Resentment against Chinese rule in Xinjiang has flared for years. Many among China's eight million Uyghurs - Turkic people that make up the biggest Muslim group in the region - dream of recreating a fabled "Kashgaria". The short-lived kingdom sprang up after a prolonged Muslim rebellion against the Qing Dynasty in the mid-19th century. China's Manchu rulers eventually reconquered the region and in 1884 created Xinjiang (new frontier) province.
Except during the brief existence of the two East Turkestan republics - in mid-1930s and after the end of World War II - the Uyghurs have continuously struggled in their quest for national identity, for most part away from the world's gaze.
But after the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, China claimed that the al-Qaeda had trained more than 1,000 members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement. Beijing succeeded in placing the group on the terrorist lists of the US and United Nations and resorted to a hard-line policy aimed at stifling unrest.
Through propaganda and extended security crackdowns the authorities have managed to put a lid on simmering ethnic resentment, but recent attacks have sparked fears that tough measures and omnipresent control may have driven more disaffected Uyghurs into joining the ranks of the global jihad movement.
"China's success in fighting those terrorists at home has made it impossible for them to survive underground and many are now training abroad," says Chu.
"Prohibition doesn't work -- legalize it and regulate it!"
ROFL.
"In 2001, it may have been premature to say that the East Turkestan Islamic Movement was part of the global jihad but by now many of its elements have spent so much time in the tribal border areas of Pakistan that we can't really say for sure what cause they stand for," says John Harrison of the Singapore-based International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research.
However, the coordinated targeting of symbols of the Chinese government in recent attacks shows a shift to tactics used by more traditional insurgent groups. "I would say there is less radicalization than before," Harrison suggests. "They are trying to show that their actions are aimed at whom they view as their main opponent - the Chinese government."
Which brings me to my point -- they are not like traditional jihadists, whose attitude is to kill them all (and themselves) and let Allah sort it out.
The continuous violence underscores China's undying problem with its restive ethnic minorities in far-flung regions like Xinijang and Tibet.
Chinese leaders like to take credit for developing the border regions, but Beijing's increasingly tight control on all aspects of the lives of minorities, including religious belief and cultural identity, have bred resentment.
China's most recent drive to assert control over the resource-rich Xinjiang region, through the "Go West" campaign, has spurred new investment and a wave of Han Chinese immigration, which has alienated the Uyghurs. In 1949 when the communist party came to power, the Uyghurs were 90% of the population of Xinjiang. Today they account for less than half.
This week, the government defended its record in the province. Mu Tielifuhasimu, commissioner of the region's administration, said the majority of Uyghurs are happy in Xinjiang and enjoy the freedom to practice their religion. "The overall situation is extremely good," he told a press conference.
Meanwhile, in Beijing state councilor Meng Jianzhu was meeting with Rehman Malik, adviser to the Pakistani prime minister on interior affairs and asking for more support from Islamabad in fighting terrorism. President Pervez Musharraf had admitted earlier that there were a number of Uyghur rebels from Xinjiang undergoing terrorist training in Pakistan's tribal areas.
And Chinese nationals are now being targeted in Pakistan, as well.
In fact, in the eastern half of "Turkestan", it appears China may replace the United States as the designated imperialist-power-to-be-hated.
The People's Republic of China: an up-and-coming "Great Satan"?
Stay tuned as we begin to explore how Chinese are being targeted by terrorists in China's near-abroad, South Asia.
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