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Xinjiang conflict

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This article is about recent unrest and fighting in Xinjiang. For the uprisings and battles in Xinjiang during the 1930s and 1940s, see Xinjiang Wars.

The Xinjiang conflict[1] is an ongoing[2] separatist struggle in the People's Republic of China (PRC) far-west province of Xinjiang.[3] A group of Uyghur separatists claim that the region, which they refer to as East Turkestan, is not a part of China, but that the Soviet supported Second East Turkestan Republic was invaded by the PRC in 1949 and has since been under Chinese occupation. The separatist movement is led by Turkic Islamist militant organizations, most notably the East Turkestan independence movement, against the national government in Beijing.

Background

Previous uprisings

Main articles: Kumul Rebellion, Charkhlik Revolt, and Ili Rebellion

The Xinjiang Wars were a series of armed conflicts which took place in the early and mid 20th century, during the Warlord Era of the Republic of China; and during the Chinese Civil War, which saw the establishment of the People's Republic of China. The wars also played an important role in the East Turkestan independence movement.

The Soviet Union supported the Uyghur Second East Turkestan Republic in the Ili Rebellion against the Republic of China.

According to her autobiography, Dragon Fighter: One Woman's Epic Struggle for Peace with China, the Uyghur activist Rebiya Kadeer's father served with pro-Soviet Uyghur rebels under the Second East Turkestan Republic in the Ili Rebellion (Three Province Rebellion) in 1944-1946, using Soviet assistance and aid to fight the Republic of China government under Chiang Kai-shek.[4] Kadeer and her family were close friends with White Russian exiles living in Xinjiang and Kadeer recalled that many Uyghurs thought Russian culture was "more advanced" than that of the Uyghurs and they "respected" the Russians a lot.[5]

Immediate causes

Main article: Migration to Xinjiang

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch speculate that Uyghur resentment towards alleged repression of Uyghur culture may explain some of the ethnic riots that have occurred in Xinjiang during the People's Republic of China (PRC) period.[citation needed]

Conversely, some Han Chinese opponents of the movement are unhappy at being, in their perspective, treated as second-class citizens by PRC policies, in which many of the ethnic autonomy policies are discriminatory against them (see Autonomous entities of China). Some go so far as to posit that since previous Chinese dynasties owned Xinjiang before the Uyghur Empire, the region belongs to them as opposed to the Uyghurs. Supporters of the movement, on the other hand, have labelled Chinese rule in Xinjiang, as Chinese imperialism.

Uyghur nationalist historians such as Turghun Almas claim that Uyghurs were distinct and independent from Chinese for 6000 years, and that all non-Uyghur peoples are non-indigenous immigrants to Xinjiang.[6] However, the Han Dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) established military colonies (tuntian) and commanderies (duhufu) to control Xinjiang from 120 BCE, while the Tang Dynasty (618-907) also controlled much of Xinjiang until the An Lushan rebellion.[7] Chinese historians refute Uyghur nationalist claims by pointing out the 2000-year history of Han settlement in Xinjiang, documenting the history of Mongol, Kazakh, Uzbek, Manchu, Hui, Xibo indigenes in Xinjiang, and by emphasizing the relatively late "westward migration" of the Huigu (equated with "Uyghur" by the PRC government) people from Mongolia the 9th century.[6] The name "Uyghur" was associated with a Buddhist people in the Tarim Basin in the 9th century, but completely disappeared by the 15th century, until it was revived by the Soviet Union in the 20th century.[8]

Uyghur nationalists often incorrectly claim that 5% of Xinjiang's population in 1949 was Han, and that the other 95% was Uyghur, erasing the presence of Kazakhs, Xibes and others, and ignoring the fact that Hans were around one third of Xinjiang's population in 1800, during the time of the Qing Dynasty.[9] Professor of Chinese and Central Asian History at Georgetown University, James A. Millward wrote that foreigners often mistakenly think that Urumqi was originally a Uyghur city and that the Chinese destroyed its Uyghur character and culture, however, Urumqi was founded as a Chinese city by Han and Hui (Tungans), and it is the Uyghurs who are new to the city.[10][11] Han and Hui mostly live in northern Xinjiang (Dzungaria), and are separated from areas of historical Uyghur dominance south of the Tian Shan mountains (the Tarim Basin in southwestern Xinjiang), where Uyghurs account for about 90% of the population.[12]

At the start of the 19th century, 40 years after the Qing reconquest, there were around 155,000 Han and Hui Chinese in northern Xinjiang and somewhat more than twice that number of Uyghurs in southern Xinjiang.[13] A census of Xinjiang under Qing rule in the early 19th century tabulated ethnic shares of the population as 30% Han and 60% Turkic, while it dramatically shifted to 6% Han and 75% Uyghur in the 1953 census, however a situation similar to the Qing era-demographics with a large number of Han has been restored as of 2000 with 40.57% Han and 45.21% Uyghur.[14] Before 1831, only a few hundred Chinese merchants lived in southern Xinjiang oases (Tarim Basin) and only a few Uyghurs lived in northern Xinjiang (Dzungaria).[15]

Critics have argued that the government's response to Uyghur concerns do little to address the underlying causes of their discontent.[16]

Timeline

Early events

Some[weasel words] put the beginning of the modern phase of the conflict in Xinjiang in the 1950s.[2]

Soviet support for Uyghur uprisings

Main article: Sino-Soviet split

The Soviet Union incited separatist activities in Xinjiang through propaganda, encouraging Kazakhs to flee to the Soviet Union and attack China. China responded by reinforcing the Xinjiang-Soviet border area specifically with Han Bingtuan militia and farmers.[17] The Soviets massively intensified their broadcasts inciting Uyghurs to revolt against the Chinese via Radio Tashkent since 1967 and directly harbored and supported separatist guerilla fighters to attack the Chinese border, in 1966 the amount of Soviet sponsored separatist attacks on China numbered 5,000.[18] The Soviets transmitted a radio broadcast from Radio Tashkent into Xinjiang on 14 May 1967, boasting of the fact that the Soviets had supported the Second East Turkestan Republic against China.[19] In addition to Radio Tashkent, other Soviet media outlets aimed at disseminating propaganda towards Uyghurs urging that they proclaim independence and revolt against China included Radio Alma-Ata and the Alma-Ata published Sherki Türkistan Evazi ("The Voice of Eastern Turkestan") newspaper.[20] After the Sino-Soviet split in 1962, over 60,000 Uyghurs and Kazakhs defected from Xinjiang to the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, in response to Soviet propaganda which promised Xinjiang independence. Uyghur exiles later threatened China with rumors of a Uyghur "liberation army" in the thousands that were supposedly recruited from Sovietized emigres.[21]

The Soviet Union was involved in funding and support to the East Turkestan People's Revolutionary Party (ETPRP), the largest militant Uyghur separatist organization in its time, to start a violent uprising against China in 1968.[22][23][24][25][26] In the 1970s, the Soviets also supported the United Revolutionary Front of East Turkestan (URFET) to fight against the Chinese.[27]

"Bloody incidents" in 1966-67 flared up as Chinese and Soviet forces clashed along the border as the Soviets trained anti-Chinese guerillas and urged Uyghurs to revolt against China, hailing their "national liberation struggle".[28] In 1969, Chinese and Soviet forces directly fought each other along the Xinjiang-Soviet border.[29][30][31][32]

The Soviet Union supported Uyghur nationalist propaganda and Uyghur separatist movements against China. The Soviet historians claimed that the Uyghur native land was Xinjiang and Uyghur nationalism was promoted by Soviet versions of history on turcology.[33] Soviet turcologists like D.I. Tikhonov wrote pro-independence works on Uyghur history and the Soviet supported Uyghur historian Tursun Rakhimov wrote more historical works supporting Uyghur independence and attacking the Chinese government, claiming that Xinjiang was an entity created by China made out of the different parts of East Turkestan and Zungharia.[34] These Soviet Uyghur historians were waging an "ideological war" against China, emphasizing the "national liberation movement" of Uyghurs throughout history.[35] The Soviet Communist Party supported the publication of works which glorified the Second East Turkestan Republic and the Ili Rebellion against China in its anti-China propaganda war.[36] Soviet propaganda writers wrote works claiming that Uyghurs lived better lives and were able to practice their culture only in Soviet Central Asia and not in Xinjiang.[37] In 1979 Soviet KGB agent Victor Louis wrote a thesis claiming that the Soviets should support a "war of liberation" against the "imperial" China to support Uighur, Tibetan, Mongol, and Manchu independence.[38][39] The Soviet KGB itself supported Uyghur separatists against China.[40]

Uyghur nationalist historian Turghun Almas and his book Uyghurlar (The Uyghurs) and Uyghur nationalist accounts of history were galvanized by Soviet stances on history, "firmly grounded" in Soviet Turcological works, and both heavily influenced and partially created by Soviet historians and Soviet works on Turkic peoples.[41] Soviet historiography spawned the rendering of Uyghur history found in Uyghurlar.[42] Almas claimed that Central Asia was "the motherland of the Uyghurs" and also the "ancient golden cradle of world culture".[43]

Xinjiang's importance to China increased after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, leading to China's perception of being encircled by the Soviets.[44] China supported the Afghan mujahideen during the Soviet invasion, and broadcast reports of Soviet atrocities on Afghan Muslims to Uyghurs in order to counter Soviet propaganda broadcasts into Xinjiang, which boasted that Soviet minorities lived better and incited Muslims to revolt.[45] Chinese radio beamed anti-Soviet broadcasts to Central Asian ethnic minorities like the Kazakhs.[29] The Soviets feared disloyalty among the non-Russian Kazakh, Uzbek, and Kyrgyz in the event of Chinese troops attacking the Soviet Union and entering Central Asia. Russians were goaded with the taunt "Just wait till the Chinese get here, they'll show you what's what!" by Central Asians when they had altercations.[46] The Chinese authorities viewed the Han migrants in Xinjiang as vital to defending the area against the Soviet Union.[47] China opened up camps to train the Afghan Mujahideen near Kashgar and Khotan and supplied them with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of small arms, rockets, mines, and anti-tank weapons.[48][49]

In the 1980s, there was a scattering of student demonstrations and riots against police action that took on an ethnic aspect; and the Baren Township riot in April, 1990, an abortive uprising, resulted in more than 50 deaths.[citation needed]

Late 1990s

A police round-up and execution of 30 suspected separatists[50] during Ramadan resulted in large demonstrations in February 1997 which were characterized as riots in the Chinese media,[51] but which the western media allege were peaceful.[52][unreliable source?] These demonstrations culminated in the Gulja Incident on the 5th of February, in which a People's Liberation Army (PLA) crackdown on the demonstrations led to at least nine deaths[53] and perhaps more than 100.[50] The Ürümqi bus bombings of February 25, 1997 killed nine and injured 68. The situation in Xinjiang was relatively quiet from the late nineties through mid-2006, though inter-ethnic tensions no doubt remained.[54]

A chain of aggressive and belligerent press releases in the 1990s making false claims about violent insurrections in Xinjiang, and exaggerating both the number of Chinese migrants and the total number of Uyghurs in Xinjiang were made by the former Soviet supported URFET leader Yusupbek Mukhlisi.[55][56]

2007–present

In 2007, the world's attention was brought to the conflict following the Xinjiang raid on an alleged terrorist training camp,[57][unreliable source?] a thwarted 2008 suicide bombing attempt on a China Southern Airlines flight,[58] and the 2008 Xinjiang attack, which resulted in the deaths of sixteen police officers four days before the Beijing Olympics.[59][60]

Further incidents include the July 2009 Ürümqi riots, the September 2009 Xinjiang unrest, and the 2010 Aksu bombing that led to the trials of 376 people.[61] The 2011 Hotan attack in July led to the deaths of 18 civilians. Although all of the attackers were Uyghur,[62] both Han and Uyghur people were victims.[63] In 2011, six ethnic Uyghur men attempted to hijack an aircraft heading to Ürümqi, but failed after passengers and crew resisted and restrained the hijackers.

On 24 April 2013, clashes occurred between a group of armed men and social workers, then with police near Kashgar. The violence left at least 21 people dead, including 15 police and officials.[64][65][66] A local government official said that the clashes broke out after three local officials had reported suspicious men armed with knives who were hiding at a house in Selibuya township, outside Kashgar.[67]

Two months later, on 26 June 2013, 27 people were killed in riots; 17 of them were killed by rioters, while the other ten people were alleged assailants who were shot dead by police in the township of Lukqun.[68]

On 1 March 2014, a group of knife-wielding assailants attacked people at the Kunming Railway Station killing at least 29 and injuring 130 others.[69] China blamed Xinjiang militants for the attack.[70]

On 18 April 2014, a group of 16 Chinese citizens identified as ethnic Uyghurs engaged in a shootout with Vietnamese border guards after seizing their guns as they were being detained to be returned to China. Five Uyghurs and two Vietnamese guards died in the incident. Ten of the Uyghurs were men and the rest were women and children.[71][72][73][74][75][76]

On 30 April 2014, two attackers stabbed people before detonating their suicide vests at an Ürümqi train station. Three people, including the two attackers, were killed.[77][78][79]

On 22 May 2014, twin suicide car bombings occurred after the occupants had thrown multiple explosives out of their vehicles at an Ürümqi street market. The attacks killed 31 people and injured more than 90, making it the deadliest attack yet in the Xinjiang conflict.[79][80]

On June 5, 2014, China sentenced 9 persons to death for terrorist attacks - they were seeking to overthrow Chinese rule, inspired by global jihadi ideology, in Xinjiang.[81]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The Xinjiang Conflict: Uyghur identity, Language, Policy, and Political discourse (PDF), East West center.
  2. ^ a b Uyghur Separatist conflict, American.
  3. ^ Ismail, Mohammed Sa'id; Ismail, Mohammed Aziz (1960 (Hejira 1380)), Moslems in the Soviet Union and China, vol. 1, Translated by U.S. Government, Joint Publications Service, Tehran, IR, p. 52 {{citation}}: |format= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |year= (help) translation printed in Washington: JPRS 3936, 19 September 1960.
  4. ^ Kadeer 2009, p. 9.
  5. ^ Kadeer 2009, p. 13.
  6. ^ a b Bovingdon 2010, pp. 25, 30–31
  7. ^ Bovingdon 2010, pp. 25–26
  8. ^ Bovingdon 2010, p. 28
  9. ^ Bovingdon 2010, p. 197
  10. ^ Millward 1998, p. 133.
  11. ^ Millward 1998, p. 134.
  12. ^ Department of Population, Social, Science and Technology Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics of China (国家统计局人口和社会科技统计司) and Department of Economic Development of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission of China (国家民族事务委员会经济发展司), eds. Tabulation on Nationalities of 2000 Population Census of China (《2000年人口普查中国民族人口资料》). 2 vols. Beijing: Nationalities Publishing House (民族出版社), 2003. (ISBN 7-105-05425-5)
  13. ^ Millward, James A. (2007). Eurasian crossroads: A history of Xinjiang. ISBN 978-0-231-13924-3. p. 306
  14. ^ Toops, Stanley (May 2004). "Demographics and Development in Xinjiang after 1949" (PDF). East-West Center Washington Working Papers (1). East–West Center: 1.
  15. ^ Millward, James A. (2007). Eurasian crossroads: A history of Xinjiang. ISBN 978-0-231-13924-3. p. 104
  16. ^ Hasmath, R., “Responses to Xinjiang Ethnic Unrest Do Not Address Underlying Causes”, South China Morning Post, 5 July 2013.
  17. ^ Starr 2004, p. 138.
  18. ^ Starr 2004, p. 139.
  19. ^ Forbes 1986, p. 188.
  20. ^ Dickens, 1990.
  21. ^ Bovingdon 2010, pp. 141–142
  22. ^ Dillon 2003, p. 57.
  23. ^ Clarke 2011, p. 69.
  24. ^ Dillon 2008, p. 147.
  25. ^ Nathan & Scobell 2008,.
  26. ^ Nathan & Scobell 2008,.
  27. ^ Reed 2010, p. 37.
  28. ^ Ryan 1969, p. 3.
  29. ^ a b Tinibai 2010, Bloomberg Businessweek p. 1
  30. ^ Tinibai 2010, gazeta.kz.
  31. ^ Tinibai 2010, Transitions Online.
  32. ^ Burns, 1983.
  33. ^ Bellér-Hann 2007, p. 37.
  34. ^ Bellér-Hann 2007, p. 38.
  35. ^ Bellér-Hann 2007, p. 39.
  36. ^ Bellér-Hann 2007, p. 40.
  37. ^ Bellér-Hann 2007, p. 41.
  38. ^ Wong 2002, p. 172.
  39. ^ Liew 2004, p. 175.
  40. ^ Wang 2008, p. 240.
  41. ^ Bellér-Hann 2007, p. 42.
  42. ^ Bellér-Hann 2007, p. 33.
  43. ^ Bellér-Hann 2007, p. 4.
  44. ^ Clarke 2011, p. 76.
  45. ^ Radio war aims at China Moslems 1981, p. 11.
  46. ^ Meehan 1980.
  47. ^ Clarke 2011, p. 78.
  48. ^ Starr 2004, p. 149.
  49. ^ Starr 2004, p. 158.
  50. ^ a b 1997 Channel 4 (UK) news report on the incident which can be seen here
  51. ^ "Xinjiang to intensify crackdown on separatists", China Daily, 10/25/2001
  52. ^ Amnesty International Document - "China: Remember the Gulja massacre? China's crackdown on peaceful protesters", Web Action WA 003/07 AI Index: ASA 17/002/2007, Start date: 01/02/2007 The amnesty.org article.[dead link]
  53. ^ Human Rights Watch
  54. ^ See Hierman, Brent. "The Pacification of Xinjiang: Uighur Protest and the Chinese State, 1988–2002." Problems of Post-Communism, May/Jun2007, Vol. 54 Issue 3, pp 48–62
  55. ^ Wayne 2007, p. 46.
  56. ^ Millward 2007, p. 341.
  57. ^ "Chinese police destroy terrorist camp in Xinjiang, one policeman killed". CCTV International. 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 November 2008.[unreliable source?]
  58. ^ Elizabeth Van Wie Davis, "China confronts its Uyghur threat," Asia Times Online, 18 April 2008.
  59. ^ Jacobs, Andrew (5 August 2008). "Ambush in China Raises Concerns as Olympics Near". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
  60. ^ "Waterhouse Caulfield Cup breakthrough".[dead link]
  61. ^ "China prosecuted hundreds over Xinjiang unrest". London: The Guardian. 17 January 2011. Retrieved 18 January 2011.[dead link]
  62. ^ Choi, Chi-yuk (2011-07-22). "Ban on Islamic dress sparked Uygur attack". Hotan: South China Morning Post.
  63. ^ Krishnan, Ananth (2011-07-21). "Analysts see Pakistan terror links to Xinjiang attack". The Hindu. Retrieved 2011-07-29.
  64. ^ "China's Xinjiang hit by deadly clashes". BBC News. 24 April 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  65. ^ "Violence in western Chinese region of Xinjiang kills 21". CNN. 24 April 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  66. ^ "21 dead in Xinjiang terrorist clash". CNTV. 24 April 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  67. ^ "Violence erupts in China's restive Xinjiang". Al Jazeera. 24 April 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  68. ^ "State media: Violence leaves 27 dead in restive minority region in far western China". Washington Post. June 26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)[dead link]
  69. ^ "Unidentified Assailant kills 29 at Kunming Railway Station in China". IANS. news.biharprabha.com. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  70. ^ Blanchard, Ben (2014-03-01). "China blames Xinjiang militants for station attack". Reuters. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  71. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/20/world/asia/deadly-clash-between-vietnamese-border-guards-and-chinese-migrants-reported.html?_r=0
  72. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/22/world/asia/vietnam-returns-migrants-to-china-after-deadly-border-clash.html
  73. ^ http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-19/an-seven-killed-in-shootout-on-vietnam-china-border3a-vietname/5399600
  74. ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/7-killed-in-shooting-on-china-vietnam-border/2014/04/18/d7d1c438-c6e4-11e3-b708-471bae3cb10c_story.html
  75. ^ http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/855733.shtml
  76. ^ http://www.uyghurcongress.org/en/?p=22320
  77. ^ "Deadly China blast at Xinjiang railway station". BBC News. BBC. 30 April 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  78. ^ Li, Jing (30 April 2014). "Security tightened after three killed in bomb, knife attack at Urumqi train station". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 1 May 2014. (subscription required)
  79. ^ a b "Urumqi car and bomb attack kills dozens". The Guardian. 2014-05-22. Retrieved 2014-05-22. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  80. ^ Denyer, Simon (2014-05-22). "Terrorist attack on market in China's restive Xinjiang region kills more than 30". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2014-05-22. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  81. ^ Bodeen, Christopher (June 5, 2014). "China Sentences 9 Persons to Death for Xinjiang Attacks". Time. Xinjiang: Time. Retrieved June 6, 2014.

References

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