinese citizen?

A: China prefers to be in the background, of course, but now it is difficult because the Islamic State and Al Qaeda have declared war on China. It’s so visible now. I don’t think China can hide anymore. It has to do something.

Q: What can it do?

A: China is willing to step up its global antiterrorism efforts, since it faces the same terrorist threat internally. But it wants to do it under the United Nations banner, not the United States banner. President Xi Jinping has signaled his willingness to contribute U.N. troops. China’s done that in Africa. China has increasing interests and increasing stakes in Syria and Iraq, and it’s going to be putting more military resources in the Middle East. While the U.S. has the “pivot east” strategy, China has the “pivot west” strategy.

Q: Chinese leaders have long followed a policy of noninterference, saying they prefer to stay out of other countries’ affairs. Will the rising strength of some terrorist groups in the Middle East force China to rethink its strategy?

A: The ability of Chinese leaders to protect their citizens is vital for regime survival, and any threat to that is going to undermine their legitimacy. Noninterference does not mean inaction. They will exhaust all resources to protect their citizens.

Q: What are the implications for China of the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, where the Islamic State claimed responsibility for a series of bombings and mass shootings?

A: The Paris bombings will likely impel China’s leaders to double down on their policies in Xinjiang, where they are trying to weaken the Turkestan Islamic Party [a separatist movement Beijing has often linked to violence involving Uighurs, a mostly Muslim Turkic people native to Xinjiang] and explore how they can further contribute to global terrorism efforts in Syria and in Iraq, such as intelligence-sharing.

Q: After the Paris attacks, Chinese leaders called on other countries to support China’s efforts to fight domestic terrorism, including in Xinjiang, where the government has imposed restrictions on religious and cultural expression it fears could be marks of extremism. They seem to feel that the world has ignored China’s own struggle with terrorism.

A: When I meet Chinese scholars at conferences, I hear that all the time. It’s true that they have cried wolf a bit too many times in the past, and they combine terrorism and separatism in the same basket when they talk about Xinjiang. They have lost some credibility. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have a legitimate terrorism threat.

Q: Why do you think Chinese leaders have become more vocal about Xinjiang in recent years?

A: A turning point for Chinese security officials came after the Arab Spring in 2011. There was a bombing in Kashgar, Xinjiang, that year, and for the first time, Uighur separatists planted a Salafist flag, which is black with Arabic writing, rather than the East Turkestan flag, which is blue with a star and crescent.

For Chinese authorities, that was a game changer. It wasn’t just about, “We want more rights or an independent Turkestan.” It was about declaring jihad.

Q: The United States and China are engaged in a dispute in the South China Sea, where China is rapidly turning rocks and submerged reefs into islands capable of holding military facilities. Will those tensions complicate efforts to forge alliances in the fight against terrorism?

A: It could be a complication in the short term. But we should start by working together in the Mediterranean and Middle East, where we have so many mutual interests. Once we have a template for cooperation in this region, we can use that template in the western Pacific to de-escalate tension. The place to start for U.S.-China cooperation is the Middle Ea