TRAGEDY IN URUMCHI

Ethnic massacre

Xinjiang is located in the north-west of China. It covers an area of 1.66 million square kilometres, or one sixth of China's territory. In the north-east it borders on Mongolia, in the west on Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and in the south-west on Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

On 6 and 7 July, unrest broke out in the administrative centre of the autonomous region, the city of Urumchi. Developments startled the authorities so much that the chairman of the PRC, Hu Jintao, cut short a visit to Italy, where he was attending the G8 summit. 

Everything started with a relatively peaceful, but massive, demonstration by Uighur youth, who demanded that an investigation be conducted into the recent deaths of two of their fellow countrymen at a toy factory in the Guandun province. The cause of the tragedy is said to have been the molestation by Uighur workers of a lady of Han ethnicity (the main ethnic group in China) whom local workers went to help. The Uighurs believe, however, that those who were killed fell victim to "great Han chauvinism". 

Fearing large-scale protests in Urumchi, the authorities rolled troops into the city and attempted to encircle the demonstrators. The situation quickly got out of control and developed into real inter-ethnic carnage. Official reports say that 158 people were killed, while Uighur organizations talk of over 840 fatalities. About 1,500 people have been arrested on charges of resisting the authorities and participating in mass disturbances. The Chinese authorities pledged that the Urumchi insurgents would be punished with the utmost rigour of the law.

Beijing considers that the unrest was instigated by the World Congress of Uighurs, a non-governmental organization promoting the interests of Uighurs living in different countries. However, the leader of the Congress, Rebiya Kadir (in 1999 she was detained by Chinese law-enforcers and charged with undermining national security, while in 2005 she left China for the USA) flatly denied the allegations. "The tough tactics of the Chinese police turned a peaceful gathering in Urumchi into bloody carnage. The oppression of the Uighurs has recently assumed racist undertones. It is necessary to conduct an independent and open investigation into the clashes in Urumchi, so that Han and Uighurs can understand the reasons for the events and … find a path towards mutual understanding," Kadir said, in an article published in the Wall Street Journal. 

Meanwhile, the Chinese authorities say that order in Xinjiang has been restored. It appears that Beijing has managed to stifle yet another attempt of the Uighur ethnic movement to establish an independent "Eastern Turkestan" within the autonomous region.

Centuries back …

Eight million Uighurs constitute a Turkic minority living in China. Another million Uighurs are scattered around neighbouring countries, as well as in Europe and America. According to a prominent historian of the Middle Ages, Mahmud Kashgari, who is revered by the Uighurs as one of the greatest sons of this nation, the word "Uighur" dates back to the times of Alexander the Great. The conqueror called the horsemen who opposed him in Central Asia "khudkhurand", which means "like a falcon from which not a single beast can escape". "Khudkhurand" then became "khudkhur" and, later, "uighur" - which first appeared in ancient Turkic inscriptions on tomb stones (8th-9th centuries) discovered near the Orkhon river in Mongolia.

The Uighur language, together with Uzbek, belongs to the south-eastern or Chagatay group of languages of the Turkic family. In the early Middle Ages the Uighurs used the Orkhon script, however, later they designed their own alphabet, which is now known as the Uighur script (it was used not only by certain Turkic nations, but also by the Mongols and Manchu). In the 11th century, after adopting Islam, the Uighur switched to the Arabic script. Uighurs are Sunni Muslims, although they still retain remnants of pre-Islamic faiths, one of which is the celebration of Novruz, the holiday of spring and the new year.

The first Uighur state was formed in 744 by Kutlug Bilge Kagan. The capital, Karabalgasun, was located on the Orkhon river. In 840, the Kyrgyz attacked the weakened state. After the fall of the first Uighur empire, one section of the Uighurs moved to the banks of the Huang He (Yellow River). Their descendants now call themselves yellow Uighurs, or Yugurs. The yellow Uighur state was seized by the Tanguts in 1228 and subsequently became part of the Mongol empire.

The other section of the Uighurs moved on through Semirechye to Eastern Turkestan in the south of Tien Shan. A majority emigrated to the north of Tien Shan, where they established the state of Karakhodji, with its capital in Turfan, in 846.

In 840, one of the best-known Uighur states in history, called the state of the Karakhanids, with its capital in Kashgar, was established in the south of Tien Shan. In the middle of the 10th century, the Karakhanids adopted Islam, while the Karakhodji continued to be Buddhists. In the late 14th century, Uygur Muslims and Buddhists established a common state which remained independent until 1759, when it became part of the subcelestial empire after the seizure of China by troops of the Manchu Tsin dynasty.

Only in 1863 did the Uighurs manage to oust the Manchu. However, 13 years afterwards, an enormous Manchu-Chinese army launched an offensive against the Uighurs' country and named it Xinjiang (New Territory). In 1911, Chinese nationalists toppled the Manchu and proclaimed a republic. The Uighurs staged several rebellions and even restored their national state twice, under the name of the Eastern Turkestan Republic - in 1933 and 1943. However, the Chinese, supported by the Soviet Union, succeeded in destroying it. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin viewed the existence of an independent Uygur state as a direct threat to Bolshevik domination in Central Asia. As a matter of fact, the Uighurs may well be sorry that the powerful Soviet leader did not annex Eastern Turkestan, in which case the country of the Uighurs could have eventually become one of the Soviet republics and could now be independent, following the break-up of the USSR.

In 1949, the communists acceded to power in China. Troops of the national liberation army were introduced into Xinjiang to carry out a so-called peaceful annexation of the Uygur region to the PRC. In late 1955, the establishment of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region within the People's Republic of China was announced. Uighurs claim that since then Beijing has embarked on a policy of intensive "Hanization" of the remote province. One of the centrepieces of this policy is the large-scale resettlement of Han to the territory. Along with the colonization of Xinjiang by the Chinese population, Uighurs, Kazakhs, Dungans, Mongols and other non-Chinese ethnicities were resettled to desolate and arid areas of the autonomy.

The demographic make-up of Xinjiang gradually underwent profound change. Whereas in 1949 more than 90 per cent of the population were Uygur and other Turkic ethnicities, now they account for only 45 per cent. The ethnic Chinese, who made up fewer than 7 per cent in 1949, now constitute 40 per cent.

This change in demographic statistics is accompanied by discrimination against Uighurs, who are, they say, treated as second class citizens. They believe that infringements of their rights are also religious in nature. Uighur Muslims complain of the closure of mosques and religious schools under the pretext of a lack of licences. Praying in public places is officially prohibited, while public officers of Uighur origin are forced to abandon the Ramadan fast. Local authorities post rules in public places forbidding women from wearing the hijab and men from having beards.

It is therefore no wonder that the Uighurs supporting independence are steadily rising in number, as the descendants of Bilge Kagan see independence as a panacea for all the deprivations imposed on the nation.

"Three forces", "Hand of the West" and a Turkish ultimatum

The aspirations to independence of the Uighurs, as well as the cultural and religious divide between them and the rest of the Chinese population, are causing conflict with the Chinese state. Recent years have been marred by conflict in Xinjiang too. In 1995, when the authorities seized a local imam, rebellion engulfed the whole town of Khotan. Particularly serious unrest took place in the town of Inin, 390 km west of Urumchi, on the border with Kazakhstan, in 1997. A stand-off between the Uighurs and the military lasted for several days there.

For this reason, Beijing, well aware of the threat posed to the territorial integrity of the country, prefers to pursue a policy of assimilating the Uighurs, particularly as this method of integration has worked successfully with other ethnicities (the Chinese Kyrgyz, Mongols, Huey and Mao now barely speak their native language, while their customs and traditions exist only in folk festivals).

The PRC explains its tough policy towards the Uighurs by another significant factor in contemporary international relations. In 2001, when the US unleashed its global war on terror, the Chinese authorities declared a war on "three forces" existing in Xinjiang: separatism, terrorism and religious extremism. Beijing accuses the Islamic Movement of Eastern Turkestan, which operates in XUAR and which advocates the establishment of a Muslim state, of terrorist activities and even of ties to the Al-Qaeda international terrorist organization.

The anti-terror campaign launched in Xinjiang climaxed in 2008, the year of the Beijing Olympics as, according to official sources, about 1,300 Uighurs were arrested "on suspicion of posing a threat to national security" while the secretary general of the World Congress of Uighurs, Dolkun Isa, said that a total of 10,000 people were detained in Xinjiang in the run-up to the Olympic Games. Beijing tried to justify the campaign by claiming that it had exposed several plots to disrupt the Games in China. Rights champions believe that the Chinese government statements concerning various conspiracies were nothing more than pretexts for further crackdowns on the Uighur national movement.

The current campaigns of suppression carried out by Beijing are motivated by the threat of acts of terror which could be perpetrated during celebrations of the 60th anniversary of Chinese rule in Xinjiang. At the same time, Chinese leaders are hinting at an interest by certain external forces in destabilizing the domestic political situation in China. Some political circles, both within and outside China, see the ubiquitous hand of the West, earlier in a number of "colour revolutions" worldwide, even in the latest developments in Iran and in the Uighur case as well. In their opinion, the US and Europe are trying to prevent the final establishment of China as leader of the world economy. This task has become particularly topical in times of global financial recession. The Chinese government is the largest holder of US government bonds and could easily collapse the entire US economy. This explains attempts by Western strategists to destabilize the situation in China and to provoke interethnic clashes to deter potential investors in the Chinese economy.

It is worthy of note that the Chinese authorities found the World Congress of Uighurs, headquartered in Munich, to be the key instigator of the Urumchi disturbances. The leader of the organization, Rebiya Kadir, is known to have extensive contacts in US political circles. In fact, during the tragic developments in Xinjiang  the former US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, provided assistance in getting her out of prison. 

The actions of the Chinese authorities in Xinjiang were not only condemned in the West, whose leaders urged Beijing to respect the rights of national minorities. A statement by the Organization of Islamic Conference says: "The large number of civilian victims indicates that the principle of commensurate use of force and firearms was not observed. The Islamic world hopes that China, a country possessing tremendous power and responsibility in the international arena and historically known for friendly relations with the Muslim world, will solve the problem of Muslim minorities by looking into the roots of the problem."

Perhaps the harshest criticism of Beijing was voiced by Turkey, which has traditionally raised its voice to urge protection of Turkic peoples (according to the Turkish foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, "The Uighurs are a community of our ethnic brothers and their fate very much concerns us"). "We are hopeful that these developments, which approach the level of atrocity, will soon end. We hope that commonsense will prevail and the necessary steps taken in accordance with universal human rights," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, while expressing his country's intention, as a temporary member of the UN Security Council, to table the Xinjiang situation at the SC.

Thus the Uighur issue has, for the first time in modern history, appeared on the agenda of the world's most authoritative organization. It remains to be hoped that this will have a tangible impact on the situation in the Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region and that the events in Urumchi in July 2009 will never happen again.