OT, but., what do you think of Xinjiang?

Submitted by Peter Herz (United States), Jul 14, 2009 at 16:55

Dr. Pipes:

I know this is off-topic, but do you have any response to the recent riots in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in China (or, Sharki Turkistan, to the spearatists there)? It is a place where totalitarian decay, restive ethnicities, Islamic militancy, and the fate of a nuclear proving ground come together. Someone with time ought to do some research into it. If you need any help with Chinese sources, I'd be glad to lend a hand with translation.

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Daniel Pipes replies:

I have long been interested in the Uighurs topic but have only written sparingly on them and not at all about the current situation.

See my review of The Ili Rebellion: The Moslem Challenge to Chinese Authority in Xinjiang, 1944-1949 and also "Moscow's Next Worry: Ethnic Turks."