THIS week’s ethnic violence in China’s Xinjiang region — the worst case of political disturbance in that country since Tiananmen Square in 1989 — has come as a serious jolt to the People’s Republic. At a time when it has been trying to effect a smooth political and economic transition to a controlled democracy with a semi-market economy, internal instability is the last thing Beijing would want on its agenda. Hence its concern when the street protests staged by the Uighurs in Urumqi turned ugly and more than 150 people, most of them apparently Han Chinese, were killed, followed by rioting by the latter and a crackdown by the authorities. This was not an iso- lated incident of Turkic Muslim Uighurs clashing with the Han Chinese. Last month the two communities had been locked in violence in Shaoguan over a rumour of ethnic assault. Hence the allegations by the authorities that the riots were instigated by Uighur separatists abroad might appear a bit far-fetched, though one cannot deny that the community enjoys the support of its compatriots scattered all over the world.
Ethnic tensions between the Uighurs and the Han Chinese predates the founding of the People’s Republic. Although in 1955 Beijing attempted to pacify the Uighurs by making Xinjiang an autonomous region it didn’t help much because real political power was exercised by the Communist Party that was controlled by the Han Chinese. Moreover internal migration later changed the ethnic ratio and the Uighurs no longer constitute a majority in Xinjiang. Far more disturbing for them is the fact that the Han Chinese who have moved to Urumqi and other cities are better educated and fluent in Mandarin that gives them an advantage in the race for jobs. This has left the Uighurs disgruntled. Some separatist voices have been raised by elements seeking to exploit the situation for political gains. More explosive could be the religious issue, especially complaints by Uighurs that restrictions have been exercised by the Chinese government on their practice of Islamic rites.Given the rise of Islamic militancy in the region, one can understand Beijing’s fears. But it would do well to investigate the matter before reaching a hasty conclusion.
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