China's Own Islamic 'Extremists'

Kashgar, the ancient silk road oasis and caravan way station, is again tense. In the bazaars, Pakistani traders in long cotton tunics haggle with Uighur carpet dealers while Tajik merchants in black woolen caps test the bristles on Chinese-made toothbrushes. Mention the Afghan war and people glance around for spies. "I'm afraid to speak; go away," hisses a fig dealer. It was this way in the late 19th century when Russia and Britain built spooky consulates here during their Great Game contest for influence in Central Asia. Today, Beijing fears that fighting in Afghanistan will encourage separatism in Xinjiang among the...