The Uyghurs, a Turkich-speaking Muslim population who lives in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (Xuar), are an official ethnic minority of the People's Republic of China.

Since the foundation of the Prc the majority of it questions the political and economical processes which are developing on its land. The situation is perceived as not balanced, since the best jobs and policies are devoted to the Han ethnic group, and the majority of the Uyghur think they are left behind and do not enjoy the same rights of their Han couterparts.

The Urumqi riots of July 2009 exploded on the basis of this situation, but a number of different factors might have affected them, the same ones which make the Chinese government claim that on its territory it exists a serious terroristic threat. Among them, a power game inside the Cpc and the economical interests which concern the oil-rich region. The emphasis on the Uyghur terrorism might be a way to conceal urgent internal power struggles.

Drawing from the long history of relations with the Central Asia, it is clear that the region is characterised by a multicultural environment which should be given a suitable political expression, and only through a major involvment of all the actors on the stage would bring to a participated and equal solution to the Xinjiang issue.