Foreign Policy Blogs

Xinjiang: Plane Incident

The New York Times and the Washington Post have reported that a plane flying from China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region to Beijing was forced to make an emergency landing last Friday because of a terrorist threat. Apparently, an Uighur woman had smuggled three bottles of gasoline on the plane, but was caught by policemen when she took them with her to the bathroom. It was unknown whether or not this incident was connected to the January police raid in the Xinjiang Province that targeted members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement. In that raid, in which two people were killed and fifteen others arrested, Chinese police claimed they found evidence of a planned attack on the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games.

 

Author

Patrick Frost

Patrick Frost recently graduated from New York University's Masters Program in Political Science - International Relations. His MA thesis analyzed the capabilities and objectives of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Central Asia and beyond and explored how these affected U.S. interests and policy.

Areas of Focus:
Eurasia, American Foreign Policy, Ideology, SCO