Mobs attack XinJiang, PRC police station

First of all, terrorism has nothing to do with race. Second, the western minorities in China are of an admixture of Asian and Caucasian origins, which is easily recognisable by their look.

The Han Chinese has been living with the minorities (probably more than 50 different types) for hundreds or even thousands of years. The fact that the different ethnic groups have coexisted peacefully for all the time proves that people can live together with tolerance and respects irrespectives of differences in religion, language and culture. These people themselves have chosen living together in harmony over unending wars which will likely lead to a positive outcome for one side only at the expense of the other.

The only difference now is that there is now the question of the existence of both external forces with foreign backing, financially or otherwise, and internal elements that are not at all at ease to see this harmony continuing and are bent on creating mayhem one way or another to realize their political agenda.

airsuperiority said:

and put it this way, people in china are more concerned about tainted foods than people blowing themselves up, so in a sense, the manufacturers are bigger terrorists than they are LOL. if they really wanna make a difference, they should start producing their own milk powder business instead, and call it "Eastern Turkistan Jihiadis Tainted Milk Powder Manufacturering Inc." maybe they'll get somewhere by then

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ROFL, you've got a point there. The possibility of a radioactive Japan sent more fear into the hearts of the Chinese than any public bombing.

From the various points raised by other posters, here are what I think are key factors influencing terrorist activities in China:

1- Availability of weapons. Guns and explosives are very tightly controlled in China. The hukou system means that an Uighur terrorist isn't going to be able to just go into a store in rural Shanghai and buy fertilizer to make bombs with. Even if he can buy the ingredients in Xinjiang, it would be extremely difficult for him to smuggle it all the way to Shanghai or Beijing.

2- The goal of terrorism is to turn the population against the ruling authority, either by convincing the people that the government can't protect them, or by making the authorities crack down on the population and thus create more recruits for the terrorist organization. Neither of these goals are realistic in Han-dominated regions. A large, devastating act of terrorism like the 9/11 would give the CCP the perfect excuse to crush any and all dissent. Hell, from a strictly political point of view, such a tragedy would only strengthen the CCP's mandate to rule, not weaken it.

The above two reasons are why terrorism acts related to separatism is restricted to the regions where the terrorist organizations are based.

I think it is easy to over-analyses why terrorists have not managed a big attack in China and see things that are not there.

The main forms of terrorist threat comes from either international jihadists or native homegrown jihadist sympathizers.

There are many reasons why home grown terrorists have little backing, and I think many of these have already been pointed out by others already so I will not duplicate their efforts again. But I just like to add that one of the main reasons I think that there are attacks at all is because new groups are spawned, probably by leaders in foreign countries outside the reach of China's security forces (it is no accident that SCO stages counter-terrorism war games with the central asian republics).

Many of these new spawned cells are apprehended before they can launch an attack, I am sure you can all remember the brief announcements when a major cell is taken down), but some inevitably slip the net and manages to launch an attack.

However, because they lack local popular support (like the IRA for example), they are quickly identified and apprehended or killed once the security forces start looking for them. As such, very little is learnt by the parent terrorists, so they are limited to small scale, high-risk (pretty much suicide attacks in many cases, and I am sure they would be using suicide belts if they could make them. But since they can't, they just make do with what they can get their hands on, but it is quite clear that the attackers are not expecting to live by their choice of targets) attacks.

Thus the terrorist organisation is unable to 'train up' a core of experience and capable foot soldiers which are needed to carry out more sophisticated attacks.

However, having travel to and in China a bit, I can tell you first hand that the security situation is far more relaxed compared to the west. And if a well resourced and capable international terrorist organisation wanted to carry out a major attack on China, I think they will find it much easier going compared to the likes of America or the UK.

While it is true that such groups have little reason to strike at China when they hate the West and Russians far more, it would be dangerous to assume that China is somehow immune to terrorist attacks by its nature and let their guard down.

America once thought itself safe and untouchable too at home.

plawolf said:

However, having travel to and in China a bit, I can tell you first hand that the security situation is far more relaxed compared to the west. And if a well resourced and capable international terrorist organisation wanted to carry out a major attack on China, I think they will find it much easier going compared to the likes of America or the UK.

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That's not quite true. There are bag scanners at every train station I've been to, and even at subway stations in Shanghai and Beijing. No such measures exist in Canada, for example.

However, airport security feels more lax, though the same regulations exist.

solarz said:

That's not quite true. There are bag scanners at every train station I've been to, and even at subway stations in Shanghai and Beijing. No such measures exist in Canada, for example.

However, airport security feels more lax, though the same regulations exist.

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I am sure you have heard the phrase: Wai Song Nei Jin

solarz said:

That's not quite true. There are bag scanners at every train station I've been to, and even at subway stations in Shanghai and Beijing. No such measures exist in Canada, for example.

However, airport security feels more lax, though the same regulations exist.

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Is this a new measure? Last time I was back, which was just over a year ago, I took the train to Beijing to catch the flight with a full kitchen knife set and a big fancy wok that I bought in my main luggage (which might have blocked the knives from the scanner, but then you would expect them to want to open the luggage if much of what was inside was obscured by a huge metal object). I cannot remember if the bags passed any scanners, probably no as my memory isn't that bad, but even if it did pass through, no one thought to ask me to open my luggage.

There are the standard security measures and probably more so, as I distinctly remember being asked to put my bags through a scanner at a port once. But you can see it in the eyes and manner of the security staff - they are not expecting trouble and are largely going through the motions. Security in the US and UK are much more focused and mean business. Probably a little too much so sometimes, as I saw two police officers with G36s at Newcastle airport the other day, which stuck me as an utterly inappropriate weapon to have in any crowded public place. Even if they headshot a terrorist clean, the bullet could take out two civilians behind him if they were unlucky enough to be in line.

OTOH, the security at Beijing international (the new one) didn't even seem to have batons.

I am not saying China is wide open for just anyone with a half baked plan to be able to commit a big attack, but it would be a lot easier to carry out such an attack against China than the west. It is something that needs to be realized and properly addressed, because it is unwise to leave yourself unnecessarily exposed to potential threats.

solarz said:

That's not quite true. There are bag scanners at every train station I've been to, and even at subway stations in Shanghai and Beijing. No such measures exist in Canada, for example.

However, airport security feels more lax, though the same regulations exist.

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I believe subway security only exists in the cities that have hosted major events, like Beijing Olympics, Shanghai Expo, and Guangzhou Asian Games , etc. They put in the security measures before the events and I guess they never took them out.

plawolf said:

Is this a new measure? Last time I was back, which was just over a year ago, I took the train to Beijing to catch the flight with a full kitchen knife set and a big fancy wok that I bought in my main luggage (which might have blocked the knives from the scanner, but then you would expect them to want to open the luggage if much of what was inside was obscured by a huge metal object). I cannot remember if the bags passed any scanners, probably no as my memory isn't that bad, but even if it did pass through, no one thought to ask me to open my luggage.

There are the standard security measures and probably more so, as I distinctly remember being asked to put my bags through a scanner at a port once. But you can see it in the eyes and manner of the security staff - they are not expecting trouble and are largely going through the motions. Security in the US and UK are much more focused and mean business. Probably a little too much so sometimes, as I saw two police officers with G36s at Newcastle airport the other day, which stuck me as an utterly inappropriate weapon to have in any crowded public place. Even if they headshot a terrorist clean, the bullet could take out two civilians behind him if they were unlucky enough to be in line.

OTOH, the security at Beijing international (the new one) didn't even seem to have batons.

I am not saying China is wide open for just anyone with a half baked plan to be able to commit a big attack, but it would be a lot easier to carry out such an attack against China than the west. It is something that needs to be realized and properly addressed, because it is unwise to leave yourself unnecessarily exposed to potential threats.

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Were you bringing the knives with you on the plane or as checked in baggage? I would be very surprised if it was the former. Which reminds me of that scene in Kill Bill 1 where Uma Thurman was sitting on a plane with her katana propped up beside her.

I remember back in 2008-2009, I brought my nunchuks with me on trains (in China). I made over a dozen trips, and was only questioned about it once, and the security lady let me go inside anyway. Previously, there was even a security guy who commented that I had nunchuks in my bag, but didn't even bother questioning me. That was an interesting experience.

solarz said:

Were you bringing the knives with you on the plane or as checked in baggage? I would be very surprised if it was the former. Which reminds me of that scene in Kill Bill 1 where Uma Thurman was sitting on a plane with her katana propped up beside her.

I remember back in 2008-2009, I brought my nunchuks with me on trains (in China). I made over a dozen trips, and was only questioned about it once, and the security lady let me go inside anyway. Previously, there was even a security guy who commented that I had nunchuks in my bag, but didn't even bother questioning me. That was an interesting experience.

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No, it was check in luggage. You couldn't even get a pencil sharpener onto a plane in your hand luggage these days, or maybe it was just an overzealous security officer.

Although funnily enough I did managed to get a Chinese sword checked in on a plane once. But the irony was the security people had a real problem with my laser pointer key ring that I sometimes used for presentations. They didn't even comment on the 4ft long sword...

Talk about getting your priorities straight.

solarz said:

ROFL, you've got a point there. The possibility of a radioactive Japan sent more fear into the hearts of the Chinese than any public bombing.

From the various points raised by other posters, here are what I think are key factors influencing terrorist activities in China:

1- Availability of weapons. Guns and explosives are very tightly controlled in China. The hukou system means that an Uighur terrorist isn't going to be able to just go into a store in rural Shanghai and buy fertilizer to make bombs with. Even if he can buy the ingredients in Xinjiang, it would be extremely difficult for him to smuggle it all the way to Shanghai or Beijing.

2- The goal of terrorism is to turn the population against the ruling authority, either by convincing the people that the government can't protect them, or by making the authorities crack down on the population and thus create more recruits for the terrorist organization. Neither of these goals are realistic in Han-dominated regions. A large, devastating act of terrorism like the 9/11 would give the CCP the perfect excuse to crush any and all dissent. Hell, from a strictly political point of view, such a tragedy would only strengthen the CCP's mandate to rule, not weaken it.

The above two reasons are why terrorism acts related to separatism is restricted to the regions where the terrorist organizations are based.

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Plus, those terrorists are nothing compared to ancient Chinese rebel and other anti-government groups, which existed with much more organization and with far greater support. Another thing will be the value of life and death, luxury and suffering. It seems that in democratized, first-world nations, incidents can provoke a much stronger and deeper sentiments since the people in those cultures are more conscious and sensitive to human rights and suffering. Even in military, it's rarely you hear of suicide tactics. In contrast if you're talking about China, China is very familiar with events leading to massive death tolls. Thousands of years of warfare and people dying at huge numbers per incident (we're talking about hundreds at minimum, and numbers going all the way up to millions, whether it is war or famine) meant it's less likely you can shake the culture with anything smaller than those. Anything from dynastic chaos such as Three Kingdoms and Warring States, to Mongol invasions, Cultural Revolutions, TongShan Earthquakes, Sichuan Earthquakes..would've been something many other nations can't handle. Furthermore, if I didn't mistaken, I've heard there were even suicidal tactics in the PLA during the past few decades of warfare, and many of those soldiers were more than willing to sacrifice themselves that way. (Either it's fabricated stuff or factual stuff, I'm not sure) Even the Chinese themselves had been suffering from decades of poverty and famine in the past few decades. In other words, Chinese are less scared of death and suffering, or yet to become aware of all the humane luxuries other societies take for granted. (An explosive noise going off in a quiet neighborhood is more likely to attract startled people and attention than the same thing happening in a war-torn or noisy neighborhood, where the people are used to it. They might even just go like "ok that's Jim and his grenades") With that said, the impact of terrorism is more likely to have a greater impact, thus a bigger fall, for other nations. I hope this won't be appropriate, but the greatest damage that 9/11 has done was a blow to America's pride and way of life. As this is the first time US has been attacked in its mainland for more than a hundred years, and combined with American's self-perception as the nearly-invincible hegemonic superpower, the punch will really sting, but more on the self-esteem.