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!
No comments:
Post a Comment