| dc.description.abstract | 1.0. Xinjiang: An introduction.
The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) is situated in the northwestern corner of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and borders Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Russia and Mongolia. As China’s largest province it amounts to a sixth of its land area, contains huge deposits of oil and gas, and furthermore, houses the China’s nuclear test facilities. A glance at a map of the region reveals Xinjiang’s remoteness, with its southern borders actually closer to Baghdad or New Delhi, than to Beijing, the political centre of present day China.
Historically, Xinjiang constituted a pivot in the trade routes of the fabled Silk Road, and thus functioned as a “cultural blotter” for different civilizations from the Middle East, Europe, the Indian subcontinent and China proper (Starr 2004:7). Moreover, the dramatic topography has had a fragmenting effect on Xinjiang and exposed it to centrifugal forces, pulling the region in different directions. Hence one may observe an utterly complex cultural zone, with a great variety in the way people settle, cultivate the land, practice their religion, and finally, how they perceive the ruling Chinese Communist party (CCP) (Perdue 2005:32, Millward 2007: XII).
Regarding Xinjiang’s function as a “cultural blotter”, it has throughout the course of history attracted a variety of polities, historical formations and warlords, aspiring to be the region’s dominant loci of command. Hence, it has not been a matter of course that the issuant communist regime (incepted in 1949), should succeed in their attempt to “lock-in” (control) the region and its indigenous people. Quite the contrary, the authorities have encountered ardent opposition from the numerically dominant Muslim Uyghurs of Turkic kinship. Even though other minority groups also occupy a role in present day Xinjiang, this thesis mainly concerns the centre-periphery relation between the governing Han-Chinese authorities and the Uyghurs.
My expressed aspiration is to illuminate how the PRC government launches successive territorial, jurisdictional, economical and cultural thrusts toward Uyghurs, in their process of state and nation-building in Xinjiang. Sharply different from their dominant Han-Chinese counterpart, Uyghur countercultures have mobilized to protect their distinctiveness (resist PRC nation-building). Some Uyghur movements have even challenged China’s state building project, by advocating the initiation of an East Turkistan state at the territory of Xinjiang. Thus, Beijing has effectuated a variety of strategies to effectively “lock-in”/neutralize Uyghur separatist sentiments and ensure their allegiance to the Chinese nation. However, the two sides seem diametrically opposed, and the following question emerges; why is the territory of Xinjiang so pivotal for the communist leadership and what is actually at stake?
In brief, the geopolitical location of Xinjiang (adjoining eight countries) is a key aspect in this regard, where the authorities want to be influential in the “new Great Game” of Central Asia. Another important factor is the presence of radical Islam in Central Asia, Pakistan and Afghanistan, literally on the doormat of China. Hence, the PRC authorities have been firmly present in Xinjiang, ready to deter regime-threatening movements. From a geo-economical perspective, Xinjiang has also been of significance, serving as a transit area for energy transportation from the neighbouring Kazakhstan to China proper. Furthermore, Xinjiang itself possesses rich deposits of oil, natural gas, coal and nonferrous metals, which is alluring for the Chinese authorities. | nor |