(Weekly Standard-FrontPageMagazine) Stephen Schwartz - The Uighurs (pronounced "Weeghers") are a Turkic people in the region of northwestern China that Beijing calls Xinjiang and the Uighurs call Eastern Turkestan. There are reportedly 22 Uighurs among those interned at Guantanamo Bay. China probably has more Muslims living outside a Muslim-ruled state than any other country. In addition to the Uighurs, a Chinese-speaking Muslim community of up to 20 million called the Hui also live in the northwest, who have been the object of extensive evangelism, going back a century, by Wahhabis from Arabia. Wahhabism in Chinese dress enjoys the backing of the Communist authorities. While ethnic suppression has driven some Uighurs toward al-Qaeda, official Chinese Islam promotes the Wahhabi ideology from which al-Qaeda sprang.
2004-06-18 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive