In an earlier blog, I talked about one of the smaller autonomous regions in China, the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture. Yanbian, as I pointed out, took up the southern and northeastern part of Manchuria, a sizable area, but not anywhere as large as Xinjiang, China's largest autonomous region known as Uighur Autonomous Region. It is huge. It is almost three times the size of the state of Texas at 642,820 square miles, but smaller than the state of Alaska which is 663,268 square miles! So, it is a giant chunk of land, rich in mineral resources. It is located in the northwestern corner of China and shares borders with Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India! For its size, it has a relatively small population at somewhere between 21 and 23 million souls, the census data is not all that accurate because so many of the residents of the area still lead a nomadic life or just don't cooperate with official Chinese census takers. It appears that the Beijing government is not all that popular in the region.
Every year a bit of news leaks out of the area, lately it has mostly been about terrorist activities. China has kept a tight lid on the area, and although foreigners are not banned from visiting this isolated region, few actually go there. Xinjiang is China's Islamic region. Its population is predominantly Muslim, whether they are Uighurs, the majority population, or Tajiks, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, or other minority members. Supposedly, the Han Chinese now make up about 40% of the population in the region, at least that is the official claim, while Uighurs make up about 45% and the remaining population is made up of Tajiks, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Hui, Mongols, and Russians! Just as China did in Manchuria and Inner Mongolia, "volunteer" Han Chinese immigrants were used to try to settle the area and displace the native population. At this point there are without a doubt quite a few Han Chinese in the region, but 40% seems a bit too optimistic.
By rights, the region should be an independent country like its neighbors. Unfortunately, China, has historically always tried to control the area. It was an important piece of real estate through which the ancient "Silk Road" passed, an extremely vital highway for trade going back centuries. Essentially, whoever controlled the "Silk Road" in the past controlled a vast portion of world's economy! It was always a region which was predominantly settled by Uighurs, nomadic Turkic people closely related to the Kazakhs, the Kyrgyz, and Tajiks. They are ethnically related to Afghans as well as some of the tribes in bordering Pakistan. They are not by any means, racially, ethnically, or culturally Chinese. Yet, today they are part of China. In many ways, their plight is very similar to that of the Kurds, who desperately want their own independent state. The Kurds have their autonomous region in Iraq and Turkey, but they are considered a part of those countries, not on their own, just like the Uighurs!
It is, therefore, not surprising that there is an independent movement afoot, East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) which is considered a terror group by the Chinese government. ETIM has not allied itself with ISIS or any other known Islamic terror group as of yet, at least there is no solid link as of this time. It appears to be loosely allied with Al Qaeda and has supplied men to ISIS for the war in Syria. The region, incidentally, is sometimes unofficially referred to as Chinese Turkestan. ISIS, on the other hand, has released some videos lately, urging ETIM to shed the Chinese yoke and gave the impression that they are allied. However, there is no official word on this.
The Xinjiang, as mentioned earlier, is rich in mineral resources and China is eager to exploit the region. Han Chinese have moved into the region to help its government to "develop" the underdeveloped land. Compared to the rest of China, Xinjiang is indeed very much underdeveloped. In recent years, as China raced into the 21st Century trying to become the world's leading economy, Chinese cities have undergone an almost miraculous change, literally jumping from early 20th Century into the 21st. But the cities in Xinjiang are still far behind, more like Chinese cities were in mid 20th Century! Obviously, not all regions in China receive equal treatment. The way Beijing government treats Xinjiang literally smacks of racism. Of course the majority of the population in the region is different, racially, ethnically, and culturally different! China's treatment of Xinjiang is very similar to the way Tibet is treated, definitely not as equal!
Recently there has been a spate of violence, terror activities involving killings, bombings, etc. The Beijing government responded like they did in Tibet. They sent in thousands of People's Liberation Army and Police. All of the major population centers in the region were swarming with police and camouflage uniformed PLA. You can be sure that they responded to any threat or perceived threat with full force! Those Western journalists who managed to witness the Chinese recent "invasion" of the region described it as "killing an ant with a sledge hammer!" The Chinese response has been very heavy handed. It seems that the Beijing government doesn't really know how to respond to these situations other than with full force! Beijing's latest actions have done nothing but stoke the fires of ETIM and any other anti Chinese group in the area. It has also caused ISIS to become more vocal and become an instigator for more terror attacks.
Like I said earlier, news of terror activity in Xinjiang seems to leak out only once in a while. Most of the time what happens in that remote region is really unknown to the rest of the world. China would like to keep it that way. However, I don't think that in this day and age China will be able to keep such a tight lid on the region. Despite the fact that Xinjiang may lack in some of the infrastructure and other advancements of the modern world, people do have cell phones and computers and can or will reach the outside world through internet and social media. Unless China comes up with a more agreeable way of settling differences and meeting the demands or requirements of Uighurs in the region, they may face a protracted insurgency that will ultimately break their hold on the region. This business of sending in thousands of PLA and violently subduing any protests is only going to work temporarily. There is open hostility in the region between the Han Chinese and the "native" population. No doubt the Han Chinese discriminate against the Uighurs and others, since the government definitely shows a somewhat racist streak! If ETIM or any other such organization starts to receive some serious outside support, China will have a major problem on their hands!
Saturday, March 18, 2017
Monday, March 6, 2017
"SNAFU, FUBAR" - Still Taking Place!
Back in June 2014, I wrote a two part blog about American combat troops in Manchuria, a relatively little known military action that took place between 1918 and 1920. I described how ill prepared our troops were, having been shipped directly from tropical Philippines where they were stationed, to sub-Arctic Siberia in the winter! No doubt the troops were sent from Philippines because that was the closest place where we had troops stationed. I imagine the War Department (Pentagon of old) felt that it was more cost effective to send the G.I.s from Philippines rather than from our West Coast. But ultimately the War Department ended up spending more money because our troops from the tropics were ill prepared to handle the brutal Siberian winter! We bought everything from heavy winter overcoats to rifles and ammunition from the Japanese! It cost us dearly and gained us nothing. The Japanese, on the other hand, made a bundle of money from our purchases of winter clothing and arms and ammunition, and also ended up with the large territory of island of Sakhalin as their booty at the end of this operation!
That military operation, one of our earliest large scale military operations in Asia (other than during Spanish American War and the Philippine Insurrection that followed) could have been easily called a SNAFU or a FUBAR, had those terms been in use by the G.I.s at that time. However, both SNAFU and FUBAR supposedly didn't come about until World War Two. The earliest definition of SNAFU appeared in the Yank magazine in January of 1944. The definition for SNAFU was given in very polite language as "Situation Normal: All Fouled Up." As you know, G.I.s would not have used such mild language, it wasn't "fouled up" in common G.I. usage! FUBAR was also defined in polite terms as "Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition/Repair/Reason." Anyone who has served in the military is no doubt well aware of these terms and have heard them used often in the military.
It is sometimes a mystery as to why such simple things as proper clothing can be forgotten or ignored. The Germans paid a heavy price for not having proper winter clothing in Russia during World War Two, especially during the Battle of Stalingrad. But that was because they didn't expect to get stuck in Stalingrad during winter! Hitler and his generals thought that Stalingrad would be in their hands by the end of the summer at the latest!
In the early 1960s, before the escalation of Vietnam War and expansion of the Army Special Forces took place, there were just three Special Forces units with one in the making. There was the 10th Group in Germany with Europe as its area of responsibility, and the 1st Group on Okinawa with Asia as its area. The 5th Group was in the process of being formed and trained for deployment to Vietnam. The 7th Group which had been the 77th Group until 1960, had the dual responsibility of not only providing cadre members for newly forming groups like the 5th and the future 3rd, 6th, and 8th, but its area of responsibility was the entire globe! In other words, anyplace, just as the unit motto declared: "Anytime, Anyplace, Anything." The older 77th Group motto had an additional fourth word added, "anyhow." As such, the 7th Group provided "teams" for Vietnam along with the 1st Group on Okinawa. The 5th Group didn't really start in Vietnam until late 1964 and early 1965. The 7th Group also had teams in other parts of the world, Latin America, Africa, and Middle East, although it seemed at that Asia took up most of its time!
In order to maintain its status as a unit with global responsibilities, those members that were not deployed were constantly in training for various environments. The members of the 7th Group spent time in Alaska for cold weather training, Panama for jungle, Mojave for desert, etc. In February 1964 my detachment, A-17, along with several other "A Teams" were sent on a long, exhausting cross Pacific flight in C-130s to Philippines for training exercise. We knew we were going to tropical climate since we were told to take only our jungle fatigues and no winter gear. After an exhausting three days in the air, from Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina with numerous stops for refueling and whatnot, we finally landed in Philippines. The hot, humid air that hit our faces upon lowering of the tailgate was a shock to our system. Anyone who was sent to Vietnam during the winter in the States, knows the feeling upon landing at Tan Son Nhut! The hot humid air hit you in the face like a shock wave! Well, at least we were properly dressed in jungle fatigues and jungle boots!
After a week of running around and playing war games with Philippine Army Special Forces, we were loaded up in C-130s again. But this time we were all 'chuted-up, ready to make a parachute drop. We thought we were going to be making a jump somewhere in Philippines. But when the planes climbed to a higher altitude, we realized we were going for a long haul. Several very uncomfortable hours later (if you have flown long distances all 'chuted-up, you know how uncomfortable that can be!), the plane lost altitude and we began flying at around 2000 feet. When the jumpmaster gave us the command to stand up and the tail gate was lowered, the cold air hit us like a ton of bricks! After going through the pre-jump routine and hooking-up, we finally made the jump. By that time we were pretty cold! Imagine our surprise landing on the ground that was partially covered with snow! As we learned later, we had flown to, and made a jump in South Korea in February, wearing jungle fatigues! We survived that ordeal, but you can rest assured that the acronyms SNAFU and FUBAR were used liberally by everyone involved, and not with the polite language terms!
That military operation, one of our earliest large scale military operations in Asia (other than during Spanish American War and the Philippine Insurrection that followed) could have been easily called a SNAFU or a FUBAR, had those terms been in use by the G.I.s at that time. However, both SNAFU and FUBAR supposedly didn't come about until World War Two. The earliest definition of SNAFU appeared in the Yank magazine in January of 1944. The definition for SNAFU was given in very polite language as "Situation Normal: All Fouled Up." As you know, G.I.s would not have used such mild language, it wasn't "fouled up" in common G.I. usage! FUBAR was also defined in polite terms as "Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition/Repair/Reason." Anyone who has served in the military is no doubt well aware of these terms and have heard them used often in the military.
It is sometimes a mystery as to why such simple things as proper clothing can be forgotten or ignored. The Germans paid a heavy price for not having proper winter clothing in Russia during World War Two, especially during the Battle of Stalingrad. But that was because they didn't expect to get stuck in Stalingrad during winter! Hitler and his generals thought that Stalingrad would be in their hands by the end of the summer at the latest!
In the early 1960s, before the escalation of Vietnam War and expansion of the Army Special Forces took place, there were just three Special Forces units with one in the making. There was the 10th Group in Germany with Europe as its area of responsibility, and the 1st Group on Okinawa with Asia as its area. The 5th Group was in the process of being formed and trained for deployment to Vietnam. The 7th Group which had been the 77th Group until 1960, had the dual responsibility of not only providing cadre members for newly forming groups like the 5th and the future 3rd, 6th, and 8th, but its area of responsibility was the entire globe! In other words, anyplace, just as the unit motto declared: "Anytime, Anyplace, Anything." The older 77th Group motto had an additional fourth word added, "anyhow." As such, the 7th Group provided "teams" for Vietnam along with the 1st Group on Okinawa. The 5th Group didn't really start in Vietnam until late 1964 and early 1965. The 7th Group also had teams in other parts of the world, Latin America, Africa, and Middle East, although it seemed at that Asia took up most of its time!
In order to maintain its status as a unit with global responsibilities, those members that were not deployed were constantly in training for various environments. The members of the 7th Group spent time in Alaska for cold weather training, Panama for jungle, Mojave for desert, etc. In February 1964 my detachment, A-17, along with several other "A Teams" were sent on a long, exhausting cross Pacific flight in C-130s to Philippines for training exercise. We knew we were going to tropical climate since we were told to take only our jungle fatigues and no winter gear. After an exhausting three days in the air, from Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina with numerous stops for refueling and whatnot, we finally landed in Philippines. The hot, humid air that hit our faces upon lowering of the tailgate was a shock to our system. Anyone who was sent to Vietnam during the winter in the States, knows the feeling upon landing at Tan Son Nhut! The hot humid air hit you in the face like a shock wave! Well, at least we were properly dressed in jungle fatigues and jungle boots!
After a week of running around and playing war games with Philippine Army Special Forces, we were loaded up in C-130s again. But this time we were all 'chuted-up, ready to make a parachute drop. We thought we were going to be making a jump somewhere in Philippines. But when the planes climbed to a higher altitude, we realized we were going for a long haul. Several very uncomfortable hours later (if you have flown long distances all 'chuted-up, you know how uncomfortable that can be!), the plane lost altitude and we began flying at around 2000 feet. When the jumpmaster gave us the command to stand up and the tail gate was lowered, the cold air hit us like a ton of bricks! After going through the pre-jump routine and hooking-up, we finally made the jump. By that time we were pretty cold! Imagine our surprise landing on the ground that was partially covered with snow! As we learned later, we had flown to, and made a jump in South Korea in February, wearing jungle fatigues! We survived that ordeal, but you can rest assured that the acronyms SNAFU and FUBAR were used liberally by everyone involved, and not with the polite language terms!
Saturday, March 4, 2017
Yanbian - Korean Autonomous Prefecture
China, as most people probably know, has several autonomous regions. These are regions that are populated with people of different ethnic origin than the Han Chinese. Some of these regions have been heavily populated by the Han Chinese, an attempt by the Chinese government to displace local ethnic groups. This practice had been taking place since ancient times. Such is the case with Inner Mongolia, which used to be predominantly populated with Mongols but today has a higher ratio of Han Chinese. Other regions, such as Tibet or the huge Xinjiang Autonomous Region (which is about the size of 1/4 of the rest of China) is heavily populated with distinct ethnic groups. In Tibet, the majority population is Tibetan and in Xinjiang it is Kazaks and Turks who are the majority. In all, China identifies five major autonomous regions, from Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Guangxi, Ningxia, to Tibet. However, there is a fifth region that the Chinese do not like to talk about. It is the Yanbian Autonomous Region which is located just across the border from North Korea and is about the size of half of South Korea or our state of Maine! It takes up about a third of the region called Manchuria!
Autonomous regions, by their very nature, consist of regions where a distinct native language is spoken and the general life style and customs differ from the mainstream official language and culture of the country. All schools in the region are bilingual and generally speaking, customs and lifestyle of the region adhere closer to their ethnic origin rather than the mainstream. Russia and the old Soviet Union had autonomous regions, although they didn't call them by that name. The Southwestern part of the United States that is heavily populated with Hispanics could have been called autonomous regions, however, they are not! The official language is English and although there are heavy influences of Hispanic culture in these regions, they are still a part of the United States culturally, and not only the language, but the lifestyle of its population is very much like the rest of the population in the U.S. Of course, there are families and neighborhoods that are heavily Hispanic, but still, the kids from these areas attend standard U.S. school systems where English is the official language. I suppose Indian reservations can be considered autonomous regions, since they do have their own government, etc. In China's autonomous regions, they do have certain amount of independence, but not quite as much as one might think.
The Yanbian Autonomous Region is heavily populated with ethnic Koreans. Although there are some Koreans who are recent escapees or immigrants from North Korea, the vast majority can trace their roots to at least the 19th Century, when a large influx of Koreans came to Manchuria. However, Koreans have lived in that region for centuries. The earliest known Korean kingdom, the Gochosun that was founded in 2333 BC, consisted of the entire Korean peninsula as well as the region that is called Manchuria. When Gochosun finally fell to a combination of Puyo and Koguryo kingdoms, Koguryo took over and established an empire that ruled the entire region for 700 years, from 37 BC until 688 AD, when it fell to the combined forces of Silla from the south and Tang Dynasty of China from the west.
The Korean population did not go anywhere, but it did mix with existing Manchu and Mongol tribes that lived in the area as well. Of course, the Chinese that came to the region also got into the mix. So, today's inhabitants of Manchuria, although identified as Chinese, would show Korean DNA if a DNA test was conducted with its population. Additionally, despite China's attempt through the ages to submerse Korean language and culture in the area, to make Manchuria more "Chinese,"it has not succeeded completely. Korean is still spoken widely and Korean culture (somewhat different from that of in South Korea!) survives. It is not all that difficult to understand when one realizes how the area had been populated with Koreans going back to Gochosun era, some 4,000 years ago!
There are currently about two million people residing in Manchuria who identify themselves as Koreans. There is an additional half a million or so scattered in various parts of China, but the largest "Korean" population is in Manchuria, in the region called the Yanbian Autonomous Prefecture. Now, there are many more Koreans in China that have taken up Chinese names, intermarried, and have taken on Chinese identity completely. Short of a DNA test, there is no way to find out if they are indeed of Korean descent. But of those who identify themselves as Koreans, speak Korean, and practice Korean culture, there are about two million in Manchuria.
As unlikely and strange as it may seem to us, the Chinese are apparently concerned (at least some members in their government) that should unification take place on the Korean peninsula, united Korea, after it recovers from the initial setback and economic hit, will regain and increase its strength and might make incursions into Manchuria, laying claim to those areas heavily populated with ethnic Koreans! Despite the presence of ethnic Koreans in Manchuria, the last time Korea legitimately had ownership of that land was under Koguryo Empire, some 1400 years ago! To us, laying claim to something that was owned 1400 years ago would seem completely ridiculous. After all, we took a good portion of Mexican territory (our entire Southwest and California!) some measly (by Chinese standards) 160 years ago after the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848. It would be unthinkable to us that Mexico would demand the territory today! But the Chinese obviously have a different clock and calendar in their heads, and I don't mean the lunar calendar. They just seem to count time differently. While we may be concerned with months or possibly years, they seem to think in terms of centuries!
I have read various accounts of China's concern about ethnic Korean population and possible effect it may have on Chinese - Korean relations in the future. Most of these studies or articles did not even mention the issue of Korea's previous, ancient ownership of the territory and simply focussed on the population and not the land. However, a recent book published by a respected Chinese scholar revealed, at least in the author's views, this whole issue. The book was about the unification of the two Koreas and what possible effect it might have on the region. The author listed various reasons why China does not want unification to take place. Most of the reasons had to do with economic issues as well as fear that China would lose a "buffer" (North Korea) against possible U.S. military aggression in the region. But he added also that a united Korea, after recovery from initial economic set backs, would become even more powerful and might cause problems for China demanding its ancient territory that was part of Gochosun and Koguryo. That was a long, long, time ago! But it just goes to show, time seems to have a different meaning in China, or at least to some people in China!
Autonomous regions, by their very nature, consist of regions where a distinct native language is spoken and the general life style and customs differ from the mainstream official language and culture of the country. All schools in the region are bilingual and generally speaking, customs and lifestyle of the region adhere closer to their ethnic origin rather than the mainstream. Russia and the old Soviet Union had autonomous regions, although they didn't call them by that name. The Southwestern part of the United States that is heavily populated with Hispanics could have been called autonomous regions, however, they are not! The official language is English and although there are heavy influences of Hispanic culture in these regions, they are still a part of the United States culturally, and not only the language, but the lifestyle of its population is very much like the rest of the population in the U.S. Of course, there are families and neighborhoods that are heavily Hispanic, but still, the kids from these areas attend standard U.S. school systems where English is the official language. I suppose Indian reservations can be considered autonomous regions, since they do have their own government, etc. In China's autonomous regions, they do have certain amount of independence, but not quite as much as one might think.
The Yanbian Autonomous Region is heavily populated with ethnic Koreans. Although there are some Koreans who are recent escapees or immigrants from North Korea, the vast majority can trace their roots to at least the 19th Century, when a large influx of Koreans came to Manchuria. However, Koreans have lived in that region for centuries. The earliest known Korean kingdom, the Gochosun that was founded in 2333 BC, consisted of the entire Korean peninsula as well as the region that is called Manchuria. When Gochosun finally fell to a combination of Puyo and Koguryo kingdoms, Koguryo took over and established an empire that ruled the entire region for 700 years, from 37 BC until 688 AD, when it fell to the combined forces of Silla from the south and Tang Dynasty of China from the west.
The Korean population did not go anywhere, but it did mix with existing Manchu and Mongol tribes that lived in the area as well. Of course, the Chinese that came to the region also got into the mix. So, today's inhabitants of Manchuria, although identified as Chinese, would show Korean DNA if a DNA test was conducted with its population. Additionally, despite China's attempt through the ages to submerse Korean language and culture in the area, to make Manchuria more "Chinese,"it has not succeeded completely. Korean is still spoken widely and Korean culture (somewhat different from that of in South Korea!) survives. It is not all that difficult to understand when one realizes how the area had been populated with Koreans going back to Gochosun era, some 4,000 years ago!
There are currently about two million people residing in Manchuria who identify themselves as Koreans. There is an additional half a million or so scattered in various parts of China, but the largest "Korean" population is in Manchuria, in the region called the Yanbian Autonomous Prefecture. Now, there are many more Koreans in China that have taken up Chinese names, intermarried, and have taken on Chinese identity completely. Short of a DNA test, there is no way to find out if they are indeed of Korean descent. But of those who identify themselves as Koreans, speak Korean, and practice Korean culture, there are about two million in Manchuria.
As unlikely and strange as it may seem to us, the Chinese are apparently concerned (at least some members in their government) that should unification take place on the Korean peninsula, united Korea, after it recovers from the initial setback and economic hit, will regain and increase its strength and might make incursions into Manchuria, laying claim to those areas heavily populated with ethnic Koreans! Despite the presence of ethnic Koreans in Manchuria, the last time Korea legitimately had ownership of that land was under Koguryo Empire, some 1400 years ago! To us, laying claim to something that was owned 1400 years ago would seem completely ridiculous. After all, we took a good portion of Mexican territory (our entire Southwest and California!) some measly (by Chinese standards) 160 years ago after the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848. It would be unthinkable to us that Mexico would demand the territory today! But the Chinese obviously have a different clock and calendar in their heads, and I don't mean the lunar calendar. They just seem to count time differently. While we may be concerned with months or possibly years, they seem to think in terms of centuries!
I have read various accounts of China's concern about ethnic Korean population and possible effect it may have on Chinese - Korean relations in the future. Most of these studies or articles did not even mention the issue of Korea's previous, ancient ownership of the territory and simply focussed on the population and not the land. However, a recent book published by a respected Chinese scholar revealed, at least in the author's views, this whole issue. The book was about the unification of the two Koreas and what possible effect it might have on the region. The author listed various reasons why China does not want unification to take place. Most of the reasons had to do with economic issues as well as fear that China would lose a "buffer" (North Korea) against possible U.S. military aggression in the region. But he added also that a united Korea, after recovery from initial economic set backs, would become even more powerful and might cause problems for China demanding its ancient territory that was part of Gochosun and Koguryo. That was a long, long, time ago! But it just goes to show, time seems to have a different meaning in China, or at least to some people in China!
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