China's Far West provinces (inc. Tibet)

[JarodParker]

I am puzzled at the citing of 'the 50,000 Chinese workers in Algeria and elsewhere in Northern Africa'.
davidbfpo

I don't know about North Africa, but there are a ton of Chinese workers in sub-Sahara Africa. During a recent trip to the horn, I was surprised at the sheer number of Chinese nationals participating in various infrastructure projects at every level from business admin types to heavy machinery operators. Some entrepreneurs even left their construction jobs to open up their own martial arts studios, restaurants, etc. From what I was told/saw the workers usually rent a small place in the rough part of town and share the cost of rent and utilities while sending the bulk of their income to family members back home. They’ve even got accustomed to chewing kot.

NPR: Army Of Shopowners Paved China's Way In Africa

Africans marvel, fret at China's hard workers

But he wonders about the Chinese practice of flying planeloads of laborers into a war-weary, politically fragile society where seven out of 10 adults under 30 has no job.
Algerian officials say the country had 19,000 Chinese workers in 2007, mostly builders and craftsmen implementing parts of a $200 billion national economic development plan. Some Algerians believe the real number is several times that.

[Ken White]

Busy people...

[Ron Humphrey]

When you can send a couple hundred million out and still break even for the largest population in the world.

HMMM

[Jedburgh]

EWC, 16 Jul 09: Ethno-Diplomacy: The Uyghur Hitch in Sino-Turkish Relations

Beginning in 1949, China responded to so-called Uyghur separatism and the quest for Eastern Turkestan (Xinjiang) independence as a domestic problem. Since the mid-1990s, however, when it became aware of the international aspects of this problem, Beijing has begun to pressure Turkey to limit its support for Uyghur activism. Aimed not only at cultural preservation but also at Eastern Turkestan independence, Uyghur activism remained unnoticed until the 1990s, despite the establishment in 1971 of Sino-Turkish diplomatic relations. It has gathered momentum as a result of China's post-Mao opening, the Soviet disintegration, increased Uyghur migration, the growing Western concern for human rights, and the widespread use of the Internet. Until the mid-1990s Turkey's leaders managed to defy Chinese pressure because they sympathized with the Uyghurs, were personally committed to their leader Isa Yusuf Alptekin, and hoped to restore Turkish influence in Central Asia. By late 1995, however, both that hope and Alptekin were dead, and China was becoming an influential, self-confident economic power. At this time Ankara chose to comply with Beijing's demands, which were backed by increased trade, growing military collaboration, and China's veiled threats of support for Kurdish nationalism. Consequently, Turkish Uyghurs suffered a serious blow, and some of their organizations had to relocate abroad, outside Beijing's reach. Nonetheless, Uyghur activism continues in Turkey and has become even more pronounced worldwide. Possibly less concerned about the Uyghur "threat" than it suggests, Beijing may simply be using the Uyghurs to intimidate and manipulate Turkey and other governments, primarily those in Central Asia.