Chinese experts are fighting back after a U.S. think tank accused China of imposing restrictive religious policies, in turn pushing over 100 people to join the Islamic State.

The think tank's report, issued by Washington D.C.-based New America Foundation, claimed that China's control over religious activities in northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region “could be a push factor driving people to leave the country and look elsewhere for a sense of 'belonging.'"

Of the more than 3,500 foreigners recruited to join ISIS, the report stated that 114 came from Xinjiang, making the region the fifth largest contributor. Xinjiang followed Saudi Arabia and Tunisia on the list, the report said.

“Under the influence of extremism, many countries across the globe have seen people joining the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. It is not a problem affecting China alone, but rather a global issue,” Li Wei, an anti-terrorism expert from the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, told People's Daily Online.

Professor Pan Zhiping at Xinjiang University called the report “a blatant lie and of chaotic logic.” Pan told the Global Times, “People from the U.S., the U.K. and France have also joined ISIS. Are they all reacting to government polices and suppression?” Pan added that the report constitutes rumormongering, and that the Chinese government does not interfere with proper religious activities in Xinjiang. In fact, both Han and Uyghur Chinese celebrate Lesser Bairam.

According to Li, the bigger cause of people joining ISIS is excessive military interference on the part of the U.S. “If the U.S. had not wrongfully started the Iraq war in 2003, there would be no ISIS today. With its counter-terrorism attempts in the Middle East, and now with its provocations in the South China Sea, the U.S. is not a guardian of international peace and stability, but rather a troublemaker itself,” Li said.