Ever since my first and only visit to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, more than 10 years ago, I have been convinced the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) must put in serious and substantive effort to address the resentment, hatred even, felt by the various Muslim populations towards Han Chinese in the province.

In a largely Han Chinese market, a lady was kind enough to warn me against visiting Uyghur places, for "the unruly youths always carry a dagger". I was not bemused, for I had just purchased one as a souvenir from a nearby shop and, looking at the jobless Uyghur men loitering around and the widening income gap between the Han and the Uyghur, I knew why it was so.