Will China sit again at the heart of its own cosmos?

BACK in KHORGOS one winter’s morning, a press of shopworkers—members of the ethnic Han majority, along with Kazakhs and Uighurs—line up in front of border officials to enter the duty-free mall shared with Kazakhstan. Four city officials from the propaganda department have got wind of this correspondent’s presence, and insist on accompanying him, nervously calling their boss for instructions. Even in this zone of declared openness, the contradictions multiply. Not least, Kazakhs and Uighurs—though not Han Chinese—must surrender their passports if they want to work in the zone, so that they may not cross over into Kazakhstan.