Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in subsequent chapters in this book. The book outline outlines Xinjiang a remote area from most major world centres. Its western and southern borders are closer to Baghdad or New Delhi than to Beijing. Xinjiang's economy remains among the most state-cantered of all China's provinces. More recently, Xinjiang has entered the consciousness of the West because of the stunning Buddhist paintings that survive in cave sanctuaries near several of the ancient oasis centres along the southern rim of the Taklimakan Desert. Xinjiang today, the overall process manifests the combination of international links and centrifugal tendencies that has characterized Xinjiang through the millennia. Xinjiang, like the neighbouring province of Tibet, has felt the impact of Sino-Indian tensions. Beijing's perception of a threat from India also gave rise to China's, and hence Xinjiang's, enduring strategic link with Pakistan.