As Australia lifts its terrorism preparedness to high and despatches planes and personnel to join the fight against Islamic State in Iraq, China is intensifying its crackdown on a resident Muslim community in the remote northwest of the country in what it claims is its own war on terror. The Uighurs have inhabited the sprawling and spectacular Xinjiang province for centuries, but cells of violent separatists have brought a crackdown from Beijing that's making life extremely difficult for the law-abiding majority. Amid claims the Communist Government is trying to erase the Uighur heritage and as authorities impose new barriers to reporting in China, Stephen McDonell heads into Silk Road territory and one of China's most sensitive issues. Which explains the shadowy, ever-growing team sent to follow him.