East Turkestan – an issue of nationhood for the Uyghurs

Most of the news coverage of the events in Urumchi over the past week reduced the unrest down to an issue of “ethnic tension” or “ethnic rioting,” completely glossing over the issue of occupation. China’s occupation of East Turkestan (what China calls Xinjiang), the Uyghur homeland, is at the root of the violent events that have transpired. No one is denying that the ensuing violence manifested itself along ethnic lines, but ultimately this is not a battle between “Han” Chinese and Uygur “Muslims;”  it is a battle of survival for the Uyghur people against China’s systematic efforts to suppress the Uyghur nation and colonize the Ugyhur homeland.

Below are a few of the analysis pieces that are starting to address this issue:

Al Jazeera’s Steve Chao discusses how China’s “Go West” policy of Chinese resettlement has fueled the unrest:

The Guardian’s John Gittings talks about Uyghur separatism:

Until now, it has been Beijing that talked up the threat of ethnic separatism in its far north-west region of Xinjiang, while the attitude of most of the Muslim Uighur population has been one of quiet – though unhappy – acceptance of Chinese rule. But the latest outbreak of violence in the regional capital of Urumqi suggests that Uighur resentment at heavy-handed Chinese policies has begun to boil over. For Uighurs to challenge the authorities in what has become a largely Chinese city is even more remarkable.

Xinjiang has a history of only intermittent control from Beijing and the misfortune of being seen by the Chinese as a strategic buffer region against its neighbors. There were two short-lived independent “East Turkestan” republics in the 1930s and 1940s – the second under strong Soviet influence. After the 1949 Chinese communist victory, Beijing quickly moved thousands of soldiers to set up paramilitary state farms: Xinjiang became a favored location for penal centers, and later on for Red Guards who were “sent down to the countryside”. After subsequent waves of migration, Han Chinese now make up 40% of the population, not much less than the 47% of Uighurs.