It seems Islam has been radicalized from Indonesia to Nigeria and all parts in between. Islam's strengths (changelessness, consistency, simplicity) have almost been twisted and turned upon Islam itself so it grows ever more petrified, solidified and unbending. Islam could become a casualty of itself perverted in the hands of the radicals. That to me is the clearest evidence that it is not Islam itself but rather another movement, anarchistic or communist, trying to destroy many things at once.
I really do think the Sufis have the only theological and philosophical structure that could help Islam survive. Theirs is the heritage of Rumi and the great poets. They have a mystical tradition of amazing similarity to some streams in Christianity and in the Jewish Kabbalah. Sorry to go on so long. This subject really interests me.
It interests me as well ... 'course I'm always struck by any proof our human nature transcends even the most disparate of cultures, faiths and codes to reveal us essentially equal, if not the same.
Your instincts are correct about China in part although it's definitely the Soviets who carried the lion's share of the burden in cultivating, training and sponsoring terrorists worldwide who'd accomplish their Period of Escalating Violence globally.
Again, China does fascinate me for its ability to capitalize on the efforts of others ... their providing both the West and Russia exactly the "empty spaces" necessary for capitalist fools to rush in and cunning Soviets to assert control of the "consciousness-raising" that will only enure, in the end, to the more Pure source of militant atheism.
Here's a interesting old thread such thoughts always bring to mind: Dialectics, Chinese (and Clinton) Style (My Title) (posted by Betty Boop)