Q&A: China's Uighur problem

China regards militants from its Uighur minority as a major threat to
security at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

The militants are blamed for a bloody attack on a border post in
western China in the run-up to the Games. Human rights groups have
long accused China of persecuting the Uighurs.

Who are the Uighurs?

The Uighurs are Muslims based in north-western China's Xinjiang
region. Their language is related to Turkish and they regard
themselves as culturally and ethnically close to other Central Asian
nations.

Kashgar street scene
China maintains a high military presence in the Xinjiang region

The region's economy has for centuries revolved around agriculture and
trade, with towns such as Kashgar thriving as hubs along the Silk
Road.

In the early part of the 20th Century, the Uighurs briefly declared
independence. The region was brought under the complete control of
communist China in 1949.

32 Chink Police Bombed In Western China! Commies Strive To Hush It
Up!

"Truck, Grenade Attack in China Kills 16 Policemen"

By Edward Cody
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, August 4, 2008; A07

BEIJING, Aug. 4 -- Two assailants crashed a dump truck into a
paramilitary police station in the restive Xinjiang region Monday and
tossed out two grenades, killing 16 policemen and wounding 16 others
in an apparent terrorist attack, the official New China News Agency
reported.

Witnesses said the two explosions boomed out about 8 a.m. in the heart
of Kashgar, an oasis town on the route of the ancient Silk Road more
than 2,000 miles west of Beijing and near the Chinese borders with
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

The region's overwhelmingly Muslim ethnic Uighur population has long
chafed under Han Chinese rule. According to Chinese security
officials, Uighur extremists have plotted to carry out terrorist
strikes during the Beijing Olympics, which start Friday.

On Tue, 5 Aug 2008 00:53:27 +0800, dillydally wrote
(in article
<484e8cb9-600a-4ef9-baf9-15551d6f53fb@79g2000hsk.googlegroups.com>):

1 year in my ignore file.

--
Love, Jim
(I often delete parts of the previous post and I often remove excessive
crossposts.)