The oldest section of Kashgar, in the Xinjiang region of western China, is the heart of Uighur culture, but it is being razed for modernization projects. Alan Chin for The New York TimesFrom The New York Times:
KASHGAR, China — Ali the tour guide seemed nice enough and his English flowed with grammatical perfection — a useful attribute in a city where most people speak a Turkic language that sounds nothing like Chinese.
“Sure, I will take you wherever you want to go, but first I have to call my friend and see if he will drive us,” Ali said, turning away. After a quick exchange, he hung up the phone and politely announced that his friend was actually a government minder who would soon be arriving to guide the would-be clients away from any potential trouble.
The destination his “friend” had in mind? The airport, where the reporters, subject to a ban on foreign journalists, would be escorted onto the next flight out of town.
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My Comment: We (in the West) view China the same way that we viewed the Soviet Union. One big country filled with the same people.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Even in mainly "Han" China, there are distinct differences between different provinces. I was first exposed to it by the people in Fujian Province .... who were always resentful of the people in the North. When the Tiananmen massacre occurred, the soldiers were mainly from other provinces .... with most coming from the West and Mongol territories.
The common justification for the crackdown that occurred during (and after) the Tiananmen massacre, was that if the Chinese Government did not react, China would splinter into numerous groups. Again .... playing the ethnic card.
China has every right to be fearful of ethnic strife .... and if it is to start, it will be in the border regions of the West of the country. The Chinese Government knows that, the people in these regions know that, and the Chinese people themselves know that.