Chris Buckley reports on The New York Times that at least 27 people died in rioting in far western China on Wednesday. It was the worst spasm of violence for years in Xinjiang, between Uighurs, an overwhelmingly Muslim ethnic minority, and China’s Han majority.
“Uighurs once formed the vast majority of residents in Xinjiang, which neighbors Central Asia and came under the control of Chinese Communist forces in 1949. In recent decades, the number of Han Chinese residents has grown, aided by migration. Uighurs now make up 46 percent of Xinjiang’s civilian population of 22 million, and Han Chinese account for 40 percent, according to government estimates.”
“Many members of the Uighur minority, a Turkic-speaking group, resent the growing presence in Xinjiang of Han Chinese people, whom they say get the better jobs and land. Government restrictions on religion have become a growing source of tensions with Uighurs, who have embraced more conservative currents of Sunni Islam.”
The bloodshed struck a part of Xinjiang where relations between Uighur and Han people have traditionally been relatively untroubled, said Nicholas Bequelin, a senior researcher in Hong Kong for Human Rights Watch.
“But the tension has been escalating in recent years,” said Mr. Bequelin, who takes a particular interest in Xinjiang. “The tensions are linked to the introduction of policies that call for much finer control and monitoring of local Uighur affairs by officials. You have a lot of rehousing and relocation there, too.”
Full article here.
