China's high-stakes war on terror

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3223939.stm

In China's remote north-western province of Xinjiang, Muslim faithful stream into the Id Kah mosque in Kashgar, 3,500 kilometres from Beijing.
But to answer the call to prayer in Xinjiang, home to 11m Muslims, is to enter the latest battleground in China's war against terrorism.

As worshippers bow towards Mecca, their devotion is clear. It is the form that devotion might take which worries the Chinese authorities.

The top official in Xinjiang, Communist Party secretary Wang Lequan, spelled out his priorities.

"Religious extremism is one of the three forces in Xinjiang that we are making great efforts to fight against," he said.

"The other two are ethnic splittism and violent terrorism. Of the three, religious extremist forces account for the most part of our efforts."

To that end, the authorities have tightened their control on religion, instituting a programme of patriotic education for the imams in all mosques in Xinjiang.

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