Is Xinjiang (East Turkestan) Next?!

As far as the Uyghurs are concerned, Urumchi, the capital city of Xinjiang, has already been lost to the Han Chinese. In this modern metropolis, only about 10% of the populace is Uyghur. The Chinese government has literally dumped millions of Han Chinese into the city to peacefully destroy the Uyghur culture and people.

Lost cause: Urumchi.

But in the historic and fabled cities of Kashgar (Kashi) and Hotan, the Uyghur influence is still strong. The Han are doing their best to annihilate Kashgar as well, installing the country's largest Mao statue in the central square, razing traditional Uyghur neighborhoods, and building drab concrete shopping malls/office buildings/apartment blocks over the fresh rubble.

Kashgar's Id Kah mosque-- largest in China.

The Chinese government recently announced that a 19 year old Uyghur girl tried to bring down a China Southern airliner with a vial of kerosene. Security experts doubt the government's claim, and many believe it is being used as a pretense to clamp down on any possible Uyghur agitators before the Olympics.

Fly the friendly skies.

The government also claimed that in January, it killed more than a dozen men in the Pamirs just south of Kashgar (near Karakul Lake) in a East Turkestan Islamic Movement terror camp which was stocked with arms and explosives. The 19 year old girl was supposedly avenging the January raid.

Terror (allegedly) lurks near this serene road.

In light of the 2008 Lhasa Uprising, word is slowly leaking out that China has imposed a 10 pm curfew in Kashgar and Hotan. Police, paramilitary, and army troops are making their presence known. Curfew violators have been quickly snatched, detained, and questioned.

The Uyghurs' grievance list is just as long as the Tibetans'. Chances are high that the Uyghurs of western and southern Xinjiang will rise up soon.

Skybox seat overlooking chaos.

CKY