Uigher Terrorism’s Rapid Rise

In late July, bombs exploded on buses in Kunming and Shanghai, killing two and injuring a dozen people. Chinese authorities initially denied the claims of Commander Seyfullah of the Turkestan Islamic Party, which claimed responsibility for the bus bombings. In one respect it does seem far-fetched—while there is a noticeable Uigher presence in Kunming, they are few and far between in Shanghai, and as I personally witnessed, subject to random interrogations by the authorities.

However, perhaps unsatisfied for the lack of credit, Uigher separatists threw powerful explosives into a police station in Kashgar over the weekend, killing 16 border policemen and injuring another 16. Kashgar, also known as Kashi, in far western China on the border with Pakistan. Two men were arrested on the spot—one blew his arm off in perpetuating the attack.

Meanwhile in Beijing, with just days before the Olympics start, the capital has been transformed into a fortress guarded by surface-to-air missiles and surveillance cameras scanning every sidewalk. We certainly all hope that the Olympics progress smoothly without any civilian casualties.

But there are real problems outstanding in China’s nether regions. Tibet has long been the media hog of attentionBoth Younghusband and I have traveled to Xinjiang, and my colleague made it as far as Kashgar. His impressions on his visit can be found elsewhere in this blog in the archives. My visits were limited to the northern area of the region, but I think we both experienced the same thing—very kind and hospitable Uighers, clearly growing ever-resentful of obscene “Hannification” in their midst, where all the government and flash private sector jobs went to newcomers shipped in from the homeland.