Foreign Correspondent: July 28

China is certainly in the news lately. There’s the issue of Stern Hu’s arrest, and the protests over the inclusion of a film at the Melbourne International Film Festival.

And this week Foreign Correspondent looks at why the Chinese government is flattening vast tracts of the Uighurs cultural capital Kashgar.

As the ABC indicates, there are questions whether it for safety or to secure against separatists and potential terrorism:

Kashgar stands at the very western edge of China – an oasis city that has long provided relief for travellers on the ancient Silk Road.

Parts of the city have stood for more than 2000 years and within its labyrinth, Uighur traditions have played largely unchanged over time. It’s a living history attracting hordes of tourists every year.

But Beijing is bringing in the bulldozers, knocking down great swaths of the old town, because it says there is an increasing risk of devastation from earthquake. Officials say they’re worried about the safety of the people who live there.

The Uighurs though are a Muslim majority in the city and the region and many residents suspect other motives. They believe Beijing’s agenda is to push the Uighurs out of the alley ways and corners of old Kashgar and into more manageable and uniform accommodation where they can be monitored and better kept in check.

China correspondent Stephen McDonell has managed to gain extraordinary access to Kashgar, its residents and local leadership to assess the motives behind the demolition program and to explore more broadly the strategic security problems Beijing is trying to contain and cauterise.

McDonell manages to gain entry to a highly sensitive security zone outside Kashgar for a bigger picture. Across the mountains in one direction Pakistan is locked in battle with the Taliban in another Afghanistan is facing the same extremist threat. The Chinese government holds grave concerns that Muslim terrorism could find fertile ground here. The Foreign Correspondent team happens upon a full scale anti-terror exercise and films from a distance.

McDonell’s story provides important context and a timely assessment of The Uighur Dilemma.

It airs 8pm Tuesday on ABC1.