The Committee notes with concern the reports from sources other than the State party relating to the right to the free exercise of religion as a right to take part in cultural life, and the use and teaching of minority languages, history and culture and the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) and the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).

This theory has gained credence because the Communist Party s current leader in the Tibet Autonomous Region formerly held a powerful position in Xinjiang Province.

The towering Karakoram Pass was part of the old silk route that connected Ladakh and Kashmir with Xinjiang now, like Tibet, an autonomous region of China.

Not only is the region important for meeting China s growing energy needs, but the Chinese authorities also are concerned about separatist pressures among the Uighur population in Xinjiang province and the impact of ties with Uighurs in neighboring Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Moreover, China s hands off policy could end up jeopardizing its investments in Afghanistan not to mention the security threat that would arise were a re empowered Taliban to provide aid or sanctuary to the increasingly Islamist Uighur separatists in China s Xinjiang region.

And given that the Uighur bastion of Xinjiang is close to China s borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan, the US was unwise to raise Chinese hackles in this way.

Which states will accept China as Asia s leader? Six decades of ruthless repression has failed to win China acceptance even in Tibet and Xinjiang, as the Tibetan and Uighur revolts of 2008 and 2009 attested.

Are you an Uighur?

The eastern part of the region fell under Chinese rule, and was renamed Xinjiang, or New Frontier.

The Tibet Autonomous Region has more than 1,500 lakes alone.

Tarmar is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Zhangdong is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Zhainze is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Zhowagoin is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Zhugla is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Zhongze is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Zhexam is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Zhigung is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Zapug is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Zangqenrong is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Zangxoi is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Zaisang is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Zeba is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Zesum is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Xaxa is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Xagjang is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Xagnag is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Xalazakung is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Xardong is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Xangzha is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Xenkyer is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Xoisar is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Xognga is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Xungba is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Xungru is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Xungqen is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Xungmai is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Xayag is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Xexung is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Selepug is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Senco is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Gatang is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Garbiutangka is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Garde is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Gariqiong is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.