Xinjiang and Islamic Terrorism

                                               Terror at Chinese door (Kunming attack)

Xinjiang is autonomous region of People Republic of China in north-west of the country. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km². Xinjiang borders Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

Region is home to ethnic Uyghur people and some other ethinc minority Mongol, Hui, Kyrdyz etc.

Chinese Claim

Chinese government claims that Historically Uyghur has been part of china since BC 60; although an attempt to incorporate region started by Qing dynasty only in Mid-18 Century. The name Uyghur New frontier had given in 1880. During chaos of 1940s, Uyghur declared a short-lived independent state of east Turkestan. But from 1949 the communist began integrating Xinjiang in to China by force.

Why Xinjiang so important for Chinese?

Strategically located Xinjiang borders eight countries and connect China to resourceful Central Asian countries. It is also home of Chinese nuclear testing facility (Lop Nor), contains sustainable reserve of oil and gas. As it is gateway to Central Asian countries and has been strategically located region under Chinese control.

Why Uyghur are hostile towards Chinese authority?

Uyghur are ethnically of Turkish origin and profess Sunni Islam. They have been protesting against Chinese authority since their annexation to China. They have genuine resentment against Chinese authorities for suppressing their religious right and cracking down on their Uyghur identity. They courted their protest on state sponsored flooding of Han Chinese migrants and who mainly settled in Cities. Rural part of Xinjiang is very poor and having dilapidated infrastructure. Uyghur blame Chinese for imposing Chinese language and suppressing Uyghur language.

There is grinding poverty in rural part of Xinjiang and widespread employment among Uyghur youth, ideally recipe for Islamic fundamentalist to use them to wage a war against Chinese government.

Recent Chinese crackdowns hit at heart of Uygur identity students are banned from fasting during Ramadan; religious teaching for children is restricted thus creating an atmosphere of fear among Uyghur community.

Chinese Strategy in Xinjiang

The Chinese has two pronged approach for Xinjiang, first she (China) try to change demographic profile of Xinjiang by immigrating Han people in area. From barely constituting 6 per cent of population at the time of founding People’s Republic in 1949. The Han population now accounts for more than 44 percent of the population. This has resulted in a distortion with bulk of the development works being concentrated in urban areas; much to detriment and immense dissatisfaction for Uygur who mainly live in rural area.

Secondly Chinese have tried to assimilate the Uyghurs in main stream by restricting religious practice and suppressing Uygur language education. In their bid to modernize Kashgar, large part of cities have been destroyed in order to develop shopping malls, housing complexes; much to chagrin of some Uyghur who see this another attempt on the Chinese part to destroy their Identity. The end result has been that two communities live in distinct ‘ghettoized’ areas and rarely mix socially. There is visible distinction in their eating habit.