From The Opposite End of China Blog:
At the behest of neweurasia, I’m diving today into the unfamiliar waters of wild speculation. What will Xinjiang be like fifteen years from now, in the year 2021? Of course, no one really knows. If my predictions turn out to be correct, chalk it up to luck rather than extraordinary foresight. Still, I hope you’ll enjoy this exercise in imagination: a blog entry from December 20, 2021 sent by my future self to my present self via QQQ ” the bloated successor to QQ ” which evidently has a time-travel email feature.
December 20, 2021
In 2021, energy needs and security concerns have focused Beijing on Xinjiang and the restive lands in Central Asia to the west. With Taiwan on a firm path towards integration and Tibet little more than an expensive tourist playground, the situation in Xinjiang remains one last painful thorn in the side of the central government. The events of this past year clearly illustrate that Xinjiang remains of paramount importance in terms of China’s both domestic and foreign policies.[Full Text]
