Round The World

New Delhi, 8 April 2008

Unrest in China

AFTER TIBET, ITS XINJANG

                                               By  Monika Chansoria

(School of International Studies, JNU)

However much the Chinese government may disagree, but the crisis in Tibet appears to be gradually spreading to other parts of the country. The sensitive Xinjiang province too is experiencing the turbulence of political and social unrest in the weeks following the violence incurred due to anti-government protests led by the monks in Tibet.

Signs of ethnic unrest in China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang have begun to emerge in the past few days with incidents of sporadic protests by Muslim separatists in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and of police crackdowns in numerous locales of the province.

In addition to Xinjiang, there were fresh incidents of violence in the Tibetan-inhabited autonomous region of Garze in southwest China’s Sichuan province on April 4, when Chinese police opened fire during ‘rioting’ in the area, as reported by the Xinhua news agency. Moreover, the riots that broke out first in Lhasa and spread to other Tibetan-inhabited areas in neighbouring Sichuan and Gansu provinces have left scores of people dead and injured.

China has accused Muslims in the nation’s northwest region of trying to initiate a rebellion after protests broke out in the Xinjiang province a few days back. The incident comes at a time when a beleaguered Chinese government has been occupied in curbing and restricting the Tibetan agitation.

Moreover, as the Olympic torch relay kick-started in Beijing amidst tight security fearing possible violent disruptions by the Tibetan agitators, the Turkish police detained at least six Uighur Muslims on April 3 at an anti-China protest during the torch relay near one of Istanbul’s most famous tourist sites.

The demonstrators were detained after they broke away from a larger group of protesters and shouted slogans just a few feet away from a Turkish figure skater who had just started to run with the torch. Around 200 Uighur Muslims had converged ahead of the ceremony near the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sofia church. Some members of the Uighur expatriate community in Turkey have reiterated calls for the independence of Xinjiang from China.

Meanwhile, in the western Xinjiang city of Kashgar, a traditionally vital center of Islam in the region, Chinese police went on to arrest 70 Uighurs in recent days in a move aimed at safeguarding the city before the arrival of the Olympic torch, scheduled to pass through Kashgar in June.

It appears that the World Uighur Congress, an organization of the Muslim Uighur people, that has always been sympathetic to the cause of the Tibetans seeking an independent Tibet, is making every effort to cash in on the embarrassment caused to the Chinese government. The Tibetan issue has clearly grabbed international focus since the past month.

In a statement, the Congress said that the Uighur demonstrators were seeking the release of their leaders held in prison, an end to the alleged religious repression and halting the transfer of Uighur girls as labourers to other parts of China.

Like the Tibetans, Uighurs too constitute a form of a predominant ethnic group in Xinjiang and aspire political independence while holding profound umbrage vis-à-vis Chinese control. Religious freedom has been a constant source of tension in Xinjiang. The Chinese government has been accused of banning students and party members from practicing Islam, and tightly controls and polices the Muslim clergy.

Beijing has long claimed to be confronting “religious extremist forces” and “violent terrorism” in the Xinjiang province. China faces an ongoing separatist insurgency movement among the ethnic Uighur minority—a Turkic-speaking, predominantly Muslim community—in the sensitive and remote northwestern Chinese province of Xinjiang, abutting the Central Asian republics.

Much like the Tibetans, the Uighurs in Xinjiang, too have struggled for their cultural survival and distinct identity in the face of a government-supported influx of Chinese migrants, as well as harsh repression of political dissent or any other expression, however, lawful or peaceful.

Significantly, Xinjiang is very critical to the economic ambitions of the PRC, in that the province makes up more than one-sixth of China’s landmass, but more importantly has rich, untapped deposits of oil, natural gas and minerals. In addition, China also perceives Xinjiang as its gateway to the huge oil and gas reserves of Central Asia with Chinese companies already seeking foreign partners to construct pipelines from fields in Kazakhstan and Russia.

The Chinese authorities have not discriminated between peaceful and violent dissent and their fight against “separatism” and “religious extremism” has been used to justify widespread and systematic human rights violations against Uighurs, including many involved in non-violent political, religious, and cultural activities.

Beijing, in the 90s was very apprehensive about the emergence of unrest and terrorism in Xinjiang, since the Uighurs share more cultural affinity with Central Asia than with rest of China. The Uighurs, who look and sound more like Turks than Han Chinese, advocate and support the creation of an independent State for Xinjiang’s Muslims, much to China’s antagonism.

Furthermore, questions crept up yet again on China’s human rights record when a Chinese court on April 3 sentenced one of China’s most prominent dissident and activist Hu Jia to three-and-half years in jail on charges of subversion. Apparently, Hu spoke out for greater autonomy and religious freedom for Tibet. However, through its actions, Beijing is sending out a clear message that it is not overtly concerned about the harsh condemnation from various human rights groups in the West.

Reacting to the arrest of Hu Jia, European Union spokesman in Beijing William Fingleton said, “We said very clearly before the trial that he should not have been detained in the first place and that he should be released immediately and this remains our position. We believe that the charges of subversion against peaceful expression of opinion are not in line with the (UN) Convention on Civil and Political Rights which the Chinese government has committed to respect. ” 

On its part, the Chinese authorities are seeking to demonstrate to the outside world that the situation in Tibet is under their control by announcing that foreign tourists would be allowed to visit the region from this May 1. The ban had been imposed on foreign tourists and journalists from visiting Tibet since the outbreak of violence last month.

In this Olympic year, the world community prospectively looks towards Beijing with expectations that it takes initiative to improve its human rights and religious freedom record. As for China, it is walking a very tight rope and would want to aim at putting its best foot forward too. Indubitably, Beijing is standing on the edge as the Olympics inch closer. For the protestors, the timing is ideal to draw global attention to long-standing political and social issues prevailing in numerous parts of China.---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)