Beijing's central
authority has been under
increasing challenge from
Muslim separatists in the
Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous
Region of western China in
recent years. Although less well
known than the anti-Chinese
struggle in Tibet, the low-key
conflict which has been
simmering in Xinjiang since the
late 1980s has resulted in
significant loss of life and
reliably documented human
rights violations. In April 1990,
for example, Chinese
government forces reportedly
killed some 50 protestors in
putting down a five-day uprising
by religious extremists in the
Baren district south of Kashgar.
The Baren incident was followed
by several other outbreaks of
unrest throughout Xinjiang and
the authorities, for the first time,
admitted that independence
activists were responsible. Since
then, there have been steady
reports of bombings and
assassinations in urban centres
in Xinjiang, as well as three
separate bomb attacks in Beijing
in the spring of 1997 which were
attributed to Muslim separatists.
The Beijing bombings are
significant in that they marked
an expansion of the violent
campaign for independence in
Xinjiang into the Han Chinese
heartland. Attacks against
Chinese soldiers and officials, as
well as against perceived proBeijing
Muslim sympathizers,
continued in Xinjiang throughout
1997 amidst reports of
widespread street fighting and
the mass arrest of suspected
separatists.