According to an interview with a Chinese security official in Xinhua news, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement is "one of the main security worries to the Olympics." The fear of this organization was highlighted on Monday when two Uighur men in the city of Kashi (in Xinjiang) killed 16 policemen. The Uighur population in northwest China is predominantly Muslim, and the Chinese authorities have claimed that it poses a serious terrorist threat. In March, there was an attempt by the East Turkestan Movement to sabotage a Southern Airlines flight. In recent weeks, there have been "a spate of smaller bombings or attempted bombings elsewhere in China." The New York Times article on the issue (Ambush in China Raises Concerns as Olympics Near) reminds readers that this attack could be "the worst eruption of ethnic violence on Chinese soil since the early 1990s, when China blamed Muslim separatists for a spate of violent attacks." Apparently, 82 people (through a crackdown on Uighur separatists) have been arrested this year on allegations of terror plots connected to the Olympics. On July 29, this blog discussed briefly the Turkestan Islamic Party and their threats to the Olympics. The Turkestan Islamic Party is another Uighur Muslim separatist group that claimed responsibility for recent explosions. In contrast to the NYT, the Globe and Mail/Reuters featured the article, "China Suspects Bent on Jihad." This article, in contrast to the NYT, looks at the image of the Uighurs as religious extremists and discusses the attack on the police officers from the more stereotypical perspective that the movement is religiously motivated rather than politically desperate. A top official is quoted in the news piece as saying that "religion is more important to them than their own life or peace for their mothers, and so they set out to perform Jihad."The U.S. State Department has listed the East Turkistan Islamic Movement as a terrorist organization with links to al-Qaeda and "the international jihadist movement."
