A UIGHUR MUSLIM STANDS IN FRONT OF SECURITY GUARDS CALLED "ECONOMIC POLICEMEN" MONITORING A BRIDGE IN...

A UIGHUR MUSLIM STANDS IN FRONT OF SECURITY GUARDS CALLED "ECONOMIC POLICEMEN" MONITORING A BRIDGE IN HOTAN. A Uighur Muslim stands in front of security guards called "economic policemen" who are monitoring a bridge in Hotan, a city along the southern boundary of the Taklimakan Desert in China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, September 15, 2003. The Turkic-speaking Uighur and the Chinese-speaking Han may live side by side in a province rich with oil, gas and minerals, but their cultures and traditions are blindingly different. The cultural divide has manifested itself in anti-Chinese riots, bombings and assassinations since 1996. The worst rioting left nine dead and more than 200 wounded in Yining city in February 1997. REUTERS/Andrew Wong pp03090088