Introduction: inside Xinjiang

[Extract] The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) is China's largest province, shares borders with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia and Mongolia, and possesses a variety of natural resources, including oil. Such factors are often commonly cited in contemporary commentary on the region to explain its importance to Beijing. As such, Xinjiang (literally 'New Frontier') is often deemed to be primarily of strategic or geopolitical importance to the People's Republic of China (PRC) with political, economic and social developments within the region given meaning through how they impact, positively or negatively, on China's strategic health along its Central Asian frontiers.