Another piece that was published in Chinese this week, this time for BBC 中文 about the incident in Urumqi this past week as Xi Jinping was finishing up his tour of the province. I have re-published the Chinese at the top and the English version below. I did a few interviews around this including for South China Morning Post and the Associated Press. I also spoke to Global Post, Radio France Info and Asharq al Awsat about foreign fighters and Syria.
評論：新疆襲擊與中國對策
潘圖奇認為，烏魯木齊火車站的爆炸案，顯示新疆局勢惡化。
4月30日發生在新疆的襲擊，正值中國國家主席習近平結束在自治區的訪問。在那裏，習近平說新疆是中國「反恐與保持社會穩定的前線。」過去一年，新疆的暴力事件不斷增加，這次發生在烏魯木齊火車站的襲擊，再次凸顯了新疆的問題在升級。
雖然官方尚未公布此次襲擊的所有細節，但報道指出，兩名襲擊者在出站口接人處持刀砍殺群眾，同時引爆爆炸裝置。這其中，一名襲擊者被認定為來自阿克蘇的維族人色地爾丁-沙吾提。今年，在阿克蘇就已經發生過了幾起事件。
報道稱，這起事件已經造成三人死亡，其中兩名為襲擊者，第三人為普通路人。在新疆，這樣攜帶爆炸物品和使用道具的襲擊風格，已經不是第一次發生了。不過之前，類似的襲擊通常針對國家機關，也不都發生在首府烏魯木齊。但周三的襲擊發生在習近平結束新疆行之時，使得其影響力加大，也反映出這一已經被他多次提到的話題，仍然是中國一重大議題。
核心問題尚未解決
事件發生在習近平巡視新疆的最後一天。
無論是針對新疆國家機關的襲擊，還是在北京和昆明的事件，或是報道說維吾爾人不斷試圖逃離中國至中亞或者東南亞，這些都說明，過去一年，中國的邊疆問題正在持續升級。
儘管在過去的襲擊中，襲擊者也會為了達到目的而甘願死亡，但中國媒體所描述的襲擊者在身上捆綁炸彈進行襲擊，還是一個新的現象。不過這也反映出，維族人認為，他們無法通過之前的襲擊措施傳遞自己的信息。
中國新疆問題的核心，是維吾爾群體感到異化與權利被剝奪。如果你去新疆走一遭，你會聽到當地人說自己沒有從國家受惠，並抱怨不斷湧入新疆的漢族人才是新疆財富的受益者云云。他們抱怨國家摧毀他們的文化，並且將喀什的舊城當作這一指責的例證。
目前，中國政府的反應是「雙軌制」的：大量的經濟投資和強硬的安全打壓。在習近平訪問期間，他到訪了喀什和水果工廠，這一「雙軌制」的信息，也在他的訪問期間不斷重現。
中國該怎麼做?
中國當局加強了在新疆的戒備。
自從習近平上任以來，他已經反覆多次地講過中國的恐怖主義問題，並且新設了一個國家安全委員會，一個看似將恐怖主義當作工作一部分的中央安全機構。在中國邊界外，習近平也曾提出了「新絲綢之路」這一想法。這是一個從新疆至中亞的經貿走廊，也是一個部分關於改善新疆經濟狀況的想法。
目前的這一策略也與過去的努力相似，且這樣的策略比2010年的更加明確。當時的策略是在2009年那起導致200多人死亡的烏魯木齊襲擊後實行的。在那次襲擊後，北京對新疆自治區的領導層作了大批的更換，並且明確了將經濟發展作為焦點。
然而，儘管政府方面對此十分關注，他們的努力似乎並未得到回報。相反，新疆的暴力事件持續上升，不斷地發展，也開始蔓延到新疆以外的地區。
目前，人們對新疆的預測並不樂觀。事故的嚴重程度和發展正在變得更加糟糕，並且任何經濟策略不會立竿見影。與此同時，公眾對新疆問題的憤怒與關切，以及由新疆而起的恐怖主義行動正變得更甚。
對中國政府而言，究竟該如何處理這些問題，答案是十分複雜的。一方面，他們要不斷地找到讓維族人感到自己是當代中國的「持份者」；另一方面，北京方面還要找到應對愈發明顯和不斷隨機發生的恐怖襲擊的方法。
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聯絡薦言
The attack in Xinjiang comes as President Xi Jinping completes a visit to the province in which he spoke of it being ‘the front line in anti-terrorism and maintaining social stability.’ Coming after a year in which violence in the province has been increasing, the incident at Urumqi train station highlights once again how the problems in the province are escalating.
While not all the details around the incident are available at the moment, official reports indicate that a pair of attackers armed with knives detonated explosives outside the exit of Urumqi South train station. One of the attackers was identified as an ethnic Uighur called Sedierding Shawuti from Aksu, a part of the province that has seen a number of incidents take place this year. Three people have been reported killed, two assailants and a third bystander. The style of attack, involving explosives and individuals using knives is something that has been seen before in the province, though usually it seems to be more targeted at symbols of state authority and it does not take place in Urumqi. The fact that the attack comes as Xi Jinping is concluding his trip to the province only increases the impact and highlights how the very problems he had come to speak about continue to be a major issue.
In Xinjiang over the past year problems have been escalating. Be this in terms of attacks against state authority in Xinjiang, incidents linked to the province in Beijing and Kunming or increasing reports of ethnic Uighurs (a Turkic minority mostly resident in Xinjiang) trying to flee the country into Central Asia or Southeast Asia. The escalation now of an attack involving individuals who according to local reports were using bombs strapped to their persons is new, though in previous attacks it has certainly seemed as though individuals were expecting to die in pursuit of their act. This determination atop the previous incidents demonstrates a level of dedication by the individuals involved that is clearly founded in a sense of their message not getting through.
The key problem at the heart of China’s issues in Xinjiang is a sense of alienation and disenfranchisement amongst the Uighur community. Go around the province and you will find individuals who do not feel they benefit from the Chinese state and complain about in-flows to the province of ethnically Han Chinese who are perceived as being the primary beneficiaries of the province’s wealth. People complain about the state destroying their culture and point to the destruction of the old city of Kashgar as evidence.
The Chinese government’s response so far has been a dual track: heavy economic investment and a hardline security crackdown. Messages that resonated throughout President Xi’s visit, with him pictured talking to police officers in Kashgar and visiting fruit factories. Since President Xi came into power he has spoken repeatedly about terrorism as an issue, and also introduced a new National Security Council – a central security organ that seems to have terrorism as one of the issues it will focus on. Beyond China’s borders, he has spoken of the New Silk Road Economic belt, an economic and trade corridor that flows from the province into Central Asia and is in part about trying to improve the economic situation in the province.
The current strategic approach echoes previous efforts in the province, but was brought into clearer focus in the wake of a strategy that was introduced in 2010 in the wake of rioting in July 2009 in Urumqi that led to more than 200 deaths. There was a substantial change-over in leadership in the province, and a renewed economic focus in particular. But while the government is clearly very focused on the issue, it is not totally clear that what it has been doing has been paying off. Rather, violence in the province has continued, developed further and started to spread around the country.
The prognosis for Xinjiang at the moment is not positive. The level and tenor of incidents is getting worse and any economic strategy will not bear fruit for some time. Furthermore, public anger and concern around the problems in Xinjiang and terrorism emanating from the province is getting worse. The answer for the Chinese government is a complicated one that is founded in continuing to try to find ways to make Uighurs feel like they have a stake in modern China. At the same time, Beijing has to find ways of addressing the growing tenor and increasing random nature of terrorism attacks in China.
