DG says the attack is as far away from Beijing as you can get and still be in China: this region is very different than many other parts of China, it’s home to large deserts and mountain ranges, and most people are Muslim and they share a culture and a religion that is closer to people in central Asia than in China. the ethnic community, some of them do resent Chinese rule and there have been tensions. (So what do we know about this incident?) All we know is what’s coming in from China’s state media agency. It’s reporting that two attackers driving a lorry attacked police officers and the two attackers threw grenades and also attacked with knives as well. This is being called a terrorist attack. (We often thinks of links to Al Qaeda when hearing of terrorism in that area of the world. Is that a real link?) interestingly enough, there were suggestions that this attack might have links to a group which in the past has been behind other attacks in that region on police station. But the authorities don’t come up with a lot of hard evidence. (How trustworthy do you find the state media reporting?) It’s difficult when hearing of reports in these remote areas, and that’s a challenge to reporting in China.