China's security forces have failed in their attempts to win over the nation's ethnic minorities.
Graham Adams shares his personal observations, experiences, and conversations from around Xinjiang. For earlier articles in the series, please see Part I, Part II, and Part III.
Following the 2009 riots in Xinjiang (East Turkestan), the government of the People's Republic of China is "striking hard" against perceived separatist and terrorist activities. Critics argue that the government is actually using the specter of ethnic and religious instability to crack down on the local Central Asian populace and dramatically increase the security presence.
A sign in Urumqi reads: "The military loves the people, the people embrace the military, the military and people are united as one family."
Ever since its "peaceful liberation" of Xinjiang and Tibet, the Chinese People's Liberation Army has endeavored to present itself as a benevolent protector of ethnic minorities. Local propaganda in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) features members of the military linked arm-in-arm with colorfully dressed minorities, all of whom are unified as one family, one nation. However, beneath the official veneer of ethnic solidarity, local Central Asian ethnic groups tend to remain extremely distrustful of the military and Public Security Bureau.
Photo Credit: Graham Adams
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Kim’s Uncle
East Turkestan deserves to be free from China. It is called right of self determination !
thmak
What are legitimate reasons and pretenses USA uses to suppress people around the world, China only use at home.
Derek
Isn't this state of affairs the norm in Asia? An old-world nation with territory that contains a significant minority that is restless and a net drain in resources. Nearly every nation in the Eurasian region have had continual unrest and military occupation or shaky autonomy for minorities. Other cases would be the successful ethnic cleansing in states like Bhutan or Nepal.
I don't see much indication that such tension is rising to a breaking point in Xinjiang or other more unstable regions like Kashmir or Iraq. It always goes back to the question, is the status quo sustainable? Seeing as China's example is in a much better strategic position than other ethnic hotspots, it isn't clear that China is in a more precarious position than its peers.
TDog
I'm curious as to the author's focus in this article. On the one hand he says that China is being heavy handed in its presence, but then on the other he notes with amusement, "… the Public Security Bureau also seems to have set up small civilian patrols… Ironically, one is far more likely to find them chatting idly outside of storefronts or playing cards," implying that at least part of the security presence is no more onerous than a couple of lederly men playing chess in Central Park.
And then there's the assertion by a local Uyghur that they have "no human rights." It is unfortunate, but the term "human rights" has been bandied about so much by so many that it has lost its meaning. What human rights are they lacking? We often complained about the lack of human rights in places like Iraq and Libya only to see regime change deny different rights to different groups. So what exactly does this individual mean when he says they have "no human rights"?
The issue at had is not China's problem in occupying its hinterlands so much as it has hinterlands to worry about. We in the US have no problem with that because, to be frank, we largely eradicated the aboriginal population and then pushed as far as we could. But any nation in with borders abutting Central Asia will have the same problem China does: largely unstable swathes of territory that must either be patrolled heavily or left to the mercies of the various phenomena that a lack of government creates, i.e., crime, cross-border instability, and a further erosion of security closer to the heartland.
That China has been successful, if ruthless, in the securing of its own borders has been a source of contention amongst academics. Why that is I have no idea, but perhaps it is a little of the "noble savage" image many of us in the US have for the perceived underdog. In the 1980's ,the mujahideen were "freedom fighters". Today they're "terrorists." In the 1990's, the Somalis needed our help. Today they're pirates who need to be contianed.
Neither group has changed, but our knowledge of them has. And in finding out more about them, they become less noble, less pure, and more problematic. And in this case I would say it is likelier that China knows more about the inhabitants of Xinjiang than someone who has merely visited. Even expats from the region are not necessarily a reliable source of information. With that in mind, perhaps China is doing what it is not because it wants trouble, but because it's the most palatable choice out of a menu of nothing but bad choices.
joe
I think the only solution is independence for Xinjiang from China.
TDog
Joe,
What would entail an independent Xinjiang? The current borders China assigned to the Xinjiang Autonomous Region or any territory with Uighurs in it? And would independence necessarily solve China's problems or merely saddle them with more?
China is in the Xinjiang for a reason and if its presence is problematic, the Chinese government must be of the opinion that the benefits of being there outweigh the costs of being there. If they didn't, they would leave. Many observers and so-called experts tend to gloss over that very simple fact and so ascribe to China the sort of unthinking expansionism that we ourselves are guilty of. And since China doesn't have any overseas bases, we tend to accuse them of occupying any land that isn't majority-Chinese, which ironically enough espouses a mindset every bit of racist as the one we accuse China of possessing, i.e., if people are not Chinese, they do not belong in China.
zanzibar 5
i'm not sure independence for xinjiang is the clear endgame here. won't the chinese get paranoid that "one domino" that falls will lead to calls for independence for outer mongolia, a manchu republic, a tibet kingdom zone, etc etc etc? and the chinese have heavily invested in the region, the first high speed train to the area opened last year, more infrastructure, more tax receipts.
the really sophisticated response would be to encourage china to invest every spare yuan into xinjiang. every yuan invested there is a yuan not building laser weapons
nirvana
You often think you have a "menu of bad choices" when you do not think out of the box. There are good choices available. The first one is to stop censorship. The second one is to open the (inner) borders. When people speak freely, move freely, then they will mix freely and naturally. We are not animals, we are human beings, unless we are treated as parked animals, unless we are forced to hate others.
TDog
nirvana,
The main problem about letting people just move freely is that China is not the US – they already have an overcrowding problem on their eastern seaboard and with one-fourth our arable land and rapidly depleting water resources, allowing a mass migration would be the last thing China would want or could handle.
nirvana
@Tdog,
The main problem in using economic justifications to restrict people movements, inside a country, is that it easily leads to abuse of human rights. You may have good reason to beleive that there is no such abuses in the PRC. But when we touch on such issues, the benefit of doubt can not be used. We have to doubt the Chinese government, as much as we are allowed to doubt our government, if not more.
thmak
USA use homeland security to suppress human rights
nirvana
@thmak,
And therefore China can use other pretext to suppress human rights?
mareo2
@Tdog
So what exactly does this individual mean when he says they have "no human rights"?
Let me answer with In words that any american can understand…
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
The opening of the United States Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776.
Werner
Man is not created equal, this is just a fancy illusion. Everybody is different and that is the reason why majorities like to keep minorities under control. Add to this a different language and culture and you are close oppression, China is not the exception.
nirvana
@Werner,
You seem to have difficulty in understanding the difference between equality and diversity. A man and a woman are very different, but they should be treated equally in front of law. A normal man and a hearing impaired man have different physical capability. But they should both enjoy life and cultural activities equally in a modern society.
Kenneth
I have been in Xingjing many times and what I saw there is no difference than what I saw in New York City right after 911 when there were heavily armed soldiers everywhere. It happens everytime when there was a riot. The soldier there was to maintain the order. I do not understand what is the auther(s) intention or what he tried to convey?
mareo2
Let me point the evident differences to you. New York suffered a terrorist attack from foreigners that costed too many lives and you say that a local riot for being second class citizen. New York is a cosmopolitan city with people from many races and cultures and the security was for protect all of them from foreigners terrorists, while in the PRC the police and the PLA presence in Xijiang is protect the CCP first and the Han privileges second against the Uighurs.
Kenneth
What make you jump to the conclusion that what the Chinese government did was for the survival of CCP or for the Han's only and not for the whole country? Was the clamped down of LA's riot and the black panthers during the civil unrest period was for the benefit of the whites only and not for the country? The Han's are complaining that they are discriminated against by their governement because !) they can have only one child while the minorities have no limit, 2) there are quota reserved for the minority groups to get into some the very prestigious colleges such as Tsinghua or Peita, 3) unproportional amount of government budget are allocated for the benefits of the minority groups, etc.. Yes, CCP needs to clean-up their own house and they know it. However, you can not deny that a unprecedent progress has been made in China under the leadership of CCP! We should stop nick-pick on China because no government is perfect, not even our US of A.
nirvana
You have been there many times and the situation was (or still) like "New York city right after 911". And you concluded that this is normality. You concluded that 911 and riots are the same.
mareo2
@Kenneth
I visited my relatives in LA short after the "last" riots, aside of the noisy LAPD helicopter flying low above the latin neighborhood waking me up every night, I dont' remember saw a large numbers of cops and soldiers controlling the american people there. It may be because in democratic countries when voters riot, politicians actually try to do changes instead of try to sweep the problems under the carpet by telling people to shut up like the CCP do. And please spare me the CCP propaganda, if minorities fare so well as you like to make me believe, why the CCP flood the uighur peopel with coops and soldiers? Do you think that the Tibetans self-inmolate for show their happiness?
Ryan
This is not a one off event but a way of life. Big difference.
John Chan
@Ryan,
The constant police and gun violence and Homeland Security violation of privacy in the USA is a way of life too.
nirvana
@John Chan,
So everything bad somewhere else can a be "a way of life" for the Chinese?
Ryan
This is part of it but I was in Kashgar just last summer (July 2012) and the government had wheeled military grade vehiciles similar to a btr-80 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BTR-80) in the town square.
thmak
USA has the latest weapons parading, demonstrating, testing and exercising around the Korean Peninsula and around the world.
nirvana
@thmak,
And this is a legitimate reason for the CCP to oppress its minorities?