This story shows the extreme difficulty of regular troops and law enforcement personnel in tracking down possible and avowed jihadis. Chinese Uighur only make up 6,000 of China's 20 million Muslims.
The story of the Uighur terrorist threat, and its influence in an era of the Islamic State, is at best complex. Despite a pledge to “oppose coupling terrorism with any specific ethnic group or religion,” the post-9/11 influence of first al-Qaeda and now the Islamic State has given Beijing incentive to do exactly the opposite. Uighur extremists that embrace the TIP-led cause are seen as a direct threat to China’s stability and human security.
Russia is facing a similar threat.
Read full story @ Counterterrorism or Repression? China Takes on Uighur Militants
The story of the Uighur terrorist threat, and its influence in an era of the Islamic State, is at best complex. Despite a pledge to “oppose coupling terrorism with any specific ethnic group or religion,” the post-9/11 influence of first al-Qaeda and now the Islamic State has given Beijing incentive to do exactly the opposite. Uighur extremists that embrace the TIP-led cause are seen as a direct threat to China’s stability and human security.
Russia is facing a similar threat.
Read full story @ Counterterrorism or Repression? China Takes on Uighur Militants
