Bombings in Xinjiang draw the world’s attention to China’s ethnic divisions:

“KUQA, China - Donkeys pulled melon-laden carts through the streets and women sold bowls of yogurt Monday in the market of this mostly Muslim city in a remote corner of China, the day after militant bombings left a dozen people dead.

But underneath the apparent return to normal life hides a seething anger among the region’s ethnic Uighurs toward Chinese immigrants, whom many here see as symbols of the government’s oppression, residents and experts say.

With two audacious attacks in a week and the appearance online of videos threatening the Beijing Olympics, Uighur extremists in Xinjiang may be trying to use the games as a way to force themselves out of obscurity into the world’s view.

Few people overseas know much about the Uighurs (pronounced WEE-gurs). Most of the world’s attention goes to China’s other major restless minority group, the Tibetans. Their cause is championed by a charismatic, media-savvy religious leader, the Dalai Lama, and Hollywood stars like Richard Gere…”