Wednesday, October 29, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

Tibet in Pictures, Part 1: Lhasa – The Sunlight City

The modern China

One of the most remote places on the planet, the "roof of the world" is often shrouded in mystery. Explore one of China's most unique regions, where deep, ancient culture meets modern progress and development.

Updated July 4, 2024, Published July 2, 2024

In mid-May, I was fortunate to be part of an international delegation visiting the Chinese Autonomous Region of Xizang (XAR), also known as Tibet. Over the course of five days, we visited two cities: Lhasa, the capital of Xizang, and Shigatse, the second largest city in the region.

Before the trip, I realized that I had very little idea of what daily life in Tibet was like, both in the cities and in the countryside. Suspecting that I was not alone in this, I decided to do my best to share my experience with others. And so I armed myself with (rented) the popular Fujifilm X100F fixed lens camera, determined to capture every inch of my Tibet experience.

By the time I returned home, I had taken nearly 3,000 photos, most of them quite useless, not only due to my inexperience as a photographer, but also due to the fast pace of our stay; in five days we visited so many great sights and points of interest - including museums, attractions, restaurants, businesses, institutions, and more - that I think we must have set some sort of record!

Some of these experiences I would now like to share with you in a series of articles that I have decided to call Tibet in Pictures, where I will present some of the better photos that I took during our adventure. The articles will also include more than a few photographic contributions from other members of the delegation, for which I have of course obtained their permission and to whom I extend my thanks. This first part of the series will be about Xizang's capital: Lhasa - The Sunlight City.

Breathtaking views

Needless to say, crossing a significant part of Eurasia from Sweden to Tibet is a bit of an ordeal. After upwards of 30 hours in transit, I finally arrived at Lhasa Gonggar Airport, which is located at an altitude of about 3,600 meters and about an hour's drive from downtown Lhasa.

Stepping off the plane, I was immediately struck by the dramatic landscape in the form of the Himalayan mountains. Being constantly surrounded by such high and beautiful mountain peaks is exhilarating and something that never got old during my stay. I wondered if the locals would eventually find their home environment mundane, or if they too were constantly in awe of their majestic surroundings, and how this unique environment might influence the evolution of their culture.

But the breathtaking views come at a price. Above 3,000 meters and beyond, the thinning atmosphere poses an increasing challenge to visitors, who can experience headaches, nausea, and fatigue due to the lack of oxygen. Although one tends to adapt eventually, I learned that even the locals are not completely immune to the effects of these unfavorable atmospheric conditions.

Fortunately, the minibus that took us from the airport to Lhasa City was equipped with a system that delivered oxygen directly into our noses! Excited to begin our adventure, we boarded the minibus and headed towards Lhasa.

Lhasa - The Sunlight City

Lhasa prefecture is located roughly in the center of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau at an approximate elevation of over 4,000 meters, covering an area of approximately 30,000 square kilometers and home to approximately 900,000 people. The history of Lhasa, which means holy land in Tibetan, dates back to the 7th century, and is the political, economic, cultural and logistic center of Xizang Autonomous Region (XAR).

Along with the challenges of the thin atmosphere, the high altitude also brings certain advantages, such as clear weather. With an average of 3,000 hours of sunshine per year, Lhasa has earned its nickname: The Sunlight City. During my almost week-long stay, I experienced nothing but clear blue skies with fluffy white happy clouds and bright sunlight - something I really enjoyed after having just endured many months of gloomy Swedish fall and winter.

As I entered downtown Lhasa, some of my main first impressions as seen through the window of our minibus, were the following: brand new cars, roads, bridges and viaducts, lots of mopeds, funny "lotus-style" street lamps, modern high-rise apartment buildings, many of which were under construction, modern shops, including some huge malls - all intertwined with the distinct traditional Tibetan architectural style that was, of course, ubiquitous throughout.

While I did my best to take in all the new impressions with my senses as well as my camera, we were heading at full speed to our first destination: The Lhasa No. 8 Middle School.

Lhasa No. 8 Middle School

With about 2,000 students, most of them boarders, No. 8 is the largest middle school in Lhasa, and probably in all of Xizang. The name of the school has nothing to do with the number of middle schools in Lhasa - it's just a name, and my guess is that it's called No. 8 because eight is considered a lucky number. However, I was not able to verify this hypothesis during my stay, as there was so much else going on which required my attention!

For starters, the pomp with which our delegation was received by the school was a surprise to me, albeit a pleasant one. After receiving our khadas, a type of white scarf used in Buddhist ceremonial contexts, and participating in the welcome ritual of throwing barley grains and flour over one's shoulder, we were greeted by students dressed in traditional garb who danced, sang, and played traditional Tibetan music for us as we entered the school. I had never personally experienced anything like this and it was a beautiful and exhilarating experience that will stay with me for a very long time.

Once inside the school, we were led through many classrooms full of students engaged in a wide range of activities, including arts and crafts, botany, music, literacy in both Tibetan and Chinese, engineering, robotics, and artificial intelligence. Our visit also included the canteen and student dormitories, which were not luxurious, but certainly adequate. The visit ended as grandly as it began, with a traditional Tibetan opera performance by the students.

With many stops left on the day's itinerary, we said our grateful goodbyes to the principal and the school and headed to our next destination, the Tibet Museum.

Tibet Museum

After its first opening in 1999 and subsequent major renovation in 2017, made possible by a national investment of 660 million yuan, the formidable Tibet Museum now covers a total area of over 60,000 square meters. With over half a million cultural artifacts in its catalog, the museum has certainly earned its designation as a "national first-class museum and a national AAAA-level tourist attraction".

Guided by the goal of conducting research, education, scientific protection and cultural creativity based on the characteristic Tibetan culture, the museums basic exhibitions include Snowy Land Long Song - Tibetan History and Culture, People Closest to the Sun - Tibetan Folk Culture. There is also a special exhibition called Snowy Land Monument - Tibetan Revolutionary Cultural Relics. The museum also provides public cultural services such as a children's experience hall, cultural creativity experience hall, multi-functional lecture hall, 4D cinema, viewing platform, coffee and catering.

Needless to say, this is more than can be experienced in a few hours visit. What I did manage to capture, however, can be seen in the image slider below.

After that cultural deep-dive, it was time to visit a local business - The Treasure of Tibet Yak dairy company!

Treasure of Tibet Yak Dairy

Adapted to the high altitude and harsh conditions, over ten million yaks populate the Tibetan landscape, outnumbering the human population by a factor of about 3 to 1.

After spending just a little time in Tibet, it becomes clear that it is difficult to overstate the importance of the yak in Tibetan culture and economy, both historically and today."We eat every part of the yak", one local told me, a claim I have no reason to doubt. In addition to food, they are also used for textiles and (especially historically) for transportation and agriculture, as well as probably countless things I am not yet aware of.

In terms of milk production, the yak is less productive than the common dairy cow in terms of volume. Nutritionally, however, yak milk is superior to ordinary cow's milk, resulting in many potential health benefits, according to recent studies.

Below are some photos from our visit to the Treasure of Tibet Yak Dairy Company, which is involved in the development, production and sale of yak milk products.

During my visit, I heard that the word for "child" in Tibet is actually the character for "yak" twice in a row, as in "yak yak". The explanation was that the word "yak" also means "lucky", "precious" or "auspicious" in Tibetan, so the word for "child" in Tibetan is literally "lucky", "precious" or "auspicious" yak! This new knowledge really confirmed for me the central role of the yak in Tibetan culture.

Tibet Academy of Thangka

Our next stop was the Thangka Academy, dedicated to the art of thangka painting, where we got a thorough overview of how these special paintings - which are an indispensable part of Tibetan culture - are made.

Painted with carefully prepared mineral pigments that don't easily disintegrate, thangka paintings virtually never lose their color.

After all these enlightening experiences, it was time for dinner before the main event of the evening - and in my personal opinion, the undisputed highlight of the entire stay - the Tibetan opera performance Princess Wencheng.

Princess Wencheng: Ancient wisdom and sublime beauty

Princess Wencheng is an open-air live-action drama performance that tells the story of Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty's marriage to the Tubo King Songtsen Gambo 1,300 years ago. The performance is divided into five acts: The Charm of the Tang Dynasty, The Heavenly and Earthly Buddhist Sound, The Great Beauty of Tibetan Dance, The God of the Plateau and The Harmony Between the Tibetans and the Han.

"I don't want to hype it too much, or you might be disappointed, but I don't think you will be", one of our Chinese guides told me as we approached the Princess Wencheng Theater arena. Not knowing what I was about to experience, I didn't know exactly what to make of his statement at the time, although I had a feeling that my friend's concern was unfounded.

"Unfounded" turned out to be a serious understatement. Just walking into the arena and looking across the vast outdoor stage with its dramatic, natural mountainous backdrop gave me goose bumps before the show even started. The show itself was a display of such overwhelming and majestic beauty that I find it virtually pointless to try to put it into words - or capture it with my camera. I had not even known that such large scale performances existed, let alone experienced them first hand.

The performance was in Tibetan, of course, but large screens on either side of the outdoor stage provided the audience with translations in both Chinese and English. Although it was difficult for me to fully follow the story, the poetic nature of the lyrics that I was able to read, combined with the beautiful operatic singing and absolutely awe-inspiring visuals, created what was undoubtedly one of the most intense and profound cultural experiences of my life. It was as if the essence of the profound wisdom and sublime beauty of the Tibetan civilization emerged from the depths of history and expressed itself to me in the form of this amazing performance. I left the theater shaken, but at the same time invigorated by the kind of energy that only a true artistic experience can provide; one that rejuvenates one's belief in the goodness and beauty of the human spirit and gives one hope for humanity's shared future.

I will share some of the pictures I took during the performance, but please know that they in no way reflect what it was like to be there. It is a mystery to me why this opera is not better known throughout the world, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who has the opportunity to see it.

Completely mind-blown by the performance, and full of the myriad impressions from my first day in Tibet, I went back to the hotel to get a few hours of sleep before the next day's adventures.

Visiting the Potala Palace

When I woke up the next day, I felt absolutely terrible from lack of sleep, but more importantly from lack of oxygen. I felt so bad that I thought I would have to skip our upcoming visit to the Potala Palace, which of course would have been a terrible shame, as the Potala Palace is the definitive must-see attraction in all of Tibet. Fortunately, one of the other delegates offered me a large dose of Korean ginseng (that stuff is amazing!) which, along with a large dose of oxygen, made me feel better within a few hours. And so I was able to join the others as we made our way to the Potala.

Construction of the Potala Palace was begun in 1645 by the 5th Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, and completed in 1694, some 12 years after his death. Located on Marpo Ri, the "Red Hill", the palace resembles a great fortress with it's towering white walls. When the Potala Palace was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1994, it was decided that buildings around the palace should not exceed 21 meters in height so as not to diminish its stature in the area.

Walking up the beautiful, scenic path to the palace, I learned that the building's white color comes from paint mixed with milk and honey, and it's red color comes from paint mixed with saffron. Apparently, thousands of volunteers gather every year to help maintain the condition of the palace by helping to paint it. This gives you an idea of how important the Potala is to the people, something that becomes even more apparent when you enter the palace, as people from near and far flock to the palace. Despite the regulations that have been put in place to limit the number of daily visitors, it tends to be very crowded, and so it was when we visited.

On a guided tour of the palace, we visited "only" 100 of the Potala's approximately 1000 rooms. I can report that every room we visited was decorated from floor to ceiling with colorful, intricate wood carvings, and that all kinds of exquisitely crafted artifacts, ancient scrolls and manuscripts, and large statues made of various precious metals were found throughout the palace. Despite the heavy crowds, with visitors sometimes lying flat on the floor praying, the visitors were patient and tolerant of each other, and I did not sense any pushing or even the slightest annoyance or frustration from anyone throughout the tour, which I found quite remarkable under the circumstances.

It is forbidden to take photos inside the palace. However, some photos from outside the palace can be seen in the image slider below.

The world's children's books - in Tibetan

Our last stop in Lhasa was not a major landmark or tourist attraction, but a children's library and bookstore that specializes in translating children's books from around the world into Tibetan.

During a long and engaging conversation, we naturally suggested to the owner of the bookstore that Astrid Lindgren's books in Tibetan were a must for his bookstore!

Next stop: Shigatse

After exploring as much of Lhasa as we could in two days, we headed to Shigatse, the second largest city in Tibet, which is even higher than Lhasa. This part of the trip will be covered in the second part of the Tibet in Pictures series, which will be out in the coming months.

 

Gustaf Lansner
Project Manager, The Belt and Road Institute in Sweden

Gustaf Lansner is a Project Manager at BRIX - The Belt and Road Institute in Sweden

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The untold story of terrorism in China

The modern China

  • While the world focused on terrorist attacks in the West, an extensive wave of violence erupted in China's northwestern Xinjiang region.
  • From the early 1990s to the mid-2010s, thousands of terrorist attacks were carried out, killing hundreds of innocent people and transforming an entire region.
  • The Nordic Times has visited the Xinjiang region and uncovered three decades of overlooked terrorism in what has today become one of the world's safest countries.
Updated October 18, 2025, Published October 13, 2025 – By Editorial

It is just before six o'clock in the evening on February 28, 2012. On Xingfu Road, a pedestrian street with market stalls in the city of Yecheng in southern Xinjiang, it is crowded with people. Shop owners are selling grain, vegetables and fish. Children are on their way home from school. It is an ordinary Tuesday evening in an ordinary Chinese city.

Then the massacre begins.

Nine men, armed with axes and machetes, storm into the street and begin hacking down everyone who comes in their way. Within minutes, fifteen people are killed and sixteen are seriously injured. Among the dead is an auxiliary police officer who tried to stop the men when he discovered they were carrying weapons. Among the injured are a four-year-old boy and his mother, a 60-year-old woman whose jaw was crushed by an ax, and several shop owners who tried to defend themselves.

When I saw what the terrorist was holding, my first thought was, 'Oh no, he's going to kill me', recounts shop owner Wang Tiancheng, who managed to fight back with a wooden chair.

When terrorists come at you, you either fight back or wait and die.

The attack in Yecheng is just one in a long series of terrorist attacks that struck China, and especially the Xinjiang region, for nearly three decades. Between 1990 and 2016, according to official Chinese sources, thousands of terrorist attacks were carried out in the region, where large numbers of innocent people were killed and hundreds of police officers died on duty.

But for many in the Western world, this story is largely unknown.

A region of diversity and conflict

To understand the emergence of terrorism in Xinjiang, one must understand the region's complex history. Xinjiang, or "Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region" as its official name is, is an enormous region in northwestern China covering 1.66 million square kilometers – about the size of Alaska, or the combined area of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The region borders eight countries: Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

Xinjiang has been home to many different peoples since ancient times. By the end of the 19th century, thirteen ethnic groups had established themselves in the region: Uyghurs, Han, Kazakhs, Mongols, Hui, Kyrgyz, Manchus, Xibe, Tajiks, Daurs, Uzbeks, Tatars and Russians. The Uyghurs constituted the largest group.

The Uyghur people, who today number around ten million, have their roots in the Ouigour people who lived on the Mongolian plateau during the Sui and Tang dynasties in the 6th–10th centuries. Through centuries of migration and ethnic integration, the modern Uyghur identity was formed. During the Yuan dynasty in the 13th century, Mongolian blood was added, and the standardized name form "Uyghur" (维吾尔) was not adopted until 1934, with the meaning "to maintain unity among the people."

Religion has also been diverse in Xinjiang. From shamanistic origins, the region successively transitioned to Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Manichaeism and Nestorianism. Islam was introduced to southern Xinjiang in the late 10th century and spread to the northern part during the 14th century, often through war and coercion. But Islam was neither the original nor the only religion – even today, a significant portion of the population practices other religions or is non-religious.

The Xinjiang region's location in northwestern China with borders to several Muslim countries with high levels of poverty has made the region particularly vulnerable to the intrusion of religious extremism.

The roots of separatism

Towards the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, colonial powers began spreading theories of "pan-Turkism" and "pan-Islamism" in Central and South Asia. These ideologies would come to lay the foundation for a separatist movement in Xinjiang.

Separatists and religious extremists, both inside and outside China, began claiming that the Uyghurs were the only "true rulers" of Xinjiang, that the region's cultures were not Chinese cultures, and that Islam was the only religion practiced by the ethnic groups there. They called on all Turkic-speaking and Muslim ethnic groups to unite to create the theocratic state of "East Turkistan." They denied China's common history and called for "opposition to all ethnic groups except Turks" and "annihilation of pagans."

On November 12, 1933, the so-called "Islamic Republic of East Turkistan" was proclaimed by the separatist Mohammad Imin. The experiment collapsed after less than three months due to strong opposition from the population. A new attempt was made on November 12, 1944, when separatists led by Elihan Torae proclaimed yet another "Republic of East Turkistan," but it too fell apart after about a year.

But the East Turkistan movement did not die. After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, separatist forces, with support from anti-China forces internationally, continued to organize and plan divisive and sabotage activities.

Religious extremism as a weapon

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, religious extremism began making deeper inroads into Xinjiang. The religious extremism that emerged had little in common with traditional Islam.

The extremists preached that people should only obey Allah and urged them to resist all state control. Those who did not follow the path of extremism were branded as pagans, traitors and scum. Followers were urged to verbally attack, reject and isolate non-believers, party members, officials and patriotic religious leaders.

They banned all secular culture and preached a life without TV, radio and newspapers. People were not allowed to cry at funerals or laugh at weddings. Singing and dancing were forbidden. Women were forced to wear heavily veiled, long black garments. The concept of "halal" was generalized far beyond food to include medicine, cosmetics and clothing.

"They turned a blind eye to Xinjiang's diverse and splendid cultures created by all its ethnic groups, and tried to sever the ties between Chinese culture and Xinjiang's ethnic cultures," states a Chinese official report. "All this indicates their denial of modern civilization, rejection of human progress, and gross violation of citizens' human rights."

Poverty became a breeding ground for extremism. In certain areas of Xinjiang, people had weak understanding of the law, could not speak, read or write standard Chinese, and lacked employable skills. This made them more susceptible to being lured or forced into criminality by terrorist and extremist groups.

The violence escalates

From the 1990s onwards, terrorism intensified dramatically. The East Turkistan forces, both inside and outside China, stepped up their cooperation as terrorism and extremism spread globally, especially after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

In the name of religion and ethnicity, they deceitfully exploited people's ethnic identity and religious faith to incite religious fanaticism, spread religious extremism, and urge ordinary people to participate in violent and terrorist activities. They brainwashed people with the concept of "jihad" and persuaded them to "die for their faith to enter heaven." Some of the most susceptible followers lost all self-control and became extremists and terrorists who ruthlessly slaughtered innocent people.

Montage of images from the 1992 bombing in the regional capital Ürümqi. Photo: The Nordic Times

On February 5, 1992, in the middle of the Chinese New Year celebration, a terrorist group planted bombs on two buses in Ürümqi. Three people were killed and 23 injured.

On February 25, 1997, three buses in Ürümqi were blown up by East Turkistan terrorists, killing nine and seriously injuring 68 people.

On February 5–8, 1997, the East Turkistan movement orchestrated riots in Yining. Seven people were killed and 198 injured, 64 of them seriously. More than 30 vehicles were damaged and two houses were burned down.

On August 24, 1993, Senior Mullah Abulizi, imam at the Great Mosque in Yecheng County, was stabbed and seriously injured by two terrorists.

On May 12, 1996, Aronghan Aji, vice chairman of the China Islamic Association and chairman of the Xinjiang Islamic Association, was attacked by four terrorists who stabbed him 21 times on his way to the mosque. He survived but was seriously injured.

On November 6, 1997, Senior Mullah Younusi Sidike, member of the China Islamic Association and imam at the Great Mosque in Baicheng County, was shot dead by a terrorist group on his way to the mosque.

On July 30, 2014, the 74-year-old Senior Mullah Juma Tayier, vice chairman of the Xinjiang Islamic Association and imam at the Id Kah Mosque, was brutally murdered by three terrorists on his way home after morning prayer.

The list could be made much longer. The violence was directed at everyone – ordinary citizens on streets and squares, religious leaders who dared oppose extremism, government officials and police officers.

Massacre on Xingfu Road

The attack in Yecheng on February 28, 2012, became one of the most brutal examples of the blind terrorism that struck Xinjiang. The nine terrorists had divided themselves into three groups with plans to kill an estimated 500 people each. Their original target was the schoolchildren from nearby elementary and middle schools.

But the plan was exposed by auxiliary police officer Turghunjan, 28 years old and a new father to a six-month-old baby. He saw the group gathering at the market and asked them to disperse. When they refused and he discovered that one of them was carrying an ax, he tried to take them to the police station. Then a terrorist gave a signal and hacked him down. Several others fell upon him and stabbed him to death.

Turghunjan's father, Tursun Talip, who worked at a school, received the news that same evening but did not dare tell his sick wife for several days.

I went back to the scene the next afternoon, there remained some blood on the ground, and I was sitting there, looking at the blood, and crying. All I had in my mind was the scene where my son was hacked to the ground, and I could even hear him cry, "Dad, Dad..."

When the terrorists began their attack, it was total chaos. Wang Tiancheng, the shop owner with the grain and oil store, was standing in front of his shop when he suddenly felt a blow from behind.

After the first hack, two people (the terrorists) turned directly to my front. They were holding an ax in one hand and a machete in another, and their axes were so big, and the hafts were so long. So, they hacked me with their machete right on my head and shoulder.

Wang managed to defend himself with a wooden chair and escaped with wounds to his head and shoulder. The doctor later said that the shoulder bone would have been broken if the machete had gone half a centimeter deeper.

But many others were not so lucky. In the grain shop next door, the shop owner and two employees were killed. An elderly couple shopping there was attacked – the man was killed on the spot and the woman was hacked in the head as she tried to protect her grandchild. She became half-paralyzed after the attack.

They hacked me for no reason. This was so unreasonable. On a personal level, I had no grudge against him. But on a societal level, he was carrying out terrorist activities, says Wang Tiancheng.

Brother Mehmet Tursun lost his brother Ubulqasim in the attack. His brother worked in a grain shop and defended himself with his fists but was hacked to death.

This incident has brought us so much harm that we are still in pain and anger today. It destroyed my sister-in-law's entire family. My dad was in constant pain and eventually passed away. My younger brother, who was only nine years old when it happened, developed epilepsy from the shock.

Their father could never get over his son's death. He became ill shortly after the attack and passed away five years later, in 2017, after spending his final years visiting his grandchild's school every other day – the only moments when he felt some joy.

When the police arrived at the scene, several shop owners were still fighting the terrorists. Brothers Chen Jizhong and Chen Jide from Sichuan Province, who ran fish shops on the street, were among them. With fishing nets, wooden sticks and a steel pipe, they managed to subdue one of the terrorists.

We were scared when we saw the terrorist with a machete in his hands. But then, we realized that things couldn't go on like this, and we must defend ourselves, recalls Chen Jizhong.

Seven of the terrorists were shot dead by police at the scene. One was injured and died later. One was captured alive, sentenced to death and executed.

Terror in the capital

Xinjiang terrorism was not limited to the region. On October 28, 2013, three terrorists from Xinjiang drove a jeep loaded with 31 barrels of gasoline, 20 lighters, five knives and several iron bars onto the sidewalk east of Tiananmen Square in central Beijing. They accelerated toward tourists and police on duty until they crashed into the barrier at the Golden Water Bridge. They then set fire to the gasoline. Two people, including a foreigner, were killed and over 40 were injured.

Smoke rises from Tiananmen Square in Beijing after the attack on October 28, 2013.

On March 1, 2014, eight knife-wielding terrorists from Xinjiang carried out a massacre at the railway station in Kunming. They attacked passengers in the station square and ticket lobby. 31 people were killed and 141 injured. The attack shocked all of China and received international attention.

The terrorist attack on Kunming railway station in southern China in 2014, where victims were attacked with machetes among other weapons, became a major trauma for the country.

On April 30, 2014, two terrorists hid in the crowd at the exit of Ürümqi railway station. One attacked people with a knife while the other detonated a device in his suitcase. Three people were killed and 79 injured.

On May 22, 2014, five terrorists drove two SUVs through the fence at the morning market on North Park Road in the Saybagh district of Ürümqi, into the crowd, and then detonated a bomb. 39 people were killed and 94 injured.

However, the most extensive violence occurred on July 5, 2009, when East Turkistan forces inside and outside China orchestrated a riot in Ürümqi that shocked the entire world. Thousands of terrorists attacked civilians, government agencies, police, residential buildings, shops and public transport vehicles. 197 people were killed and over 1,700 injured. 331 shops and 1,325 vehicles were smashed and burned down, and many public facilities were damaged.

Images from the attack at Ürümqi railway station in 2014.

Three decades' trail of terror

Between 1990 and the end of 2016, according to official Chinese sources, a total of thousands of terrorist attacks were carried out in Xinjiang. Large numbers of innocent people were killed, hundreds of police officers died on duty, and the property damage is incalculable.

From 2014, authorities in Xinjiang crushed over 1,500 violent and terrorism-related groups, arrested nearly 13,000 accused terrorists, seized over 2,000 explosive devices, and prosecuted over 30,000 people for what was designated as illegal religious activities. Large quantities of religious material that authorities considered illegal were also confiscated.

For Wang Tiancheng, the shop owner who was attacked with an ax and machete, it took years to process the experience. Photo: ICBG.

It's been many years since the terrorist attack, but I can still feel the horror whenever I recall it. To be honest, we were scared. But now that the attack had happened, the first thing we should do was to stay calm and be brave and try to fight back. It is the mentality I always uphold. We must not fear terrorism.

For families like Tursun Talip's, whose son Turghunjan was killed when he tried to stop the terrorists, the pain was immeasurable but also associated with a certain pride, he tells the Institute for Communication and Borderland Governance (ICBG) at Jinan University.

Although our family was heartbroken for my oldest son Turghunjan's sacrifice, I feel proud of my son from the bottom of my heart. We told my youngest son that his brother saved the lives of many children, and we also hoped that my youngest son to be a police officer and fight against terrorism!

Turghunjan's younger brother became a police officer in 2014, two years after his brother's death.

A calm characterizes the bustling crowds today in Kashgar, an ancient city in westernmost Xinjiang with a 2,000-year history as a meeting place along the Silk Road, known for its labyrinthine old quarter steeped in Islamic culture. Photo: The Nordic Times

Police officer Semet, who was among the first on the scene in Yecheng in 2012 and saw his chief shoot two terrorists at close range, has never wanted to quit being a police officer despite the experience.

I grew up dreaming of becoming a police officer. Many of us wanted to be police officers when we were still boys. I love this job. I regard it as a very sacred career.

The nearly three decades of terror have left deep scars in Xinjiang, but also marked the rest of China. Families were torn apart, communities changed, and fear characterized daily life for millions of people.

Since 2016, however, China has largely been free from terrorist acts after the People's Republic's extensive measures and counter-terrorism programs. Today, the country is one of the world's safest countries to be in with very few violent crimes.

How has China succeeded in combating terrorism, restoring order and security, and what is actually true about the situation in Xinjiang and the relationship with the country's ethnic minorities?

The Nordic Times examines the subject and the international reporting that has surrounded the developments in the next article.

“How educating girls became a cornerstone of China’s progress”

The modern China

Wen Ying writes about the lesson in the transformative power of linking gender equality to national development.

Published September 30, 2025
This is an opinion piece. The author is responsible for the views expressed in the article.

In the pre-dawn darkness of Yunnan province’s high mountains, a daily ritual unfolds. Ms. Zhang Guimei, a 68-year-old principal, walks the halls of China’s first free high school for girls, waking her students. Though illness has weakened her, her resolve is unwavering. Her mission is singular: to propel young women from the brink of child marriage and poverty into the nation’s top universities.

Her story, which captivated China, is not one of gentle charity but of profound conviction. For over 25 years, she navigated treacherous terrain to build this school, offering a lifeline away from domestic labour and towards knowledge and self-determination. Her work is emblematic of a larger, state-supported revolution: the educational empowerment of women, treated not as a standalone social project but as a core driver of national development.

This modern drive finds its roots in a pivotal historical shift. Around the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949, a mass mobilisation encouraged women to join the workforce, encapsulated in the saying that “Women hold up half the sky”. This philosophy was even etched into the language. The traditional character for “woman” (婦) depicted a woman with a broom. Its simplified form (妇), introduced later, symbolically shows a woman overcoming a mountain.

China’s most impactful strategy has been its systemic approach. For decades, the advancement of women has been integrated into the core of national five-year plans, with clear targets for education, health and economic participation. This ensures that national progress systematically benefits women, and their empowerment, in turn, fuels further progress. The lesson is clear: no nation can achieve sustainable development by harnessing only half its talent.

The results are visible in individual lives. Take Wang Fumei, a beneficiary of the state’s “Spring Bud Project” which has supported over 4.36 million girls. Forced to leave school at 15 for an arranged marriage, she fought for her right to return to the classroom and eventually joined the civil service. This two-way street, built on both policy and personal grit, creates a powerful multiplier effect. An educated woman tends to marry later, have healthier children, and is more likely to enter the formal workforce—breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty and creating a more prosperous society.

This belief in the female intellect is universal. Ms. Zhang’s students recite a pledge: “I was born to be a mountain, not a creek.” It echoes the defiance of 17th-century Swedish writer Sophia Elisabet Brenner, who argued for women’s intellectual equality, writing that “the only difference between he and she” lies in the body, not the mind.

As the world struggles to meet UN Sustainable Development Goals on education and gender equality, China’s experience offers a potent blueprint. It demonstrates that transformative change is achievable within a generation when personal courage is met with unwavering institutional commitment.

In 2023, the Spring Bud Project’s work was globally recognised with the UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education. Yet, the truest measure of success lies not in awards, but in the quiet confidence of a girl in a classroom, certain that her future is hers to shape. It is this profound confidence—the ultimate goal of any equitable society—that such programmes aim to nurture.

 

Wen Ying

About the author

Wen Ying is a current affairs commentator who has contributed to EUobserver, San Francisco Examiner, Deccan Herald, etc.

China plans fully AI-controlled economy by 2035

The modern China

Published September 26, 2025 – By Editorial
By 2035, AI is planned to have "completely reworked Chinese society" and implemented a new phase of economic and social production.

The Chinese government has presented an ambitious ten-year plan where artificial intelligence will permeate all sectors of society by 2035 and become the "main engine for economic growth".

China's State Council has published a comprehensive plan aimed at making the country the world's first fully AI-driven economy within eleven years. According to the government document presented at the end of August, artificial intelligence will have transformed Chinese society by 2035 and become the foundation for what is described as "a new phase of development in intelligent economy and intelligent society".

The plan, which spans ten years, encompasses six central societal sectors that will be permeated by AI technology by 2027. These include science and technology, citizen welfare, industrial development, consumer goods, governance, and international relations.

The goal: 90 percent usage by 2030

According to the timeline, AI technology should reach a 90 percent usage rate by 2030 and practically become a new type of infrastructure. At this point, the technology is expected to have developed into a "significant growth engine for China's economy".

The strategy resembles the country's previous "internet plus" initiative, which successfully integrated the internet as a central component in the Chinese economy.

By 2035, AI should according to the plan have "completely reworked Chinese society" and implemented a new phase of economic and social production. This is an ambitious goal with significant consequences, not only for the People's Republic but for the entire world.

International cooperation in focus

The State Council emphasizes that AI should be treated as an "international public good that benefits humanity". The plan highlights the importance of developing open source AI, supporting developing countries in building their own technology sectors, and the UN's role as a leader in AI regulation.

Although China's AI industry is growing rapidly, as exemplified by the open AI platform DeepSeek's successes earlier this year, Chinese models still lag several months behind their American counterparts in terms of average performance. This is largely due to restrictions and barriers that Western countries have imposed.

However, the gap is steadily narrowing. At the end of 2023, American AI models performed better than Chinese ones in 13 percent of general reasoning tests. By the same time in 2024, this figure had dropped to 8.1 percent. In certain AI applications, China is already a world leader and has invested heavily in offering its services at low prices and in many cases completely free as open source.

The State Council's ten-year plan aims to further reduce the lead by strengthening key areas such as fundamental model performance, security measures, data access, and energy management.

Whether Beijing can deliver on its massive goals with the help of sometimes unreliable technology remains to be seen. However, if other nationally coordinated plans are any indication, the country may face a comprehensive transformation.

Putin and Kim Jong-un attend as China displays 100 new weapons systems

The modern China

Published September 4, 2025 – By Editorial
Approximately 12,000 soldiers reportedly participated in the parade, making it one of the largest in modern times.

For the first time in 66 years, the leaders of China, Russia and North Korea gathered in Beijing.

The extensive military parade marked the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II with over 100 new domestically produced weapons systems – including nuclear missiles, hypersonic weapons and unmanned vehicles.

China conducted its second-ever military parade on Wednesday to mark Victory Day – 80 years after the end of World War II. The massive display at Tiananmen Square in Beijing became a demonstration of power where Chinese President Xi Jinping received 26 world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The parade, witnessed by 50,000 spectators and 10,000 participating soldiers from the People's Liberation Army, Navy and Air Force, marked the first time in 66 years that the leaders of China, Russia and North Korea gathered in Beijing. The last time this occurred was in 1959, during perhaps the most tense period of the Cold War.

Dressed in a gray Mao suit, Xi Jinping spoke from the Gate of Heavenly Peace. He focused on China's victory over "Japanese aggression" in what he called the "global anti-fascist war", but chose not to mention the United States by name despite the country's decisive role in the war's final stages.

— Humanity is again faced with a choice of peace or war, dialogue or confrontation, and win-win outcomes or zero-sum games, Xi declared and continued:

— The Chinese people will stand firmly on the right side of history and on the side of human progress, adhere to the path of peaceful development, and join hands with the rest of the world to build a community with a shared future for humanity.

Photo: Kremlin/CC BY 4.0

Nuclear arsenal in focus

Al Jazeera correspondent Katrina Yu emphasized the historical significance of the speech from Beijing:

— It really is difficult to understate how much of this is a part of the national psyche, the psyche of the Communist Party that, in the previous 100 years, China was repressed, invaded and humiliated by foreign forces.

Over 100 types of domestically produced weapons rolled along Chang'an Avenue. Particular attention was given to the new nuclear-capable missiles. For the first time, submarine-based JL-3 missiles were also displayed, whose extended range theoretically allows the entire US mainland to be reached from the South China Sea without submarines needing to advance into the Pacific Ocean.

The new intercontinental ballistic missile DF-61 also made its debut. It is estimated to be over 20 meters long with a range exceeding 12,000 kilometers. Additionally, the DF-5C was presented, which may have a range over 20,000 kilometers, carry ten nuclear warheads and reach speeds over Mach 10.

The hypersonic missile YJ-21, called the "carrier killer", was also presented. The weapon is said to be able to strike aircraft carriers at Mach 10 – ten times the speed of sound – at a distance of 2,000 kilometers.

Trump's sarcastic reaction

US President Donald Trump reacted to the parade with a sarcastic post on Truth Social:

"The big question to be answered is whether or not President Xi of China will mention the massive amount of support and 'blood' that The United States of America gave to China in order to help it to secure its FREEDOM from a very unfriendly foreign invader", he wrote and continued:

"Many Americans died in China's quest for Victory and Glory… May President Xi and the wonderful people of China have a great and lasting day of celebration. Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of America".

Photo: screenshot/Trump/Truth Social

The Kremlin later commented on Trump's statement and briefly explained that "no one even had this in their thoughts".

New warfare technology presented

During the parade, China showcased its investment in modern warfare technology. Unmanned surface vessels (USV), underwater drones and unmanned aerial vehicles were presented alongside the new LY-1 laser system for shooting down drones and missiles. According to China, the new HQ-29 air defense system can defend against hypersonic missiles – a claim that has yet to be verified.

"For Xi, the point is to reinforce the impression that the People's Republic of China has arrived as a great power under his leadership. Another is the array of leaders at the parade, which suggests that the PRC cannot be isolated, and is unafraid of pressure and bullying, particularly from the United States", comments Ian Chong, political scientist at the National University of Singapore.

Above the parade, the air force conducted flyovers with helicopters carrying banners with messages such as "Justice will prevail", "Peace will prevail" and "The people will win".

US deploys missile systems

China declared that all of the more than 100 weapon types displayed were domestically produced. Despite the Chinese economy slowing down, the country's defense spending has increased by more than 7 percent for four consecutive years and now amounts to approximately 4.2 times Japan's defense budget. The military balance in the region has thus shifted markedly and China is gaining increasingly greater military influence.

Unmanned watercraft on display. Photo: Xinhua

Parallel to this development, the US and Japan are conducting extensive military exercises together. The US Army will for the first time deploy its medium-range missile system Typhon in Japan during the Resolute Dragon 25 exercise taking place September 11-25. Typhon can launch both Tomahawk and SM-6 missiles from land.

In July, the US placed two new weapons systems at its base in Okinawa: the MADIS air defense system and the NMESIS robot system that can combat ships. Both systems will also be used on Ishigaki Island during the Japanese-American exercise and military activities in the region are expected to intensify in coming years.

Modi abstained

Military parades on Victory Day are a relatively new phenomenon under Xi Jinping's era – the first was held in 2015 to mark the 70th anniversary, and this year's parade was thus only the second of its kind.

Despite friendly meetings with Xi Jinping and Putin during the SCO summit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi chose to leave China before the military parade.

According to analysts, this was partly to avoid offending Japan, but also to signal that New Delhi certainly has strategic alternatives to the US but simultaneously remains concerned about maintaining its Western partnerships and cooperation.

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