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International Trade Plaza in Urumqi on Fire

So just one day after I claim, tongue firmly in cheek, that there is some sort of “fire” theme going on in Xinjiang – first, self-immolating Uyghurs in Beijing, then, a suicidal arsonist in Beitun, Urumqi’s International Trade Plaza bursts into flames.

The fire didn’t spread thanks to swift action by the fire department and still no word on the original cause. But seriously, Xinjiang… enough with the fire stories, okay?

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Comments 2

  1. swan wrote:

    I would like analysis of this article please entitled ‘Taliban force a China switch
    http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/KC06Ad01.html
    Thanks

    Posted 07 Mar 2009 at 5:42 am
  2. Porfiriy wrote:

    Hi Swan. Xinjiang and the Uyghurs are mentioned in the article but the bulk of it seems more oriented towards changes in China’s policy to protect national interests located in Pakistan.

    Seems that according to the article there are two broad factors which influence which Pakistani factions China puts its weight with: first, protection of Chinese interests in Pakistan and, second, assurances that Uyghur militants will not be trained to do anti-China work on Pakistani territory. Whereas Chinese support for anti-Soviet jihad originally caused Islamists in Afghanistan and the NWFP to want to stay on China’s good side, apparently the Taliban and other Pashtun forces are now less inclined to appease China with reassurances.

    However, changing attitudes towards the Chinese by Pakistani factions seems to be more evidenced by attacks on Chinese interests within Pakistan – such as hostage taking and the events leading up to the siege of Lal Masjid – more than increased support for Uyghur militants. What is interesting is that this author failed to mention the attempted hijacking that occurred on a China Southern flight about a year ago. The two people apprehended in relation to the incident apparently held Pakistani passports, and so could have been referenced by the author as at least one instance where Pakistani trained militants were making headway into China.

    Those are just some random thoughts on the subject. I’m going to have to take another closer look at it since it’s a pretty heavy article that covers a lot of ground. If I can think of anything solid I’ll write a post on it.

    Posted 11 Mar 2009 at 5:41 am