China's ethnic tinderbox

[strollingbones]

The recent Urumqi and Lhasa riots have shattered the myth of a monolithic China, writes China and Uighur expert Professor Dru Gladney.

Foreigners and the Chinese themselves typically picture China's population as a vast homogeneous Han majority with a sprinkling of exotic minorities living along the country's borders.



Uighur women protest at the arrest of their menfolk ]

This understates China's tremendous cultural, geographic, and linguistic diversity - in particular the important cultural differences within the Han population. More importantly, recent events suggest that China may well be increasingly insecure regarding not only these nationalities, but also its own national integration.

The unprecedented early departure of President Hu Jintao from the G8 meetings in Italy to attend to the ethnic problems in Xinjiang is an indication of the seriousness with which China regards this issue.

Across the country, China is seeing a resurgence of local ethnicity and culture, most notably among southerners such as the Cantonese and Hakka, who are now classified as Han.

For centuries, China has held together a vast multi-cultural and multi-ethnic nation despite alternating periods of political centralization and fragmentation. But cultural and linguistic cleavages could worsen in a China weakened by internal strife, an economic downturn, uneven growth, or a struggle over future political succession.


XINJIANG: ETHNIC UNREST

Main ethnic division: 45% Uighur, 40% Han Chinese
26 June: Mass factory brawl after dispute between Han Chinese and Uighurs in Guangdong, southern China, leaves two Uighurs dead
5 July: Uighur protest in Urumqi over the dispute turns violent, leaving 156 dead - most of them thought to be Han - and more than 1,000 hurt
7 July: Uighur women protest at arrests of menfolk. Han Chinese make armed counter-march
8 July: President Hu Jintao returns from G8 summit to tackle crisis


New media openness

Q&A: China and the Uighurs

Taboo of ethnic tensions

The initial brawl between workers in a Guangdong toy factory, that left at least two Uighur dead on 25 June, prompted the mass unrest in Xinjiang on 5 July, that ended with 156 dead, thousands injured, and 1500 arrested, with on-going violence spreading throughout the region.

The National Day celebrations scheduled for October 2009, seeks to highlight 60 years of the "harmonious" leadership of the Communist Party in China, and like the 2008 Olympics, its enormous success. The rioting threatens to de-rail these celebrations.

Officially, China is made up of 56 nationalities: one majority nationality, the Han, and 55 minority groups. The 2000 census revealed a total official minority population of nearly 104m, or approximately 9% of the total population.

The peoples identified as Han comprise 91% of the population from Beijing in the north to Canton in the south, and include the Hakka, Fujianese, Cantonese, and other groups. These Han are thought to be united by a common history, culture, and written language; differences in language, dress, diet, and customs are regarded as minor and superficial. An active state-sponsored programme assists these official minority cultures and promotes their economic development (with mixed results).

The recognition of minorities, however, also helped the Communists' long-term goal of forging a united Chinese nation by solidifying the recognition of the Han as a unified "majority". Emphasizing the difference between Han and minorities helped to de-emphasize the differences within the Han community.

The Communists incorporated the idea of Han unity into a Marxist ideology of progress, with the Han in the forefront of development and civilization. The more "backward" or "primitive" the minorities were, the more "advanced" and "civilized" the so-called Han seemed, and the greater the need for a unified national identity.



Teh Han comprise 91% of the population from Beijing to Canton
Minorities who do not support development policies are thought to be "backward" and anti-modern, holding themselves and the country back.

The supposedly homogenous Han speak eight mutually unintelligible languages. Even these sub-groups show marked linguistic and cultural diversity.

China's policy toward minorities involves official recognition, limited autonomy, and unofficial efforts at control. Although totalling only 9% of the population, they are concentrated in resource-rich areas spanning nearly 60% of the country's landmass and exceed 90% of the population in counties and villages along many border areas of Xinjiang, Tibet, Inner Mongolia, and Yunnan.

Xinjiang occupies one-sixth of China's landmass, with Tibet the second-largest province.

Indeed, one might even say it has become popular to be "ethnic" in today's China. Mongolian hot pot, Muslim noodle, and Korean barbecue restaurants proliferate in every city, while minority clothing, artistic motifs, and cultural styles adorn Chinese bodies and private homes.


China's threats will most likely come from civil unrest, and perhaps internal ethnic unrest from within the so-called Han majority

This rise of "ethnic chic" is in dramatic contrast to the anti-ethnic homogenizing policies of the late 1950s anti-Rightist period, the Cultural Revolution, the late-1980s "spiritual pollution" campaigns, and now the ethnic riots in the west.

While ethnic separatism on its own will never be a serious threat to a strong China, a China weakened by internal strife, inflation, uneven economic growth, or the struggle for political succession could become further divided along cultural and linguistic lines.

China's separatists, such as they are, could never mount such a co-ordinated attack as was seen on 11 September, 2001 in the United States, and China's more closed society lacks the openness that has allowed terrorists to move so freely in the West.

China's threats will most likely come from civil unrest, and perhaps internal ethnic unrest from within the so-called Han majority. We should recall that it was a southerner, born and educated abroad, who led the revolution that ended China's last dynasty

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | China's ethnic tinderbox

civil unrest seems to be gripping the globe...world economy or just time for a change..will america as a country support revolution or be anti-revolutionary?

 

[waltky]

Chinamens say Uighurs got happy feet...

Uighurs too busy dancing to make trouble: China
Wed, May 29, 2013 - Ethnic minorities in Xinjiang are far more fond of dancing, singing and being good hosts than making trouble, a top official said yesterday, dismissing the idea that the far western region is a hotbed of unrest.

Many Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim people who live in energy-rich Xinjiang, chafe at Chinese restrictions on their culture, language and religion, and the region is frequently the scene of deadly ethnic violence. Last month, 21 people were killed in clashes in the heavily ethnic Uighur part of Xinjiang near the old Silk Road city of Kashgar, the deadliest unrest since July 2009, when nearly 200 people were killed in riots in the Xinjiang capital of Urumqi. China says it offers broad freedoms in Xinjiang, though few Chinese officials make the effort to learn the Uighur language or understand much about Islam.

Speaking to reporters in Beijing, Xinjiang Deputy Governor Shi Dagang said he had worked in southern Xinjiang for more than a decade and never had to carry a gun or have a police escort. This was the common experience of government officials who are members of the majority Han Chinese ethnicity, many of whom work in areas heavily populated by minorities, he said. “There is mutual respect by Han cadres and ethnic minorities, and we are friends. When we go into their houses as guests, we are treated to meat and wine, with song and dance,” Shi said. “The ethnic minorities are simple-hearted and honest, very kind and unaffected. They love guests,” he added. “I hope people don’t have misapprehensions and go to Xinjiang and see for themselves.”

China dismisses accusations its policies are connected to unrest, saying armed Uighur groups have links to Central Asian and Pakistani Islamist militants, and of carrying out attacks to establish an independent state they call East Turkistan. “Those minority of people, the violent terrorists, ethnic splittists and religious extremists who want to cause trouble, their organizations are all outside the country, as are their backers behind the scenes,” Shi said. “How could we let this minority of people split Xinjiang off from the rest of the country and destroy this peaceful and harmonious society? It’s impossible.” Many rights groups say China has long overplayed the threat posed to justify its tough controls in Xinjiang.

Uighurs too busy dancing to make trouble: China - Taipei Times

 

[MHunterB]

After reading the quote at the beginning of that article, one might wonder if the Uighurs are fond of watermelon and 'shortnin' bread'.......

 

[Katzndogz]

The Chinese do not value any ethnicity but their own and do not find multiculturalism a virtue.

 

[MHunterB]

Katz, I see you've mastered the form of understatement : ))

 

[waltky]

Muslim protests put down in China...

China draws shroud of silence over deadly Xinjiang clashes
Sun, Sep 01, 2013 - The blood has long since been hosed away, but more than a month after Chinese security forces opened fire on a crowd of Muslim protesters, killing what local residents say were scores of young men, there is a palpable fear on the streets of this dusty farming township in Xinjiang, the restive borderland region in China’s far west.

Those not detained in the police sweep that followed the violence say they have been threatened with labor camp if they speak about what happened on the afternoon of June 28, when hundreds of villagers, angered by the detention of a young imam, tried to march to the prefectural capital 6.4km to the south. “We’re all too afraid to talk about it,” one elderly man near Hanerik’s outdoor market said just after sunrise one recent morning. Another man drew a finger across his throat and apologized for his silence before speeding away on a scooter.

However, in interviews with rights advocates, exile groups and residents in Hotan, the prefectural capital, a fuller picture has emerged of what many here have described as one of the most serious outbreaks of violence since ethnic rioting four years ago claimed nearly 200 lives in Urumqi, the regional capital. Although the state media claimed that no one died during the confrontation between villagers and armed police officers, numerous sources say that dozens were shot dead on the highway that connects Hanerik to Hotan, which the Chinese call Hetian. Exile groups say the death toll may exceed 100. “One thing is certain — the truth bears little resemblance to what the government says happened that day,” World Uyghur Congress spokesman Dilxat Rexit said from Sweden. “The Chinese are trying their best to impose a cover-up.”

For weeks after, cellphone service in and around Hotan was cut, and much of the city was subjected to a curfew. Most residents still have no Internet access. The authorities have also disabled WeChat, a popular messaging app. An ancient Silk Road oasis and bustling jade-trading hub, the city of 360,000 has been flooded with soldiers and paramilitary police; during Friday afternoon prayers, helicopters hover noisily overhead as soldiers with machine guns and German shepherds stand sentinel at Unity Square. It is here, in the shadow of a towering statue of Mao Zedong, that Uighur assailants fatally stabbed three Chinese pedestrians on the same day as the police shootings in Hanerik, according to Radio Free Asia, a news service financed by the US government that employs Uighur reporters. “People here are just boiling over with anger,” said a Uighur professor who, like all those interviewed in the area, requested anonymity for fear of arrest.

The situation highlights the growing challenge to Beijing’s administration of resource-rich Xinjiang, which borders several Central Asian nations, as well as Russia, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Experts say hardline policies aimed at maintaining stability are only deepening longstanding grievances among Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking people increasingly alarmed by the migration of Han Chinese lured by jobs and economic incentives. However, tighter religious restrictions have incited much of the violence since 2009, analysts say. Civil servants may not fast during the holy month of Ramadan; college students must attend weekly political education classes; and armed police officers frequently raid unauthorized religious schools.

MORE

See also:

Mooncakes latest victim of Xi’s fight against corruption
Thu, Sep 05, 2013 - China is banning officials from using public funds to buy mooncakes, pastries offered as gifts during the Mid-Autumn Festival, as part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s fight against corruption, the government said on Tuesday.

Officials cannot use public money to send mooncakes as gifts or to arrange banquets that are not related to official duties during the festival, which falls on Sept. 19 this year, the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said on its Web site. “The Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day are approaching, we must resolutely put an end to using public funds,” the commission quoted Xi as saying, in reference to gifts, eating and drinking, tours and extravagant waste.

MOON FESTIVAL

Mooncakes are filled with ingredients such as lotus seed paste and salted duck egg yolk, and they symbolize the moon. The festival, also known as the Moon Festival, is marked by family reunions. Anyone flouting the bans will be severely dealt with, the party discipline watchdog said. Xi has made cutting back on extravagance and waste a main theme of his administration, seeking to assuage anger over corruption and restore faith in the party.

EXTRAVAGANCE

Last month, the government said it would ban officials from holding extravagant galas linked to official meetings that have hurt the government’s image. Xi has told officials to end elaborate and long-winded welcoming ceremonies for him and other top leaders, and banished alcohol from military functions as he tries to project a man-of-the-people image. The party, fearful of anything that could weaken its grip on power, has struggled to contain public anger over a string of corruption scandals. Xi has warned that the party’s survival is at risk and the country could face unrest if graft is not tackled.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2013/09/05/2003571424

 

[waltky]

Night of the long knives in Xinjiang...

50 knifed to death in China coal mine, Uighurs suspected
Oct 2, 2015: At least 50 people were knifed to death last month inside a coal mine in the restive Xinjiang province, reported US-based Radio Free Asia on Thursday - an attack suspected to have been carried out by Uighur separatists who are known to use knife for terror attacks.

Radio Free Asia said the number of people killed in the September 18 attack at the Sogan colliery in Aksu had reached 50, with most casualties being members of the Han Chinese majority. The news came as the country marked 60 years since the establishment of what it calls the Xinjiang Autonomous Region.

Radio Free Asia, citing its own sources, said that the attackers first "rammed their vehicles using trucks loaded down with coal", while trying to block the entry of police personnel, who rushed to the scene. "Nearly all workers who were on the shift at the time were killed or injured," police officer Ekber Hashim told RFA. "Some workers were sleeping while others were preparing to work when the attackers raided the building after killing the security guards."

Beijing's concerns about Pakistan's Taliban backing Xinjiang separatists features regularly in discussions between the two countries. A Communist Party official in charge of religious groups and ethnic minorities, Yu Zhengsheng, warned local authorities not to rest on their laurels because the threat from terrorists was severe. "We must fully recognize that Xinjiang faces a very serious situation in maintaining long-term social stability, and we must make a serious crackdown on violent terror activities the focal point of our struggle," Yu said. Meanwhile, three more explosions rocked China's Guangxi province, killing one more person on Thursday.

50 knifed to death in China coal mine, Uighurs suspected - The Times of India

See also:

Six killed as 15 letter bombs explode at 13 locations in China
Sep 30, 2015: Six people were killed on Wednesday when 15 suspected letter bombs exploded in southern China, state media said, with blasts reported in more than ten locations including government offices. Dozens more were injured by the explosives apparently placed in express delivery packages, the official Xinhua news agency said of the blasts on the eve of China's national day holiday.

The explosions occurred in at least 13 locations in a rural county in the Guangxi region, the Nanguo Morning News, a local newspaper, cited police as saying. They included a prison, a government office and a shopping centre, it said. Pictures posted online, which could not be verified, showed portions of six-storey buildings gutted and collapsed, and streets littered with glass, bricks and other debris. Other photos showed overturned cars, victims bandaged and on makeshift stretchers and plumes of grey smoke rising above a residential district. State broadcaster CCTV quoted a local police chief as saying the blasts were caused by several different explosive devices, adding that "the case is understood to be a criminal one".

The blasts occurred at the seat of Liucheng county and surrounding areas, said Xinhua, which initially reported three dead. It said rescue workers had rushed to the scene. "Initial investigation showed that explosives could be inside express delivery packages," it added. In recent years several disgruntled Chinese citizens have bombed local government offices and public places to try to draw attention to their grievances. In 2013, a man set off a series of home-made bombs packed with ball-bearings outside a provincial government headquarters in northern China, killing at least one person and wounding eight. Xinhua said at the time he sought to "take revenge on society".

The same year a street vendor set fire to a bus in east China's Fujian province, killing himself and nearly four dozen passengers in an act of retaliation against local authorities. Legal paths for pursuing justice in China are limited, as courts are subject to political influence and corruption. Citizens who lodge complaints against authorities often find themselves being detained. Authorities maintain tight control over public security in the one-party state and place huge importance on maintaining social order.

Six killed as 15 letter bombs explode at 13 locations in China - The Times of India

Related:

Another blast hits Chinese city where explosions killed 7
Oct 1, 2015: An explosion damaged a six-storey building on Thursday in southern China, less than a day after more than a dozen blasts triggered by explosive devices delivered in mail packages killed at least seven people and injured over 50 in the same county in southern China, officials and state media said.

The latest blast hit a civilian's house near a highway administration bureau in Liucheng in Guangxi region, which borders Vietnam, but it was not immediately known if there were any casualties, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. The ministry of public security said it was treating the blasts on Wednesday as a criminal act, and not terrorism. It said a 33-year-old local man, identified only by his family name of Wei, was considered a suspect, but provided no further details, including a possible motive or whether the man had been detained. Local media reported that the suspect had been apprehended. Xinhua said that the suspect had hired others to help deliver the bombs.

A local Communist Party newspaper, the Guangxi Daily, cited police as saying there were 17 explosions Wednesday afternoon in Liucheng, leaving seven people dead, two missing and 51 injured. Police in Liucheng said they will hold a news conference later Thursday. Wednesday's explosions, which occurred between 3:15pm and 5pm, hit a hospital, local markets, a shopping mall, a bus station and several government buildings, including a jail and dormitories for government workers, according to a police statement posted by the local newspaper Nanguo Zaobao. "There were so many of them, and they were so loud, everyone in (Liucheng) could hear them," said a hotel employee who gave only his family name, Li. The hotel is near a township office building that was hit by one of the explosions. "They sounded like someone was blasting rocks in the mountains," Li said.

Zhou Changqing, the police chief for the city of Liuzhou, which has jurisdiction over Liucheng, said the blasts were triggered by explosive devices delivered in several mail packages, state broadcaster CCTV reported. A supermarket employee said the store was evacuated immediately when an adjacent supermarket was hit by an explosion. "All of us heard the blast. It was very loud," he said by phone. Photos posted online showed streets filled with smoke, strewn debris, dust clouds in the sky and the rubble from a five-story building that had partially collapsed. Xinhua reported that at least one more explosion hit downtown Liuzhou, away from Liucheng. It did not say whether there were any casualties from that blast or whether it was connected to the ones in Liucheng.

Another blast hits Chinese city where explosions killed 7 - The Times of India