China crackdown fueling Xinjiang attacks

A new generation of militants
Human Rights Watch reported that 9.2 percent — or more than 1,000 — of the Uighurs in prison in 2001 were sentenced for state security crimes. The U.S.-based group said the figure came from a scholarly paper found in a Chinese Ministry of Justice compendium.

"Although Uighur militant groups in Xinjiang were thoroughly crushed in the 1990s, it seems that a new generation of militants has stepped up to take their place," Nicholas Bequelin, a researcher with Human Rights Watch's Asia Division, said about the recent violence.

"The attackers are young, and apparently even included two women in Kuqa — I believe a first in the recent history of violent militancy in the region," Bequelin added.

Yitzhak Shichor, a political scientist and China specialist at the University of Haifa in Israel, also thought the recent violence in Xinjiang was a sign that Chinese security forces have been overreacting. He said China frequently urges other nations to resolve disputes with negotiation and peaceful means. It should do the same in Xinjiang by working closer with the Uighur community and religious leaders, he said, though he doubted Beijing would take that approach.

"I think following the Olympics, there will be a crackdown in Xinjiang like never before," he said. "After the Olympics, they are going to settle accounts."

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