Chinas Wild West // Current TV. The twilight world of Chinas wild west. bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30344879 China says it is facing a growing threat from militant Islam. It is in the midst of a year-long crackdown on what it describes as terrorism driven by religious extremism. The campaign is focused on the western province of Xinjiang, home to Chinas Uighur ethnic minority, who are predominantly Muslim. This is a story about Chinas wild west, a place where different rules apply. Our driver and local guide is called Army. Many Chinese born in Chairman Maos era have names that are martial, patriotic or ideological. I guess Army is as good a name as any other. We meet in the high altitude air of Kashgar. Its two flights from Beijing, 2,000 miles away, much of it desert and mountain. Kashgar is the last of the legendary oasis towns on the Chinese side of the ancient silk road. Closer to Baghdad than to Beijing. Next stop Pakistan. Our flight is late in because it snowed overnight, the temperature dropping to minus 14C and turning the runway to ice. But an unforgiving winter is only the most ancient of Kashgars challenges. This city is also the front line in a tussle for 10 million Uighur souls. You can start charting the front line even as you leave the airport. The soldiers in khaki with hi-tech bayonets look straight through us foreigners, through the Han Chinese passengers and through the old Uighur women in shawls and fur coats. But young Uighur men are stopped and searched. We load our bags into Armys 4x4 and he passes over headscarves and maps, along with a flatbread the size of a dinner plate because we havent had time for lunch. He explains that though everyone here works on Kashgar time, which runs two hours behind the rest of China, wed better stick with Beijing time so as not to get confused. Eat your bread seeded side towards you, he advises, or youll offend local sensibilities. As we pull out into the traffic, Army explains that he grew up here in the 1960s and 70s. It was before the troubles between the Han Chinese and Uighur communities. Hes a Han but went to school with Uighurs and still has Uighur friends. Like every community, he shrugs, there are good people and bad people. https://youtube/watch?v=fGbGMIaGz1o
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 11:29:49 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015