It’s not often that a nondescript region in Asia with a population density of 40 per square mile makes the American news. But this particular region happens to be in China, and it’s also home to the Uyghurs. Who are the Uyghurs? Here’s a quick overview—to help guide me, I used the New York Times bestseller Prisoners of Geography.
Chinese Geography
China—officially the People’s Republic of China—is divided into 34 administrative divisions. Of these, 23 are classified as provinces (with that number including the controversial Taiwan), five as autonomous regions, four as municipalities, and two as special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau).
In contrast to what is otherwise an ethnically homogenous country (the Han Chinese comprise over 90 percent of the population), the five autonomous regions—Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Tibet, and Xinjiang (see below)—have an overrepresentation of ethnic minorities.
Xinjiang
Xinjiang—officially the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region—is located in the northwest of China, far from the much more densely populated eastern part of the country. Approximately the size of Alaska, it borders eight countries, namely Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. Here’s a map.
The region has had a convoluted history, exchanging hands between the Mongols, the Tibetans, various Turkic entities, and the Chinese, along the way being exposed to the eastward expansion of Islam. When the Chinese monarchy fell in the early 20th century and gave way to a civil war, the area saw the formation of two successive and short-lived republics that were both called East Turkestan, with the latter actually being a Soviet satellite. Since the rise of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1949, Xinjiang has been part of China, albeit largely with the nebulous distinction of autonomous.
The CCP places a high value on the region for multiple reasons, starting with the abundance of coal, oil, and natural gas. The aforementioned borders also make the region a buffer between neighboring countries and China’s population centers to the east. Added into the mix is the fact that Xinjiang has served as the site of China’s nuclear weapons testing. Finally, China’s ambitious trade plan, called the Belt and Road Initiative, relies on key infrastructure in the area.
Given Xinjiang’s geographic location and unique history, it should come as no surprise that certain ethnic groups in the region have closer cultural ties with Central Asia than they do with the Han Chinese. One such example is the Uyghurs.
Who Are the Uyghurs?
The Uyghurs have traditionally been the largest ethnic group in Xinjiang, also having a sizable presence in neighboring countries such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Speaking a Turkic language (usually written in a modified Arabic script) and largely practicing Islam, the group is not what comes to mind when Westerners think of China.
Living in a country that, as above, is predominantly Han Chinese, the Uyghurs and other minorities such as the Kazakhs and Kyrgyz have had (at least from the outside looking in) an uncomfortable relationship with the Chinese government.
In an effort to stabilize the region, the CCP’s strategy has involved Han-led economic development. While this approach has fostered job creation, the benefits have not been felt in minority communities, often marginalized from higher-paying work. The result has been increasing tension and a series of uprisings, perhaps the most prominent of which occurred in 2009, claiming the lives of approximately 200 Han Chinese.
The last decade has seen the Chinese government take an ever-hardening stance against real and perceived extremism, terrorism, and separatism (i.e. the desire to recreate an East Turkestan). The result has been the proliferation of reeducation camps (also called internment camps), where adults are arbitrarily detained and taught Chinese propaganda while being purged of their Islamic beliefs. Similarly, children are enrolled in schools that teach a CCP-centric worldview, one devoid of religion.
The region has seen a rising police presence, unprovoked passport confiscation, the prohibition of Muslim names, and heightened digital surveillance. At times, Uyghurs have been sent to other parts of the country in what outsiders deem as a forced labor program. Some of the most striking allegations of human rights violations have involved forced abortion and sterilization. Taken together, all of the above has been labeled as genocide.
The ability of the outside world to access Xinjiang is limited, and China has denied wrongdoing. The country has justified some of its activities as necessary for national protection. Furthermore, internment camps have been portrayed as providing vocational training for those who voluntarily enroll.
In the case of the Uyghurs and China, you have an authoritarian regime trying to deal with historically-ingrained differences in culture, language, religion, and appearance. As history might suggest, that’s not a great formula for success.
