May 2011 An environmental crisis in the largely desolate Xinjiang region of the People's Republic of China re-ignites the centuries-old conflict between the native Uygurs and their recurrent Chinese masters. The escalating disaster draws in criminals, opportunistic politicians, terrorists, and military forces. A Uygur doctor and Chinese colleague defy Beijing and enter the affected region. A Chinese-American doctor, Dr Robert Jiang, with the aid of an American special operations team, infiltrates Xinjiang to rescue his Uygur and Chinese friends from gangsters, Muslim radicals, and Special Forces of the People's Armed Police. Together with another "hybrid," a resolute young Uygur-Chinese woman, Robert uses a rare Chinese-Muslim martial art (xin yi liu he quan) in confrontations with their enemies. The information they attempt to bring out of Xinjiang could jeopardize the Communist Party's long subjugation of the region and eventually its control over the whole of China.