Spotlight: China's Ethnic Riots

摘要

Xinjiang is China's most exotic province. With a population of 20 mil- lion, it is three times the size of Texas and stud- ded with mountainsrnand deserts.rnUighurs, who arernMuslim and of Turkic origin, are the single larg- est ethnic group in Xinjiang. But over the years, their culture has been threatened by a steady influx of Han Chinese. The rnresult: resentment andrnunrest. The past decadernhas seen bombings by suspectedrnUighur separatists and crackdowns by the Chinese authorities. At the time of last year's Beijing Olympics, an attack in the Xinjiang town of Kash-gar killed 17 Chinese police officers. But the region's most serious outbreak of violence took place in its capital, Urumqi, over three days beginning July 5, when rioting left at least 156 people dead and more than 1,000 wounded.