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General Studies 2 >> International Relations

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UIGHURS

 

UIGHURS

Source: Indianexpress

 

CONTEXT

India has cancelled the visa it had granted to Dolkun Isa, the executive chairman of the Munich-based World Uighur Congress, whom Beijing considers a terrorist. Isa was supposed to visit Dharamsala, the seat of the Dalai Lama.

ABOUT UIGHURS

  • The Uighurs live in Xinjiang, the largest and most western of China’s administrative regions, which is surrounded by Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.
  • They are Muslim, speak a language close to Turkish, and are culturally and ethnically closer to Central Asia than the rest of China.
  • Till recently, they were the majority in Xinjiang, but massive registered and unregistered settlements of Han Chinese and heavy troop deployments have likely changed that situation
  • In the early 20th Century, the Uyghurs briefly declared independence for the region but it was brought under the complete control of China's new Communist government in 1949.

XINJIANG PROVINCE

Xinjiang lies in the northwest of China and is the country's largest region. Like Tibet, it is autonomous, meaning in theory; it has some powers of self-governance. But in practice, both regions are subjected to major restrictions by the central government

Xinjiang is a mostly desert region and produces about a fifth of the world's cotton

The region is also rich in oil and natural gas and because of its proximity to Central Asia and Europe is seen by Beijing as an important trade link

CONFLICT AREAS BETWEEN CHINA AND UIGHURS

 

1. CULTURAL AND ETHNICITY 

  • Xinjiang has long had a rebellious and autonomous streak, with the indigenous ethnic Uighurs clashing with the authorities.
  • There was a spike in demonstrations and demands for independence in the early 1990s as the collapse of the Soviet Union gave birth to new nations, but these were rapidly crushed.

2. ECONOMIC REASONS

  • Xinjiang is an important link in China’s  Belt and Road Initiative a massive development plan stretching through Asia and Europe.
  • Beijing hopes to eradicate any possibility of separatist activity to continue its development of Xinjiang, which is home to China’s largest coal and natural gas reserves
  • As China’s development has lifted cities like Kashgar and Urumqi, young, qualified Han Chinese from eastern regions have come to Xinjiang, taking the most lucrative jobs and triggering resentment among the indigenous population

3. RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION

  • Uighurs allege the Chinese state has been repressive, clamping down on mosques and religious schools - in 2014, some government departments prohibited fasting during the month of Ramzan.

 

UIGHURS' ACCUSATION AGAINST CHINA

  • Human rights violations- Human rights groups believe China has detained more than one million Uyghurs against their will over the past few years in a large network of what the state calls "re-education camps", and sentenced hundreds of thousands to prison terms. The leading human rights groups Amnesty and Human Rights Watch have published reports accusing China of crimes against humanity
  • Human rights groups have voiced concerns that much of that cotton export is picked by forced labour, and in 2021 some Western brands removed Xinjiang cotton from their supply chains, leading to a backlash against the brands from Chinese celebrities and netizens.
  • Accuse Beijing of repression- Uyghur and other minority women have reported forced sterilizations and Intrauterine device insertion, and officials have threatened to detain anyone who violates birth-control orders or has too many children.

CHINA'S ACCUSATION AGAINST UIGHURS

  • China claims that these groups spreading terrorism and China has announced a campaign against terrorism, and has arrested and, in some cases, sentenced and executed, leaders of alleged terror groups
  • China says the crackdown in Xinjiang is necessary to prevent terrorism and root out Islamist extremism and the camps are an effective tool for re-educating inmates in its fight against terrorism.
  • It insists that Uyghur militants are waging a violent campaign for an independent state by plotting bombings, sabotage, and civic unrest, but it is accused of exaggerating the threat to justify repression of the Uyghurs.
  • In Beijing’s official narrative, much of the Uighur terrorist violence is carried out by the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, a group that seeks to establish an independent East Turkestan state in China

ATTACKS REPORTED

  • There were reports of Uighur activists being targeted ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and in the following year, there was massive rioting in the provincial capital of Urumqi, in which at least 200 people, mainly Han Chinese, were killed.
  • The government cracked down, and the circles of resentment only widened, exploding periodically into violent incidents.
  • In 2010, the government accused Uighur militants of driving a truck into security forces at Aksu, and of attacking, the following year, a police station at Hotan. In 2012, six Uighurs allegedly attempted to hijack an aircraft from Hotan to Urumqi.
  • In April and June 2013, violent ethnic clashes between Uighurs and Han Chinese killed at least 56 people, and in October of that year, a car bomb went off at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, in which five people were killed. 2014 saw terrorists hacking at people at Kunming railway station, killing 29.

 

MAINS QUESTION

1. Discuss the causes of friction between china and Uighurs.

 


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