China's Far West provinces (inc. Tibet)

[davidbfpo]

Raffaello Pantucci examies the PRC claim that East Turkistan Islamic Party (ETIM) are present in Syria and concludes:

..in terms of advancing their core agenda of attacking China, the latest round of videos and activity does not seem to provide much evidence that the movement is moving in this direction in any effective way.

Link:http://raffaellopantucci.com/2012/12...n-battlefield/

Interesting to note the Turkish activity with PRC, although Turkey has aspired for sometime to a greater role in the region.

[davidbfpo]

An article in Critical Terrorism Studies, so behind a paywall and so from the Abstract:

This article presents a case study of China, a regime that has been fighting Uyghur separatism and terrorism since its founding in 1949 with authoritarian means. However, while authoritarian crackdowns in Xinjiang have ensured tactical respites leading to periods of relative stability, strategically China has facilitated the construction of a threat more radical than the initial Uyghur challenge. Thus, before September 11 China acknowledged links between Uyghur terrorism and separatism. After September 11, however, China announced it was fighting a war against international terrorist groups in Xinjiang. And while this rhetoric gained international acknowledgement, it at the same time has affected the nature of Uyghur terrorism, which has shifted in response to China's framing. As a result, today we are witnessing transformations in the East Turkistan Islamic Movement activities, which are becoming increasingly reliant on al-Qaeda's guidance and support.

Link:http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/1...53.2012.753202

[Bill Moore]

http://www.start.umd.edu/start/data_...le.asp?id=4347

Claims that ETIM has ties to al-Qaeda, Usama bin Laden, and the Taliban persist. Many reputable sources debate whether or not al-Qaeda has provided the group with training and financial assistance. The US Department of State, in its 2005 report on terrorism, states that ETIM is "linked to al-Qaida and the international jihadist movement" and that al-Qaeda has provided ETIM with "training and financial assistance". Another US government website reports that one ETIM leader was killed in a raid on al-Qaeda safehouses in Pakistan. The Chinese government has been known to exaggerate the connection between ETIM and al-Qaeda to enlist the support of the United States in endorsing China's social control tactics in Xinjiang. It is likely that members of ETIM have had contact with al-Qaeda elements, but no high-level contacts have been established.

ETIM has been implicated in terrorist plots against US interests in the Central Asia region, including a foiled plot to attack the US Embassy in Kyrgyzstan.

Credibility of the following link unknown:

http://coffeeandsleeplessnights.word...rs/#more-11845

Al-Qaeda’s longstanding use of children to wage jihad was on display in a recent video showing boys as young as five training with assault rifles and handguns at a terrorist training camp.
The video of the gun-toting, prepubescent jihadists was reportedly filmed by the al-Qaeda-linked East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) at one of the terror group’s training camps in Pakistan’s North Waziristan region.

Since 1990 the ETIM, which has been fighting to create an independent Islamic state in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region, has not only committed more than 200 acts of worldwide terrorism but has trained scores of jihadists to fight alongside al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opi...637916112.html

Article discusses the economic importance of the region (Silk Road hopes) and the interests of a number of countries.

After the opening of the Karakoram Highway between China and Pakistan, up to the mid-1990s thousands of young Uyghurs studied Islam abroad, going to religious schools in Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. A few also went to Yemen and Qatar.

The problem, China would argue, is that those who returned to Xinjiang were in most cases Deobandis, Salafis and Wahhabis. Over the past few years Uyghurs returning from Central Asia also opened Hizb-ut Tahrir cells in Xinjiang. Hizb-ut Tahrir is extremely critical of Beijing's policies.

Oil and gas-rich Xinjiang consists of 1.6mn square kilometres, vast deserts, and borders no less than 8 Asian countries. Xinjiang is much more than China's "frontline against terrorism". It is also at the core of China's dream of being the star of the New Silk Road.

[davidbfpo]

A long BBC report on the latest violence in Sinkiang Province, in a small rural town, where twenty-one have died and just why is hotly disputed: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-22319579

[Fuchs]

China’s Black Hole
Let's face it: We have little idea what's actually going on in Xinjiang and Tibet.
BY ISAAC STONE FISH | APRIL 26, 2013

[Bill Moore]

China’s Black Hole
Let's face it: We have little idea what's actually going on in Xinjiang and Tibet.
BY ISAAC STONE FISH | APRIL 26, 2013

Tuesday's alleged incident was the deadliest since riots in July 2009 killed nearly 200 people. Tibet is worse. The independent watchdog organization Freedom House annually ranks countries and territories on their level of political rights and civil liberties. The group's most recent report, released Jan 2013, included Tibet in its "Worst of the Worst" category, joining North Korea and Somalia.

In March 2012, Peter Ford, a veteran foreign correspondent for Christian Science Monitor, published an article entitled "In China, reporting on Tibetan and Uighur unrest is nearly impossible."

This is just the media, but suspect our diplomats and intelligence even have less access and understanding of what is actually happening on the ground. Official statements from China are rejected immediately it seems, while statements from activist groups are quickly embraced as true.

I think the reality is we have little idea of what is actually happening in most parts of the world outside the very limited awareness zone of our Embassies. Most media representatives focus on whatever the cool story of the year is and report to influence instead of reporting to inform the public.

Just being aware of this should encourage us to stop and question our understanding before we even start considering our potential positions or responses to these incidents.

[davidbfpo]

Thanks to a "lurker" two Chinese articles, first a report which follows the human angle:http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2...t_16466718.htm

Then an editorial, with a interesting, if odd comparison between terrorism in China compared to elsewhere. Plus a frank admission, I think:

The terrorist activities are committed mainly under the influence of terrorist thought and partly because of dissatisfaction with local governments and the Han people.

Link:http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/77...l#.UYJiAKLvvfJ

[Dayuhan]

I think the reality is we have little idea of what is actually happening in most parts of the world outside the very limited awareness zone of our Embassies.

"Very limited" is too kind. Maybe "negligible", or "minute"?