Marines Taking Control of Taliban Strongholds; Ethnic Tensions Calmer in China
ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins.</s>COLLINS: It has now been more than a week since U.S. Marines stormed into southern Afghanistan. About 4,000 have taken up positions in many Taliban strongholds. All right. Atia Abawi is actually there this morning, embedded with U.S. troops. She's joining us now on the phone from Helmand Province. Atia, tell us the latest if you could.</s>ATIA ABAWI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, Heidi, we did go out to Fanashin (ph) District yesterday with Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson. This is a district where Taliban has had control for the past three years. They haven't seen many coalition forces when they have seen them. They have left. The villagers did not adapt to the coalition forces to the Afghan government. This with a sign and a symbol. They brought the governor of Helmand Province for the first time to this district to raise the flag of Afghanistan and to talk to the villagers, to tell them that they're here to stay this time, but they're here to help them build institutions and to build trust with the U.S. forces as well as the coalition forces. And General Nicholson also told us that they are still facing little resistance from the Taliban, and that's because they came in very quickly and they came in strong. The Taliban were not prepared. But he also reminded us that this is only the six of the operation today. And that means that the Taliban are going to be preparing for attacks. They won't go down quietly. And the Marines, he says, will be prepared for that - Heidi.</s>COLLINS: All right. Very good. We are going to continue to check in with you. Atia Abawi, who is actually embedded with some of the U.S. troops there, live from Afghanistan this morning. Thanks, Atia. Officials in western China say ethnic unrest is under control today. This coming on the heels of a major security clampdown in the Xinjiang Region. Ethnic violence erupted in the capital city of Urumqi on Sunday. 156 people are now dead. CNN's Jaime Florcruz was in the area yesterday. He said things are getting back to normal.</s>JAIME FLORCRUZ, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: There is a sense of normalcy because the government has taken extraordinary measures. They poured in a lot of thousands of troops, some heavily armed and they're now deplored in major intersections. They've also used the media. For example, today's front page here is it shows tiny baby right beside the soldiers seemingly saying that they welcome the arrival of the soldiers. Trying to basically tell the people that they are in charge and they have control of the situation, and the police and the army troops will be here to keep public safety.</s>COLLINS: Once again, our Jaime Florcruz giving us a little bit of information on what is happening there. I want to get some more perspective, too, on what's been going on in China. Joining me now is Sean Roberts. He is the director of the International Developments Studies Program at George Washington University. Thanks for being with us, Sean. What exactly is at the heart of this ethnic unrest?</s>SEAN ROBERTS, DIRECTOR OF THE INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS STUDIES PROGRAM, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: Well, there's been years of tensions between Han Chinese and Uighurs. But in particular the last decade has really established conditions in Xinjiang that have amplified this tension. The economic development, increased political repression of Uighurs and increased in migration of Han Chinese.</s>COLLINS: In fact, I mean, you have studied this area so extensively. I know that you even speak the language. You say you are surprised a major clash like this hasn't happened a lot sooner?</s>ROBERTS: Yes, that's right. I mean, I think that the tensions between Han Chinese and Uighurs have been ongoing for centuries, actually. And given what's been happening in the last decade in China, it's really surprising that something like this has not happened earlier.</s>COLLINS: I mean, the economic development, which you already mentioned is certainly an issue. Can you elaborate just a bit? What are they truly facing on a day-to-day basis?</s>ROBERTS: Yes. Well, it's a particularly interesting issue, Heidi, because the Chinese government, for example, feels that this should preclude Uighurs from becoming dissatisfied with the situation. They think that economic development would obviously translate into a better life, but many Uighurs aren't finding that to be the case and they feel somewhat excluded from the development that's going on in the region.</s>COLLINS: In fact, you've actually compared this area that we're talking about to sort of the Wild, Wild West in America, like in the 1800s or so. What makes this region so attractive?</s>ROBERTS: Well, it's attractive to Han Chinese coming from central China because there's a lot of economic opportunity in the region. There's a lot of natural resources, oil, and probably even more importantly, it's the gateway to markets in the former Soviet Union. And it's also the location of pipelines that come from the former Soviet Union carrying oil and gas, which are critical to China's development right now.</s>COLLINS: Absolutely. Well, we've been hearing, and we've just heard from our correspondent, Jaime Florcruz, the tension seem to be coming down just a bit. Things getting a little bit more under control. But what should the Chinese government do now to deal with this as effectively as they can?</s>ROBERTS: Well, really, I think what would best deal with the situation would be if they engaged the Uighurs population and not just those Uighurs' high up in the communist party, but really engage Uighurs communities around Xinjiang on the issue of development and their livelihoods. There's a lot of issues I think that could be breached by that. But I also think that it's somewhat unrealistic to see the Chinese government given its present modus operandi that it would do that in the near future.</s>COLLINS: All right. Well, we will continue to follow this story. So appreciate the history lesson, if you will. Sean Roberts coming to us from George Washington University. Thanks so much, Sean.</s>ROBERTS: Thank you very much, Heidi.</s>COLLINS: She told her friends her life was out of control and she should just end it. 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