Some believe China and Central Asia do to its proximity to Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran has become a hotbed of terrorist activity.

Jiangdu (a Muslim seperatist group) operates in Xinjiang and have been trying to destabilise the Chinese government since the 1980′s.

It is noted that Jiangdu was seeking financial assistance at the same time al Qaeda was looking to expand its influence in the region.

Insurgents from Jiangdu travelled to bi Laden’s training camps in Afghanistan for training and continued to recieve financial support.

I did hear about the Yining uprising and some similar events in Xinjiang, but didn’t include them as I didn’t consider them terrorist attacks. Whether they are examples of state terror is another story.

One thing the writer of the post missed: In 1996-1997 there was a major uprising in Ghulja (Yining) in Xinjiang – some people estimated 10,000 people rioted. Several hundred were injured, and estimates range from 15 (Chinese media) to 400 (Uighur groups) killed. This was the largest disturbance anywhere in Xinjiang or Tibet since 1948.

Naturally the entire thing was covered up.

This is not to say that there’s going to be civil war tomorrow, but it does suggest a somewhat different picture (of a peaceful, stable, economically dynamic China) from what we often see in the western news media, and what the CCP would like western investors believe.

China is a big country, as Bush once pointed out. And it has quite a few weak points with regards to vital infrastructure, whether you’re talking about pipelines from Xinjiang or incidents like the Harbin water disaster. In China’s vast population there are millions of discontented and angry people, and it wouldn’t take very many of them to wreak absolute havoc.