photo by reurinkjan (Flickr CC)

Xinjiang autonomous region is China’s frontier land for renewable energy. China has poured cash into wind energy projects in Xinjiang, fuelling a boom in the country’s largest and most western region.

Because of the Chinese government’s investment in renewables, like the wind farms of Xinjiang, China has recently been named the best place to invest in green energy.

But for many people in Xinjiang, particularly the Muslim Uyghur community who make up its largest ethnic group, the ‘wind rush’ is just another stage of colonization by the People’s Republic of China. Uyghers have for the most part not benefitted from China’s economic boom and many feel discriminated against.

See the following video report from Al Jazeera English for more on the story:

China’s ‘New Frontier’