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Xinjiang riots: one year on, Uighur and Han fears still run deep

Security forces boost in China’s north-west region as economic stress divides ethnic groups
 
  Originally published by The Guardian, 5 July 2010

By Tania Branigan

Security forces in Urumqi, Xinjiang
Security forces patrolling last weekend in Xinjian’s capital, Urumqi. Photograph: China Daily/Reuters

 

At one point, Ilham Tohti estimated with a chuckle, he was the richest Uighur in Beijing. But he did not believe money solved every problem. “In Uighur society you could say the main issues are one – poverty and unemployment. Second, we are a people who believe in Islam and still have our own history and culture as well as language.”

 Surveillance and harassment have dogged China‘s leading Uighur intellectual for years, thanks to his analysis of the situation in Xinjiang. But sensitivity around the issue has been greater since inter-ethnic violence in the north-west region, a year ago today, left 200 mostly Han Chinese dead and 1,700 others injured.

 Armed police are patrolling Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, in advance of the anniversary of China’s worst riots for decades. The region has recruited 5,000 extra security personnel , installed 40,000 riot-proof surveillance cameras and held special drills. The security budget has almost doubled to 2.9bn yuan (£281m) this year.

 Tohti spent more than a month in detention following last July’s unrest. The region’s governor alleged “inflammatory propaganda” was spread via his website, although others described it as a “gentle and rational” forum for discussion.

 While the 46-year-old condemns the violence as a tragedy, his concern is for the future and the impact of the government’s 10bn yuan pledge to ensure stability in the region through rapid, “leapfrog”, economic development. China’s president, Hu Jintao, has said the main source of conflicts is, as elsewhere in China, a mix of economic aspiration and underdevelopment.

 But Tohti said Xinjiang was doing better than many Chinese provinces and the primary issue was inequality. His concerns about the development drive were shared, he said, by experts outside the region who warn that discrimination against Uighurs by employers, the tendency of Chinese companies to rely on existing relationships, and a fresh influx of migrants tempted by the new investment, could reinforce or even increase society’s divisions.

 “The investment comes from outside, the plans come from outside, the companies who carry out the project come from outside,” said Tohti. Land prices had increased dramatically in some areas and a surge in spending and inward migration could wipe out any benefits.

 Uighurs make up almost half of Xinjiang’s population of 23 million. But many feel marginalised by recent Han migration, which they fear is destroying their way of life and increasing discrimination.

 “To mix is not about you assimilating me or me destroying your culture, but about merging our lives – putting it simply, to respect each other,” Tohti said last month. “It should not only mean asking Uighurs to learn from Han culture; Han people should learn our language and our culture, respect our history and religion.”

 Last year’s violence has hardened attitudes among many Han Chinese. The predominantly Uighur assaults on Han people on 5 July 2009 were followed by revenge attacks. Two months later tens of thousands of angry Han took to the streets following claims of syringe attacks by Uighurs, complaining the government was not protecting them.

 The authorities have viewed Tohti with suspicion since he wrote a paper on Uighur unemployment in the mid-90s. His first wife left him after frequent visits from security officials. He took up business to support young people’s studies and “earned a lot of money”, but sold off assets below their value when surveillance intensified. This year he was prevented from travelling abroad for a conference.

 His candour has won him admiration, especially from students at the Beijing Minorities University, where he teaches, and he thinks he should stay on the same track. He admitted too, that he worried for his own future. “China is now walking forward [too]. And I believe it should keep walking and walk faster,” he said.

 

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/05/xianjiang-riots-security-uighur-han