China claims to be a “big family” of peoples. Xinjiang, in far western China, is a test of that bond. The family is not faring well. Xinjiang has been home to repeated outbreaks of violence, pitting Muslim Uighurs against police and Han Chinese. Reporting from this region is not easy. I was stopped and detained by Chinese police during visits to the far west the last two years.

2005

McClatchy, October 1, China slams a lid on news from its western frontier

McClatchy, September 10, In China, a Uighur rocker navigates two divided worlds

McClatchy, August 7, ‘Parkour’ sport eases divisions between Uighurs and Han Chinese

McClatchy, January 23, Are Muslim Uighurs fleeing China to join the Islamic State?

2004

McClatchy, Sept. 23, Rights groups blast life sentence for Uighur scholar in China

McClatchy, Sept. 19, Uighur terrorism thwarting China’s push to draw tourists to country’s wild west

McClatchy, March 1, 29 die in rail station attack that China calls terrorism; Uighurs blamed