The fate of the five remaining Chinese Muslims being held in Guantanamo Bay became murkier this week. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal on behalf of the Uighurs — who have been cleared of any implications of terrorism. The appeal may have allowed them to stay here in the U.S. after they are released from Cuba. Sabin Willet represents the five remaining detainees. He says that the Uighurs have refused an invitation to resettle in Palau because they see it as an island exile.
As Han and Uighur Chinese battle each other in a flare up of ancient ethnic tensions, the flashpoint city of Urumqi in China's Xinjiang province has been filled with Chinese soldiers trying to quell the violence. The unrest, which may be the worst since the Cultural Revolution, prompted Chinese President Hu Jintao to leave the G8 meeting in Italy to attend to the situation. For the latest, The Takeaway is joined by Ted Plafker, a correspondent in the Beijing Bureau of The Economist who is in Urumqi, China, and Yuwen Wu, the editor of the BBC's Mandarin service.
In the northwest corner of China, rival protesters took to the streets again on Tuesday, defying the Chinese government's efforts to lock down the province after clashes between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese left over 150 people dead and more than a 1,000 injured. The authorities imposed curfews, cut off cellphone and Internet services and sent armed police officers into neighborhoods in the Xinjiang province. For more we turn to Shirong Chen, China Editor for the BBC.
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