Word: uighurs
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...telecast, Libi predicted China's fall, likening it to the similarly atheist and communist USSR. Some of the impoverished former Soviet states that border China's Xinjiang region - where the majority of Uighurs live - are a potential powder keg for insurgency. Suspected Uighur terrorists operating along China's borderlands allegedly have ties to Al Qaeda-affiliated groups in Central Asia, who, according to observers, are consolidating in remote parts of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan after setbacks in Pakistan reportedly saw many foreign jihadis return to their homelands...
...Still, most Central Asia watchers doubt the capabilities of militants there, whether connected to al-Qaeda or devoted to more local struggles. Both Moscow and Beijing have wielded their influence among Central Asia's authoritarian governments to ensure that radical strains of political Islam get largely quashed. Uighur dissidents in exile have also repeatedly rejected any connection with terrorist activity and argue that, despite a few incidents of bombings and attacks in China, China exploits the specter of a terrorist threat to further repress Uighur rights. Al-Qaeda's recent statement does their cause few favors. "China could...
...July 5 young Uighurs, a Turkic ethnic minority that largely practices Islam, rioted in the city, attacking majority Han Chinese. The riot was touched off when police aggressively blocked a protest over the death of two Uighurs during a June factory brawl in the coastal Guangdong province. Two days after the riot, thousands of Han gathered to carry out revenge attacks. Paramilitary forces were able to keep the revenge mobs from Urumqi's Uighur quarter, thus preventing another bloodbath. But some Uighurs were seriously beaten and possibly killed that day. All told, the July violence left nearly 200 dead...
...dispatching thousands of security forces in the city in July, the government showed it could prevent further mass attacks. But the tension is still evident. After the July violence, Uighurs, who make up about 15% of Urumqi's population, started leaving the city for towns like Kashgar, with larger Uighur concentrations. The Han majority are still angry about the deadly rioting. Hundreds of suspects were arrested following the July attacks, but there have been conflicting reports about when any trials will take place. On Thursday, after the new round of protests, the regional government said arrest warrants for the July...
...With preparations for Oct. 1 celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic now underway, authorities across the nation are even more wary of any disturbances. The official strategy has been to focus local outrage away from Urumqi's Uighur population and toward Rebiya Kadeer, a U.S.-based Uighur rights activist who China blames for instigating the violence - a claim she denies. But as this week's unrest shows, there's still plenty anger at home for them to worry about...