Xinjiang

[Chinahand]

As with the case of Tibet, China is showing itself unable to deal with ethnic tensions without violence - this time in Xinjiang.

 

I am sure in the next few days and weeks you'll see from Chinese Nationalist portions of the internet an outpouring of anger towards outsiders claiming they want to split the motherland, but I firmly believe that these problems have been created internally due to inequalities and repressive policies not giving legitimate protest an outlet. The result is a pressure cooker which erupts into violence.

 

I wrote a review of a book I read about Xinjiang a while ago LINK.

 

Xinjiang is one of China's most complex regions - The Chinese empire regularly invaded and attempted to colonize the place, but its control was patchy and temporary for millenia with it only really gaining strong control of its major population areas in the Qing dynasty and this control collapsed into a fledgling independent state for a few years after the Qing collapsed and China was convulsed with weakness in the 1st half of the 20th century. These attempts at independence collapsed when the communists reasserted Chinese authority in the late 1940s.

 

Han immigration has flowed into and out of the region depending on the level of Chinese control - in the last 60 years that control has been absolute with a militaristic and repressive regime importing literally millions of people. The major ethnic group - the Uighurs - have been reduced from over 85% of the population to less than 40%.

 

Xinjiang is reasonably rich - but there is great inequality with Han dominated enterprises controling the economy. As a result there is resentment.

 

One interesting twist - in order to give Uighurs access to the economy they have been encouraged to migrate into the growth regions on the coast.

 

One of the causes of the current violence is a company in Guangdong province - on the coast close to Hong Kong - they employed 800 Uighurs from Xinjiang importing them to their factory.

 

This caused tensions with the local/migrant Han Chinese in the area and fighting broke out with some of the Uighur migrants killed and others driven out - link.

 

Part of the current problems in Xinjiang stem from a demonstration complaining about this, but there are numerous other tensions barely kept from erupting by a very heavy police/security pressence.

 

Its a complex place - and likely to remain a problem until China can develop better ways for political problems to be resolved.

[Chinahand]

Sad and complex events occurring in Xinjiang.

 

Things are getting dangerous. The Chinese authorities have painted the first riots as being a deliberate attempt by outsiders to incite inter-communal violence.

 

There is no doubt that part of the riot was an inter-communal fight with Uighers attacking Han Chinese, but I am not sure if this is the whole story. Some reports are saying that an initially peaceful demonstration protesting about discrimination and violence towards Uighurs was violently put down which then erupted into the riot. Officially 156 deaths have been confirmed with the claim that they are "mostly" Han Chinese, but Uighur groups are saying many more are dead and they are 90% Uighur. No doubt its been a violent and traumatic period, and its not over yet.

 

Whatever the actual causes of the riot, the reporting of it by the Chinese media is also having a destabilizing affect. The state press has portrayed the violence as being Uighurs attacking Han. The result is that Han have now armed themselves and come onto the streets demanding justice - mob justice:

 

One Chinese protester, clutching a metal bar, told the AFP news agency: "The Uighurs came to our area to smash things, now we are going to their area to beat them."

 

Goodness knows where this will end - no doubt with more repression and a greater securicat state in Xinjiang, but also with great inter-ethnic tensions.

 

I doubt it will seriously compromise the Chinese Communist Party's rule, but it will probably further shred its reputation, and with no real system to offer policy debate or devolution its likely to fester with further deaths etc.

 

Nasty.

[Slim]

Nasty.

 

My impression is, if the official reports are that grim, the reality is far worse.

[Rog]

Funny how 'muslim' and 'trouble' so often are to be found together.

[La_Dolce_Vita]

Funny how 'muslim' and 'trouble' so often are to be found together.

 

I know, and the same used to be true about the Jews.

[Rog]

Funny how 'muslim' and 'trouble' so often are to be found together.

 

I know, and the same used to be true about the Jews.

 

Very true, but then people realised that we were not as we had been painted and stopped making trouble for us.

[Chinahand]

I had a PM asking me about Xinjiang. I thought I'd put it here in case anyone else was interested! As ever its long!

 

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I have posted on Xinjiang here in the past.

 

Xinjiang's a huge area in the west of China - it consists of basically 3 areas - a basin to the North called Zhungaria, a mountain chain called the Tianshan and a huge desert basin to the South called the Tarim which contains the Taklamakan desert. I've not yet visited the province, but have studied it academically and from the pictures I've seen its one beautiful place!

 

Xinjiang links into "China proper" by way of an area called the Gansu corridor - it was a trade route, a major part of the Silk Road, where merchants coming in and out of China travelled up and out of China and the old capital of Xi'an into the West. The passes and Oases in the Tianshan led the merchants either northwards skirting Zhungaria and into Central Asia, or southwards into the Taklamakan where there were two routes; either to the South with high passes through the Himalaya into India and Pakistan; or North into Afghanistan or Central Asia.

 

I think that the main strategic area of the province is its backbone along the Tianshan with Zhungaria having always been an area of migrations and movements of people but it basically having been a grazing area for Buddhist Mongol cultures historically without large population centres. While to the South the Oasis towns were a string of pearls along the trade routes, but in an area incredibly sparsely populated.

 

When China was powerful its remit would grow out from Gansu into the Tianshan - Zhungaria with nomadic herders would be fortified with Han forts, and to the south the Oasis towns would fall under Han control.

 

This has been going on for thousands of years - there would be periods of Chinese strength and stronger control and times of weakness when the area would fragment into local cultures ruled by Warlords and local Caliphs.

 

The Chinese saw Xinjiang as a place of exile - the Chinese equivelent of Australia! - with various famous figures banished there over the centuries. That practice persists even today with a legal scholar recently sent from Beijing to Xinjiang recently. But as well as individual exciles just like in Australia the Chinese have also exciled large numbers of prisoners etc (such as soldiers who fought on the wrong side in the civil war) to Xinjiang to increase the Chinese presence in the area.

 

Such practices have been going on for milennia, but would regularly break down with Han migrants fleeing the area as Chinese control weakened.

 

Basically Chinese migrants and influence have always had a presence in Xinjiang for over 2 millenium, but its only been since the 18th century that that presence has really been solidified, and even then it nearly totally collapsed in the early 20th century as China weakened in the face of corrupt rule and foreign colonialism.

 

There is no doubt in my mind that the Chinese Communist Party has decided that it will not allow this to happen again and is doing everything in its power to ensure Han dominance. There is oil in Zhungaria and massive mineral wealth throughout the province, plus by giving China access to the mineral, oil and gas resources of Central Asia the province is a vital strategic position which the Chinese are simply not going to let go.

 

And that is casuing huge amounts of local resentment. There are lots of cultural groups in Xinjiang - and the CCP has used a divide and conquer policy to stop them unifying. There are significant numbers of Mongolians, and populations from all the Central Asian republics - Kazaks, Kyrgys, Uzbeks etc. The Central Asian Republics are all Turkic cultures and the Turkic people in Xinjiang - mainly from the South, but also in large numbers in the Tianshan - are the Uighurs.

 

The Turkic peoples have a proud Islamic tradition, mainly Sufi. The history of their writings is fascinating with all sorts of scripts being used - Turkish used the arab script, but later adopted the Latin alphabet, the Central Asian Republics when they were part of the Soviet Union were made to adopt the Cryllic alphabet while in Xinjiang an even earlier script was replaced with Arabic which though modified under CCP "guidance" has survived - though moves to create a Latin based alphabet for Uighur has been very controversial recently!

 

These language issues have atomized the Turkic groups and hindered cross cultural communication - plus the Turkic peoples have had to learn different second languages depending on whose sphere of inflluence they were under - Russian, Chinese etc.

 

The result is that the Uighurs are pretty cut off from their cultural kin spread throughout Central Asia.

 

In 1948 the Han were somehting like less than 10% of the population - they are now close to 50% - the Uighur were traditionally the largest ethnic group, and culturally dominant - they are now about 40% and their culture is being very much underminded by the Han.

 

Compulsory classes in Mandarin, increased used of Chinese Characters over the Arabic based Uighur script etc etc.

 

I feel deeply sorry for the Uighurs - there is little place for their culture in the country they are a part of and they have been refused the self determination to create their own country.

 

Quite simple the CCP will not allow any prospect of succession for places like Tibet or Xinjiang. It will use military force and political coercion to maintain its territorial integrity.

 

Also at the moment its political development means that it is unable to consider ideas like devolution or autonomy - just a note the area is called the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region; the word Autonomous in this title is entirely bogus. In fact Autonomous regions in China need greater Central approval for their actions than normal Provinces.

 

The reality of the CCP's position makes it almost impossible for Uighur's to campaign for increased awareness of their culture - the CCP is likely to regard any such attempts as being connected with seperatism and crack down on it. Practicing their religion, using their language, maintaining cultural traditions are all difficult with sometimes deliberate attempts made by the state to undermine them - such as making people eat during daylight during Ramadan.

 

I don't think you can call this anything other than oppressive. Moderate voices, who are simply seeking greater recognition of their culture, are been lumped in with terrorists and their contribution repressed. The result is simply greater and greater anger which has no outlet.

 

This anger exploded onto the streets of Urumchi not to long ago. It was a violent and bloody attack which degenerated into an attack on ordinary Han Chinese going about their lives in the city.

 

Were people like Rebiya Kadeer involved in the demonstration - was it pre-planned by "separatist elements" as the Chinese authorities claim, I'm not sure. But I'm reasonably certain any organized demonstration quickly and organically broke down into the riot with its violent vehemence unorganized and unexpected.

 

Uighurs are angry and so angry that they are willing to use meat clevers on ordinary members of the Han nationality. That is wrong. Actions like that will not result in one's case being advanced. It is violence and cannot be justified.

 

But sadly other than knuckling under there are few alternatives for Uighurs wanting to protest their position in Chinese society. Passive resistence takes huge moral courage and often means people sacrficing there lives and careers for very little progress.

 

And so Xinjiang remains a pressure cooker with continuing immigration of Han and little or no political progress to alter the Uighurs position.

 

I don't know what to think about it. The situation is not that far away from the likes of Northern Ireland. Polarized communities are having to be kept apart from each other for fear of violence and normal politics replaced by terrorism or "strike hard campaigns" by the authorities.

 

It could well be decades before things are able to alter, but I think it is likely that throughout that time immigration of Han will continue to alter the demographic reality of the province.

 

That isn't right, but the fact is 8 million Uighurs don't have much chance of influencing a country dominated by 1 billion Han Chinese.

 

The Dai Lama has recently said Tibet is an internal Chinese issue - he understands the reality of the position, but is still mainly ignored and sidelined by the CCP. Xinjiang is even more trapped in a situation controlled by the CCP.

 

The CCP's response is oppressive, violent and likely to make the situation worse, but quite simply it isn't able to accept ideas like devolution or real autonomy. How to get to a position where they can is difficult. China is on the wrong side of the J Curve. More political pluralism could well increase social tensions and the risk of violence - but you cannot keep a pressure cooker going for ever.

 

A Chinese leader has to grit their teeth and reform at some point. Very few authoritarian regimes have managed a way into democracy - Spain, Chile, Taiwan - most have had to undergo violence of one form or other and the instability that entails before a more democratic regime emerges.

 

China's endlessly fascinating, and will influence us all. Trying to understand all of it is impossible, and even a tiny part of it like Xinjiang is enough to fill a full time career!

 

So apologies as ever for going on too long, I will certainly have missed out bits, got figures wrong etc - but that is Xinjiang as I see it.

[La_Dolce_Vita]

I did do a bit of reading on Xinjiang, simply out of an interest of making comparisons with Tibet, but I didn't know there situation was worse in many respects than the Tibetans. I am quite surprised at this. Do the Uighers have any national ambitions? Not that I am generally a supporter of nationalist ambitions or has there always bond between the Han and Uigher that precludes this?

I would suppose that giving the oppressiveness of the regime there are thousands of Uighers who are completely in league with authorities.

 

What future do you see for China? I recognise that the Chinese communist party is not communist at all but is just a handful of despicable people (who I'd be happy to see gunned down mercilessly) who are simply making use of the apparatus of government to stay in power. It doesn't really have much credibility as a communist party, yet it has so much authority over the people. Can you see such a government remaining in power for much longer given that its existence suits a great deal of businesses and these businesses are where the real power lies? I mean the Chinese government is not one that stymies the capitalist business interests, so the only or main opposition can only come from urban workers.

[jimbms]

Funny how 'muslim' and 'trouble' so often are to be found together.

 

I know, and the same used to be true about the Jews.

 

Very true, but then people realised that we were not as we had been painted and stopped making trouble for us.

 

I could not possibly comment on that. Amazing what having the USA as PR does for you

[Chinahand]

I did do a bit of reading on Xinjiang, simply out of an interest of making comparisons with Tibet, but [1] I didn't know there situation was worse in many respects than the Tibetans. I am quite surprised at this. [2] Do the Uighers have any national ambitions? [3] Not that I am generally a supporter of nationalist ambitions or has there always bond between the Han and Uigher that precludes this?

[1] Xinjiang is even more trapped in a situation controlled by the CCP than Tibet because it has failed even more than the Dai Lama to gain international sympathy for their plight. That sounds tough on the Dai Lama - a person I massively respect, but his soft power has gained him very very little and he basically has no hard power whatsoever.

 

[2] WTF - you say you've read about Xinjiang - the whole issue is about independence for East Turkestan.

 

[3] No bond - much rivalry and more than a bit of blood shed.

 

What future do you see for China? I recognise that the Chinese communist party is not communist at all but is just a handful of despicable people (who I'd be happy to see gunned down mercilessly) who are simply making use of the apparatus of government to stay in power. It doesn't really have much credibility as a communist party, yet it has so much authority over the people. Can you see such a government remaining in power for much longer given that its existence suits a great deal of businesses and these businesses are where the real power lies? I mean the Chinese government is not one that stymies the capitalist business interests, so the only or main opposition can only come from urban workers.

It would take several years to answer these questions - try searching under my name and China for some of my previous answers. And if you think the Chinese government doesn't stymy capitalist business interests you've never done any business in China - not much of a surprise there.

[La_Dolce_Vita]

[1] Xinjiang is even more trapped in a situation controlled by the CCP than Tibet because it has failed even more than the Dai Lama to gain international sympathy for their plight. That sounds tough on the Dai Lama - a person I massively respect, but his soft power has gained him very very little and he basically has no hard power whatsoever.

 

Soft power? Not heard that before, what does it mean?

 

[2] WTF - you say you've read about Xinjiang - the whole issue is about independence for East Turkestan.

 

Oh, I did read about the Uighers and a bit about the history. I genuinely didn't know, I'll have to read some more.

 

It would take several years to answer these questions - try searching under my name and China for some of my previous answers. And if you think the Chinese government doesn't stymy capitalist business interests you've never done any business in China - not much of a surprise there.

 

I won't trawl through if it'll take years to read them. Sorry I was being sloppy there in making that comment about business. I meant in terms of the government preventing capitalist practices from taking place in the business community, i.e. with it being no longer a socialist system.

[Chinahand]

Trouble continues in Xinjiang.

 

Nasty little meme - stabbing people with hypodermic needles.

 

Edited to add: If you don't want a certain group living in "your" area I imagine its quite an effective way of spreading fear. People getting off a crowded bus, or where ever, are an easy target and its so small its very easy to hide. Terribly difficult to stop without very overt security, and if you are a moral terrorist if you use sterile needles, but spread rumours about infections, then its terrorism with only tiny collateral damage. Nasty.