1 Introduction
1.4 The Importance of Xinjiang
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first republic was brought down by the Kuomintang, the second by the CCP. This long, tenuous history can easily be manipulated by both Uyghur and Chinese nationalists. People on both sides of the conflict selectively use history to support their cause for Xinjiang independence or PRC dominance.
The purpose of this historical narrative is to emphasize two points. First, PRC claims that Xinjiang has been an integral part of China for thousands of years are a gross oversimplification. Second, Xinjiang has held high strategic value for a very long time. It is therefore no surprise that it has also been a place of frequent strife and conflict, up to the present day.
1.4 The Importance of Xinjiang
The PRC’s official Xinjiang website has the following quote on its home page: “Since the Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C. - 24 A.D.), it [Xinjiang] has been an inseparable part of the unitary multi-ethnic Chinese nation.”23
Firstly, Xinjiang is inhabited by the Uyghurs, a people ethnically and culturally different from the Han Chinese of China proper. Fifty-five officially recognized China’s texts and statements on Xinjiang are laced with such bold, uncompromising statements. Why does China place such high importance on Xinjiang? Why does the PRC reject all arguments that deviate from its official line?
23 The Government of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, History and Development of Xinjiang http://www.xinjiang.gov.cn/10018/10008/00015/2005/22699.htm accessed February 22nd, 2011
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ethnic minority groups live within the PRC’s borders.24
Secondly, Xinjiang is in a strategically sensitive spot. At no point was this more evident than during the Sino-Soviet Split of the 1960s and 1970s. Xinjiang borders Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Tibet.
China has always proven anxious to control its minority peoples, some of whom are hostile to Chinese rule. The PRC clearly fears a domino effect; if Xinjiang splits, what will happen to Tibet, Mongolia, and Taiwan?
25 The Uyghurs are culturally closer to Russia, as well as to the
newly independent states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, than they are to China. China learned this lesson the hard way during the Great Leap Forward debacle of 1958-1961. Faced with famine and reorganization into communes, much of Xinjiang’s ethnic population fled across the border into Russia.26 The PRC clearly views the non-Han peoples of Xinjiang as mostly disloyal, and they are likely correct.
24 Colin Mackerras, China’s Minority Cultures: Education and Integration Since 1912 (Longman, 1995) p. 3
25 S. Frederick Starr, Xinjiang, China’s Muslim Borderland (M.E. Sharpe, 2004) p. XV
26 James A. Millward and Nabijan Tursun, Political History and Strategies of Control, 1884-1978 in Xinjiang, China’s Muslim Borderland (M.E. Sharpe, 2004) p. 94
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Thirdly, Xinjiang is abundant in natural resources. It has grazing land, and land suitable for forestry. So far, 122 minerals have been discovered there, including an estimated 730 million tons of iron ore. It is home to more than 30% of the nation’s coal reserves. Its petroleum and natural gas reserves are estimated at around 30 billion tons.27
Xinjiang is important to the PRC for another reason: nationalism. The general consensus is that Chinese nationalism is on the rise. Directly tied to this nationalism is a quasi-religious drive to regain territory lost during the so-called century of
With China’s increasing need for energy, Xinjiang’s importance becomes clear.
27 China Through a Lens, http://www.china.org.cn/english/MATERIAL/139230.htm accessed February 22nd, 2011
Located near the newly formed states of the former USSR, Xinjiang is in a strategically sensitive location.
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humiliation.28 With the decline of Chinese socialism, the PRC needs a new philosophy to maintain its legitimacy.29
Furthermore, PRC policy makers watched with great interest – and apprehension – the collapse of the Soviet Union. The PRC is determined to avoid the same fate. According to Ann Maxwell Harris and Minglang Zhou, the PRC was shocked “…by the role that ethnic relations played in the Soviet downfall.”
Many scholars maintain that it has turned to two things: improving the standard of living, and appealing to popular nationalism.
Simply put, territory is a hugely important issue to many Chinese people. If the Chinese public perceived the CCP as going soft on Xinjiang, Tibet or Taiwan, what would the consequences be? No Chinese leader wants to be remembered as the one who allowed a piece of national territory to break away; it would be devastating to any leader’s legacy. These reasons constitute just a small overview of why the PRC views Xinjiang with great apprehension, and considers it vastly important.
30 They
go on to say that the PRC government drew a crucial lesson from the collapse of the USSR: in order to ensure its survival, the PRC had to fully incorporate all of its 55 minority groups into mainstream society.31
28 Dingxin, Zhao, Nationalism and Authoritarianism: Student Government Conflicts During the 1999 Beijing Student Protests in Asian Perspective. (Volume 27, no. 1., 2003) p. 6
It is the author’s opinion that education plays a key role in the PRC’s integration strategy.
29 Dingxin Zhao, 2003. p. 6
30 Ann Maxwell Hill and Minglang Zhou Affirmative Action in China and the US (Palgrave Macmillen, 2009) p. 8
31 Ann Maxwell Hill and Minglang Zhou, 2009. p. 10
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In any nation, education is essential to assimilating minority groups into mainstream society. Education can raise the minority standard of living. It can give opportunity to younger generations who may be more prone to causing civil unrest.
Education can teach the majority’s language to minorities, thus integrating them further. Perhaps most importantly, education can present the central government’s version of history and politics to the minorities.
Dru Gladney states that “Education plays a privileged role in executing China’s national integration project.”32 Since the 1990s, the PRC has dramatically increased its education budget in Xinjiang. In 1949, Xinjiang had one college, nine secondary schools, and about 1,300 primary schools.33 According to a report by the United Nations, by 2000 the region had 20 colleges and 2,000 secondary schools.34 The PRC government claims that in 2008 alone, it invested 18.77 billion yuan into Xinjiang’s education system.35
32 Dru Gladney, 2004. p. 261
If we accept the argument that the PRC is using education to integrate Uyghurs, then its astronomical education budget indicates how seriously it is taking this project.
33 China Global Times, Xinjiang Undergoes Unprecedented Changes in Education
http://www.globaltimes.cn/www/english/truexinjiang/basic-facts/2009-09/470284.html accessed January 21st, 2011
34 http://www.unescap.org/esid/psis/population/database/chinadata/xinjiang.html accessed March 21st, 2011
35 White Paper on Development and Progress in Xinjiang.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/ethnic/2009-09/21/content_8717461_5.htm, accessed March 21st, 2011