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06/14/1996 The West Gets Wilder
Separatist violence worries the Xinjiang government
06/12/1996 Does China Mean It?

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The West Gets Wilder
Separatist violence worries the Xinjiang government

By Anthony Davis and Sangwon Suh

IN THE COOL HOURS of early morning, children kneel in a row before a watchful young imam. Taking turns, they recite from the Koran, tracing their fingers along the cursive calligraphy of classical Arabic's most revered expression. Outside a remote village in China's vast Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, the scene hardly seems subversive. But such unregulated teaching is making Beijing nervous. To Chinese officials, Koranic classes are potential breeding grounds for religious extremism and ethnic separatism in a land where more than half the 16.3 million people are Muslim, mostly Uighurs.

Beijing has reason to worry. In the spring of 1990, some 50 people died when the government put down a small uprising by religious extremists in a town near Kashgar. Two years later, bombs shook Kashgar and the capital Urumqi. Last June five men were executed for the attacks. The local press said they were members of the so-called Islamic Reformists Party, which allegedly aims "to divide the motherland and make Xinjiang independent."

This year separatists have assassinated several people, including two policemen in February and a pro-Beijing Muslim cleric in March. Early last month, nine men, said to be Muslim rebels plotting bomb attacks, were reportedly killed in a gunbattle with police. Recently, Uighur exiles in Kazakhstan claimed that there had been widespread street fighting in Xinjiang and that 5,000 of their compatriots had been arrested since mid-April. The government's Xinjiang Daily cited five violent incidents since early February, as well as police seizures of 2,723 kg of explosives, 4,100 sticks of dynamite, 604 guns and 31,000 rounds of ammunition.

Beijing's reaction has been typical. The official press lashed out against secessionists, calling for severe punishments. The Xinjiang Daily called on local officials to cooperate with the army in building a "Great Wall of Steel" against separatism ("splittism" in official media). The use of religious writings, recordings and video not officially approved has been banned, along with unsanctioned mosque construction.

Authorities reiterated that all preachers must be registered and their sermons regulated. A special target has been private Islamic schools, which are often funded by West Asian countries. "We must firmly oppose religious activities which run counter to the socialist system, divide the motherland and incite fanaticism by disseminating speeches in mosques about a holy war," Ibrahim Rouzi, director of Xinjiang's Religious Affairs Bureau, had said.

Also on the mind of authorities is possible foreign involvement. While hard evidence is scarce, extremist currents, as well as illicit small-arms, are almost surely coming in from Pakistan and Afghanistan. "It's the spill-over from the war in Afghanistan," says Dr. Shirin Akiner, a Central Asia expert at London University's School of African and Oriental Studies. "There are a lot of Pakistanis and other Muslims looking for new theaters, and Xinjiang is certainly easier than the ex-Soviet states." In April, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan agreed to increase cooperation in fighting militancy among their Muslim populations.

For all the official concern, there is little likelihood of Islamist fervor sweeping Xinjiang and Central Asia anytime soon. The tenets of Uighurs and other Muslim ethnic groups are far removed from the radicalism of militants elsewhere. Islamic fundamentalism has no real roots in Uighur society. Xinjiang experts at the Central Nationalities University in Beijing believe religious extremism affects mainly a fringe of poorly educated peasants in remote areas.

A more significant factor behind recent separatist activities is almost certainly anti-Han Chinese sentiment, fueled by the Uighurs' fear of being displaced in their own land. When the communists took over China in 1949, Xinjiang had just 200,000 Han Chinese, or no more than 4% of the local population. Today they make up at least 40% and possibly even half. After decades of state-sanctioned Han immigration, Beijing has in recent years tried somewhat to curb the influx. Most troublesome has been the illegal entry of laborers and artisans.

Even Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are concerned. "All the Central Asian states are worried about illegal immigration," says Akiner. "Chinese come across the border, buy into local businesses, marry and settle down." The majority of Xinjiang's administrative positions are now in the hands of Chinese, as is much of its burgeoning wealth. A stroll through any of the region's prospering cities quickly establishes that Chinese control most entrepreneurial ventures.

For all the local grievances, the movement for outright independence remains weak and marginal. Many Uighurs may not find the current state of affairs ideal, but they have not been untouched by an economy that has grown 10% a year since the early 1990s. "People have very mixed feelings," notes Akiner. "A minority may harbor separatist aspirations. But a lot of Uighurs have benefited from the economic boom and see every reason to stay in China." A good number have taken advantage of the freedom of Uighurs to move, work and do business elsewhere in the country.

In addition, neighboring countries have not been particularly sympathetic to the Uighur nationalist cause. Kazakhstan has been keeping a wary eye on groups from among its own 250,000-strong Uighur community advocating independence for Xinjiang. Any concessions to such separatists, the government fears, might give ideas to Kazakhstan's huge Russian minority, who make up over 40% of the country's population.

But whether Xinjiang's separatism is about religion or nationalism, whether it is a real threat or not, Beijing is taking no chances. The regime is not about to loosen its grip on the autonomous region -- even if that hard line pushes many Uighurs to the very separatism it aims to fight.

From Asiaweek

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Does China Mean It?

June 12, 1996, 12:00 a.m.

After belatedly bowing to international pressure to stop its nuclear testing, China is showing signs of giving ground on copyright piracy, its surliest trade dispute with the U.S. Unless Beijing cracks down on pirated products, as it promised to do under an international accord in 1995, the U.S. will impose record trade sanctions on $2 billion worth of Chinese clothing and electronic goods by June 17. Acting U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said Tuesday that that China has closed some factories that were producing pirated computer programs, movies and music, but that Beijing must take "further concrete and verifiable action to reduce piracy at its source and at its borders." In an exclusive interview Tuesday with TIME editors, new Secretary of Commerce Mickey Kantor, who until recently held the U.S. trade post, said the factory closings may be just a fillip. "I am somewhat skeptical. They have opened and closed plants many times. We have to be realistic given China's situation internally, and that they have investors. But the Chinese knew that when they signed the (copyright) agreement 14 months ago." The Clinton Administration's tough talk and Beijing's good behavior come as both seek renewed congressional approval for China's Most Favored Nation trading status, which permits it the same low tariffs as other major U.S. trading partners.

From Time Magazine

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Copyright DateRichard R. Wertz