Final answer:
Xinjiang province has experienced unrest due to Uyghur nationalists' demands for independence, leading to clashes, terrorist attacks, and internment camps in a Chinese effort to enforce assimilation and state control over the Uyghur population.
Step-by-step explanation:
The considerable unrest in the Chinese province of Xinjiang in the west is a result of the demands of the Uyghur nationalists. Xinjiang, also known as "East Turkestan" or "Uyghuristan" by Uyghurs, is an autonomous region that has been under Chinese control since 1759, becoming a formal province in 1884. The population is comprised mainly of Uyghurs, who are predominantly Muslim and speak a Turkic language, and Han Chinese.
The region has experienced tensions as Uyghur nationalists have made demands for independence, leading to violent clashes and being blamed for terrorist attacks throughout China. There have also been reports of Uyghurs joining Al-Qaeda, and some were detained by the U.S. army and sent to Guantanamo Bay. In 2018, the Chinese government acknowledged the existence of internment camps, framed as "re-education centers," that aim to eradicate Muslim beliefs and practices, affecting up to one million people.
This situation recalls historic patterns of unrest in China, such as the Taiping Rebellion in the 19th century, and more recently, parallels with the Chinese government's handling of other ethnic minorities, like Tibet. The unrest in Xinjiang reflects longstanding ethnic tensions exacerbated by the government's repressive policies designed to assimilate and control the Uyghur population.