China's Far West provinces (inc. Tibet)

[AdamG]

Stress fractures.

More than five people are dead after an angry mob attacked a police station in western China. According to Chinese media reports, a mob attacked the police building in Hotan in the Xinjiang region, taking hostages and setting it on fire. Paramilitary police are said to have then launched a counter attack in which several hostage takers were killed.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-07-1...tation/2799554

[davidbfpo]

AdamG,

Such incidents as you posted above are regular occurrences in China, particularly in the rural areas, although sometimes in the urban areas and notably in Urumchi in July 2009. I cannot readily find a reference source.

[Fuchs]

You can expect to have many anecdotes and episodes in a 1+ billion people nation. It takes statistics to improve observations.

[bourbon]

Yes, disturbances are a regular occurrence in rural China, but Xinjiang is a flashpoint. Xinjiang is going to be China’s future Achilles Heel, if it isn’t already.

[davidbfpo]

On ICSR's blog 'Jihad in China', which opens with;

Islamist terrorism and extremism in China is a very difficult subject to research. A general sense of paranoia casts a shadow over the it and a great paucity in direct and accurate information means that people often have very little that is empirical or tangible to add.

None of this is to say that the problem does not exist.

(Ends with)It seems that there is some sort of a terrorist threat to China from violent Islamist networks. But what remains unclear is to what degree this threat is able to conduct any sorts of operations within China or to what degree al Qaeda and affiliate networks are able (or want) to manipulate it for their own ends. Currently, the jihad in China seems more aspirational than operational. At the same time, if events in Hotan are confirmed, it looks like the tinderbox of ethnic friction and disenfranchisement that might offer an outlet for such extremism to latch on to continues to exist.

Link:http://icsr.info/blog/Jihad-in-China

[AdamG]

The Chinese people are increasingly frustrated with the Chinese Communist Party and the political situation in China is "very, very delicate," U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke said on Wednesday.

"I do believe that there is a power of the people, and there is a growing frustration among the people over the operations of government, corruption, lack of transparency, and issues that affect the Chinese people on a daily basis that they feel are being neglected," Locke told NPR's Steve Inskeep during a Wednesday interview, part of a media blitz Locke is conducting during his visit to Washington.

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/po..._very_delicate

[AdamG]

China cut off internet in area of Tibetan unrest

Internet connections and mobile phone signals were cut for 30 miles around scene of clashes in Sichuan, state media reports

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...tibetan-unrest

See also
http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ead.php?t=5097

[AdamG]

At least 12 people were killed Tuesday in riots near the Chinese city of Kashgar in the restive northwestern region of Xinjiang, state media reported. The report provided no details on how the violence began, but there have been periodic outbreaks of antigovernment violence in Xinjiang Province by restless members of the Uighur ethnic group.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/29/wo....html?src=recg

[Ray]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...?newsfeed=true

I appears China is getting a bit uncomfortable with Pakistani sponsored terrorism.

[Ray]

Chinese authorities have asked Pakistan to hand over members of the extremist East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) believed to be operating out of the country, naming six terror suspects in a list issued on Friday that described the group as the "most direct and real safety threat that China faces".

The six men were “core members” of the ETIM, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement. They were identified as Nurmemet Memetmin, Abdulkyum Kurban, Paruh Tursun, Tursunjan Ebibla, Nurmemet Raxit and Mamat Imin Nurmamat – all Uighurs, the ethnic Turkic Muslim minority from China’s far-western Xinjiang region which borders Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

While the ministry's statement stopped short of stating directly their links to terror camps in Pakistan – it only mentioned "a South Asian country” – a separate statement from the Chinese government issued last year identified Mr. Memetmin as having trained terrorists in Pakistan to carry out attacks in the city of Kashgar that left at least 20 people dead.

Mr. Nurmamat was also believed to be in Pakistan, according to Chinese analysts. The Ministry of Public Security said he had fled China after an explosion triggered accidentally at a bomb-making terror unit in Shache, Xinjiang that was plotting an attack in October 2009.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/interna...cle3287906.ece

[JMA]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...?newsfeed=true

I appears China is getting a bit uncomfortable with Pakistani sponsored terrorism.

Don't blame them, but what will they do about it?

[bourbon]

China seeks military bases in Pakistan, by Amir Mir. Asia Times, 26 October 2011.

ISLAMABAD - While Pakistan wants China to build a naval base at its southwestern seaport of Gwadar in Balochistan province, Beijing is more interested in setting up military bases either in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan or in the Federally Administered Northern Areas (FANA) that border Xinjiang province.

The Chinese desire is meant to contain growing terrorist activities of Chinese rebels belonging to the al-Qaeda-linked East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) that is also described as the Turkistani Islamic Party (TIP).

The Chinese Muslim rebels want the creation of an independent Islamic state and are allegedly being trained in the tribal areas of Pakistan. According to well-placed diplomatic circles in Islamabad, Beijing's wish for a military presence in Pakistan was discussed at length by the political and military leadership of both countries in recent months as China (which views the Uyghur separatist sentiment as a dire threat) has become ever-more concerned about Pakistan's tribal areas as a haven for radicals.

Beijing believes that similar to the United States military presence in Pakistan, a Chinese attendance would enable its military to effectively counter the Muslim separatists who have been operating from the tribal areas of Pakistan for almost a decade, carrying out cross-border terrorist activities in trouble-stricken Xinjiang province.

[davidbfpo]

An insight into a region we rarely know much about, although I expect we've noted this international group and muttered "So, what?".

I refer to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (the Chinese-instigated regional grouping encompassing nearby Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Russia).

According to the analysts and diplomats at the table, China's influence is based on cooperation, development and mutual interests. China's 'soft power' (a term that is not popular in Beijing) is its ability to let countries develop at their own rate. When China looks to the region, it sees nations that are beset with problems, but ones that China cannot and should not address. Instead, Beijing has constructed the SCO.

The purpose of the SCO is not to supplant the EU, US or Russia, but rather to create a mechanism. We were told our tendency to view the SCO as a 'NATO of the East' — a view we pointedly said we did not concur with — was merely a product of a Western bias built on the assumption that some sort of China threat lurks behind every corner. The SCO is young and regionally focused. Afghanistan, they reassured us, was something the SCO had always been concerned about and would address in the future.

So far, it has done very little.

Link:http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/post/...-its-role.aspx

There is a telling couple of phrases at the end, which i will copy to the main thread on China as an emerging superpower.

China is the world's foremost rising power and her influence will be felt wherever she pops up. As we sat down to a sumptuous meal around a large garlanded table after our discussion, our new Chinese friends gave us no sense of having really thought through the implications of what their newfound accidental influence means.

The impression was rather that China is stumbling onto power it does not want, and with which it doesn't know what to do.

[Ray]

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/KL19Ag01.html

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/0...74R02M20110528

http://observerlhs-observations.blog...xperience.html

I believe it is now done!

[davidbfpo]

Since the disorder and crackdown in 2009 the situation in Urumchi has changed according to visitors. Within the police there was criticism of the sizeable Uighur minority in the police for failing to respond properly, tension remains high and the amount of inter-communal interaction - outside work - has fallen off, e.g. eating out. State institutions require staff to provide security 24/7 and to ensure there is a capability to work beyond normal operating hours (hospitals, schools etc).

Some see a difference between long established Han residents and the "incomer" Han, both legal and the substantial numbers who are undocumented and are less restrained in tolerance of other cultures.

As the population balance changes some within state security envisage increasing stability, citing when a minority dips below 10% locally national experience shows that disputes end.

In the 2000 Census in Urumchi / Urumqi found Uighurs were 12.8% and Han Chinese 75.3%; I would have expected this has altered since then.

Link for demography:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xinjiang

[SWJ Blog]

Hard Love and Empty Promises: China’s Domestic Counterinsurgency in Xinjiang

Entry Excerpt:



--------
Read the full post and make any comments at the SWJ Blog.
This forum is a feed only and is closed to user comments.

[davidbfpo]

IMO this is the first such attempt to hijack a plane:

Air crew and passengers on Friday foiled the attempted hijacking of an aircraft with 100 people on board in China's far west Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, local police said. At least ten people were injured. Two flight policemen were seriously injured, head attendant and seven passengers were slightly injured in the fight with hijackers, police said

Link:http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/ch..._131684620.htm

Now are the suspects locals or infiltrators from Pakistan?

[Bill Moore]

IMO this is the first such attempt to hijack a plane

Perhaps, but in the past China has gone to great lengths to suppress any news covering their internal security issues. They have ongoing challenges with the Uyghers (a Muslim ethnic group in Western China), and some Uyghers (very few) have established ties with Islamists in Pakistan and Afghanistan, but that distorts the real issue which more similiar to the ethnic/cultural conflict/tension China has with Tibet.

Over the years there have been several bombings in some parts of China (buses were a popular target). Who knows what else is going on in this regard. This may be the first hijacking attempt, but I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't. I doubt we'll ever hear the full story, or Paul Harvey's "the rest of the story" about this episode.

[Bill Moore]

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_p...89.html#victim

U.S. State Department Travel Advise (politically correct, but fairly accurate)

Violent crime isnot common in China, but violent demonstrations can erupt without warning and in past years there have been somefatal bombings and explosions which could pose a random threat to foreign visitors in the area. The vast majority of these local incidents are related to disputes over land seizures, social issues, employment disputes, environmental problems, or conflicts involving ethnic minorities. Some incidents have become large-scale and involved criminal activity, including hostage taking and vandalism

.

http://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/violen...jiang-province

Violence Escalates in China’s Xinjiang Province SEP 2011

The Chinese government almost always attributes attacks in Xinjiang to jihadist ideology and foreign-linked terrorist groups, while pro-Uighur organizations almost always explain violence in Xinjiang as a local byproduct of the government’s policies. For example, the Chinese government called the Hotan incident a “severe terrorist attack,”[2] while the World Uighur Congress[3] blamed the violence on Chinese authorities forcefully breaking up a “peaceful demonstration.”

http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=295&catid=8

TERRORISM AND BOMBINGS IN CHINA

Explosions, both accidental and intentional, are common in China. In 1998, there were 2,500 bomb blasts in a nine month period. Among the 30 bombings in a 10 day period in 2001, was a blast at a McDonald’s in the tourist town of Xian that killed five people and injured 28, an explosion at a French department store in Qindao that killed and injured no one and 23 blasts in the Guangdong port cities of Zhanjiang and Jiangmen

.

Many explosions are not related to terrorism. Easy-to-obtain industrial explosives are often used in attacks blamed on gangsters, jilted lovers and others and used to settle grievances. In past years, disgruntled Chinese citizens have set off explosions near buildings or on buses. Such "sudden incidents", as China refers to them, underscore broader government worries about stability in the world's second-largest economy, with a widening gap between rich and poor and growing anger at corruption and over environmental issues. In March 2001, 108 people were killed in explosions at four apartment housed in Shijazhuang, Hebei Province by a man who was seeking revenge against relatives that angered him

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/ch..._131510187.htm

China publishes names of six terrorists APR 2012

The six were all core members of the terrorist group "East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM)," according to a statement issued Thursday by the Ministry of Public Security.

They have participated in the organization, and planned and executed terrorist acts against Chinese targets within and outside the country, the ministry said in the statement on its official website.

http://www.un.org/sc/committees/1267/NSQE08802E.shtml

From the UN

QE.E.88.02. EASTERN TURKISTAN ISLAMIC MOVEMENT APR 2011

In recent years, ETIM has set up bases outside China to train terrorists and has dispatched its members to China to plot and execute terrorist acts including bombing buses, cinemas, department stores, markets and hotels. ETIM has also undertaken assassinations and arson attacks and has carried out terrorist attacks against Chinese targets abroad. Among the violent acts committed by ETIM members were the blowing up of the warehouse of the Urumqi Train Station on 23 May 1998, the armed looting of 247,000 RMB Yuan in Urumqi on 4 February 1999, an explosion in Hetian City, Xinjiang, on 25 March 1999 and violent resistance against arrest in Xinhe County, Xinjiang, on 18 June 1999. These incidents resulted in the deaths of 140 people and injuries to 371.

At the beginning of March 2008, ETIM sent its operatives to China in an attempt to kidnap foreign reporters, tourists and athletes. This cell covertly collected various materials for making explosives, identified technicians with expertise in making guns and explosives, looked for suicide bombers and attempted to carry out terrorist acts through suicide bombings in Urumqi and other cities inside China. On 26 March 2008, Chinese authorities arrested several cell members and seized a large number of explosives, detonators and other explosive devices.

Hopefully the above provides some context.

[davidbfpo]

An Indian analyst's commentary 'Alienated People and an Overcautious state in China’s Xinjiang':http://www.idsa.in/idsacomments/Alie...RgDDu4.twitter