WHERE'S CHARLIE WILSON WHEN YOU NEED HIM?:

Risky business in China's west (David Nguyen, 1/05/06, Asia Times)

Xinjiang and the neighboring provinces of Qinghai and Gansu are home to most of China's Muslim minorities, which include the Hui, Kazakhs, Salars and Uighurs. These minorities, with the exception of the Hui, have cultural and religious affinity with their Central Asian neighbors, who share similar languages and histories. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the opening of borders led to an increase in contact between Xinjiang and the new Central Asian states.

The late 1990s saw an increase of terrorist activities in Central Asia, particularly in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, where Islamic groups such as the Hizb ut-Tahrir and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan gained popularity and became involved in a number of bombings and kidnappings. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization was formed as the Shanghai Five (there are now six members) in 1996 to address common security issues, which include anti-terrorism and countering the rise of militant Islam. Is this organization enough to stem the tide of militant Islam, especially when globalization and information transcend national borders? [...]

As trade among China, Central Asia and the Middle East increases, so does the possibility of the militant interpretations of Islam becoming popular among Muslim minorities. Since the 1990s, there has been a resurgence in Islamic identity and the acceptance of Wahhabism and other militant forms of Islam around the world. Separatist movements, led by rebel groups that were influenced by Wahhabism in the Russian Caucasus and southern Philippines, intensified during this period.

Separatist groups in the Central Asian states have stated their goals to create a new Islamic state in the Ferghana Valley, while in South Asia, Pakistan continues having difficulties in containing Islamic militants. Meanwhile, the United States and Western Europe face a broader conflict with a multinational, stateless, organized group of militants known as al-Qaeda, which is believed to have ties with all of the previously mentioned separatist movements.

May as well make the WoT China's problem.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 4, 2006 9:20 AM