Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling
Despite a number of knife-wielding attackers slashing and killing several people at a train station in southwestern China, suspected of being Uighur Islamic separatists by Chinese authorities, China must do more to avoid further bloodshed. Since China has no plans of granting the Xinjiang region independent status, namely East Turkestan, it could start by recognizing Uighur pens. With a Muslim majority inhabiting this politically and militarily sensitive region, 9 million Uighurs, Kazakhs and Kirghiz, along with 8 million Han Chinese, it is also vital for China to understand its rich and diverse geopolitical histories in order to secure a more viable and justice-oriented peace.
The largest and most northwestern province, Xinjiang is strategically important to China. Not only does it border the volatile region of Kashmir and the republics of Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan to the west, but Outer Mongolia to the northeast and Tibet to the south. Along with striving to create a series of buffers against nomadic peoples, and sometimes trying to conquer them, China has had to endure expansionist aims by other nations. With Russia on its northwestern frontier, India to its southwest, and Japan and the United States pressuring its eastern shoreline, this Inner-Outer Asian Force is causing China grave concern, causing it to rearm and become Greater China.
Xinjiang, formerly known as Chinese Turkestan, and home to Muslim Turkish-speaking peoples from Central Asia, became a part of China in the 18th century. Since then, there have been a series of revolts and independent movements, some turning extremely violent. When Chinese Communists moved into Xinjiang in 1949, they executed Muslim religious leaders and destroyed mosques in an attempt to crush Uighur nationalism.(1) Although China now recognizes the Uighurs as a minority and a nationality, a flood of Han Chinese who have been appointed as city officials and modernization have increased Uighur separatism. Hundreds have been arrested and jailed, some publicly executed.(2)
One reason for this Beijing-Xinjiang link is agricultural and industrial development. Xinjiang is China's largest producer of grapes and other major crops, like cotton, grains, and fruits. It is also home to rich deposits of coal, gold and jade, comprising 80 percent of China's total.(3) Two major pipelines, one carrying oil from the Caspian Sea across Kazakhstan to Xinjiang, and the other transporting natural gas from the Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan border, across Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, to Xinjiang, are important for China's economy too.(4) Along with newly discovered gas and oil reserves in the Tarim and Dzungaria Basins, China is competing for a geopolitical sphere of influence in Asia.
It is sometimes forgotten that the name "Uighur" means "to unite" and "to assist."(5) Whereas the Tang Dynasty called upon the Uighurs swords to help put down a rebellion and restore peace, Genghis Khan recognized the power of the Uighurs' pens. He used them to develop and write down a written language, including numerous laws and customs ranging from the rules for the annual hunt to punishments of death for robbery and adultery. Muslim Uighurs were also asked to oversee and regulate the vast Silk Routes connecting China with Europe, even becoming civil servants administering important commercial and trading aspects of the Mongolian Empire.
In order to avoid more separatist attacks and bloodshed, China will have to appoint Muslim Uighurs to important political and judicial positions. Many Uighurs chafe at Chinese restrictions imposed on them by Chinese officials. Residents of the Kunming district, where the attack occurred, have experienced discrimination and little political representation. They are anxious, having been under surveillance for decades. As Chinese authorities continue to search houses and arrest suspected members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, it will be important for Muslim Uighurs to be included in a thorough and fair investigation, and to only try those responsible for the attacks.
It will also be necessary for Muslim Uighurs to be integrated in China's future economic development in Xinjiang, along with its construction projects and maintenance on its oil pipelines. This will mean releasing Ilham Tohti, a Uighur economic professor who was arrested and jailed for moderately critiquing the government, and for noting that many Uighurs were not benefiting from the prosperity in the region. Uighurs should also receive parity for their livestock and be allowed to supervise agricultural production. The Uighurs, known for their excellent schools and universities, have prepared many graduates in advanced careers. If properly assimilated, they would greatly benefit China.
Home to the Uighurs, the vast Asian grasslands could support only a thin population of nomadic herders. Therefore, alliances based on reciprocity meant survival. During the Tang Dynasty, and after helping to restore peace and order, the Uighurs underwent discrimination and later sacked the Chinese capital. One Chinese poet wrote: "They mourn their dead with much grief and swear vengeance."(6) In the 18th century, the Qing Dynasty understood this and ruled East Tajikistan, modern Xinjiang, "lightly." The local populations kept their own religions leaders, religious customs, holidays, and traditions. They were also placed in prominent political and economic positions.
By recognizing Uighurs pens, and by pursuing political and economic alliances of reciprocity with Muslim Uighurs, Greater China will be able to avert more violence and bloodshed. China will also be able to finally answer Bo Juyi's (772-846 CE) poetic question written during the Tang Dynasty: "How can I govern these people and lead them aright? I cannot even understand what they say."
Dallas Darling (email@example.com)
(Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John's Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace. He is a correspondent for www.worldnews.com. You can read more of Dallas' writings at www.beverlydarling.com and wn.com//dallasdarling.)
(1) Hewitt, Christopher, and Tom Cheetham. Encyclopedia of Modern Separatist Movements. Denver, Colorado: ABC-CLIO Publishers, 2000., p. 310.
(2) Ibid., p. 311.
(3) Perkins, Dorothy. Encyclopedia of China. New York, New York: Checkmark Books, 1999., p. 384.
(4) Kaplan, Robert D. The Revenge Of Geography. New York, New York: Random House, 2012., p. 205.
(5) Gall, Timothy L. Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life: Volume 3-Asia and Oceania. New York, New York: Gale Publishing Company, 1998., p. 793.
(6) McKay, John P. A History Of World Societies. New York, New York: Bedford-St. Martin's Press, 2012, p. 334.