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China - Source: ONE News -
Related
Rioting erupted in China's restive far west Xinjiang region,
killing three people when locals burned vehicles and blocked
traffic in the regional capital Urumqi, the state news agency
reported.
Here are some facts about the region.
- Xinjiang in China's far northwest is the country's largest provincial-level administrative unit by area. It covers one-sixth of the country, but is relatively sparsely populated with a population of around 20 million.
- It is home to eight million Uighurs, a Turkic, largely Islamic people who share linguistic and cultural bonds with Central Asia. Many resent the growing Han Chinese economic dominance in Xinjiang, as well as government controls on religion and culture.
- Along with Tibet, Xinjiang is one of the most politically sensitive regions in China, and in both cases the government has sought to maintain its grip by controlling religious and cultural life while also vowing economic growth and prosperity.
- Xinjiang was hit by some attacks before and during last year's Olympic Games in Beijing. Chinese security officials blamed the violence on independence-seeking Uighur militants. Sixteen armed police were killed in a bomb and stabbing attack in the far western city of Kashgar.
- The government has accused militant Uighurs of working with Islamist militant group al Qaeda to bring about an independent East Turkestan by violent means.
- Human rights groups say China has used its support for the US-led fight against al Qaeda to justify a wider crackdown on Uighurs, including arbitrary arrests, closed-door trials and use of the death penalty.
- Xinjiang borders Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. It has abundant oil reserves and is China's largest natural gas producing region.
- Seventeen Uighur Chinese nationals were detained at the United States' military prison at Guantanamo Bay, after being swept up in security operations following the US-led invasion of Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001, hijacking attacks.
- Four of the Uighur detainees in Guantanamo were recently released to Bermuda. Their lawyers said the four men never took hostile action against the United States. The other 13 are also looking for a country to take them after the United States found no basis to keep holding them.
