Long story short Western China was independent and the Chinese went in and violently took it over. They created forced marriages (to create half half kids) to stem the revolt...among other really violent things.
Their movement is completely and utterly home grown. Its been going on for a very long time and has no roots in what Bin Laden does. The movement is designed to create a free and democratic state, however some people argue over that (but not much).
Its been going on since well before Bin Laden...on occassion their tactics are extreme in nature. Thats true. The movement though by and large is huge so the ratio of extremeist to the volume is not that high. If it were they would have burnt the place to the ground already.
Some of the members may have sought out Bin Laden's group for training or what not (pre-9-11), and thats where they got caught. China has regularly accused the US of funding and training this group (historically).
They have zero ideological fight against America. Their start, finish, ends, and means is to get their state back. No more, no less.
>>They have zero ideological fight against America. Their start, finish, ends, and means is to get their state back. No more, no less.
By bombing a busload of people and setting fire in a cinema? That's not terrorism?