Road to Nowhere: Kidnappings and broken promises on China's 'Belt and Road' project

Chinese authorities have long been concerned that Xinjiang, inhabited by Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other Muslim groups – squeezed by discriminatory policies – would pose a challenge, particularly given past glimmers of independence. At the same time, China “recognises in the longer-term that if you want the [Xinjiang] region to be stable, the people need to be prosperous and happy and not rebel against the state,” said Raffaello Pantucci, a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.