Xinjiang

Xinjiang (Chinese 新疆, pinyin Xīnjiāng, W.-G. Hsin-chiang; Uyghur شینجاڭ, obsolete by post Sinkiang) is a designation for the autonomous region of the Uyghur nationality in the People's Republic of China. The official Chinese name is Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (新疆維吾爾自治區 / 新疆维吾尔自治区, Xīnjiāng Wéiwú'ěr zìzhìqū, English Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; Uyghur شىنجاڭ ئۇيغۇر ئاپتونوم رايونى / Xinjang Uyƣur Aptonom Rayoni), but by supporters of the Uyghur independence movement it is called East Turkestan. The region is a predominantly Uyghur and Han, but also Mongol, populated area in the far northwest of the People's Republic of China. The northern part of the region is also called Dsungarei.

The capital of the autonomous region is Ürümqi, a relatively young city compared to the historically rich cities such as Kaxgar, Shache (Yarkant County), Gulja or Gaochang. Other important places are the modern city of Shihezi, the suburb of Changji (Changji Autonomous County) of Ürümqi, the petroleum city of Karamay, the Kazakh city of Altay at the foot of the mountain range of the same name, Korla, Yizhou (formerly Kumul), Manas (Manas County), Aksu and Hotan (Hotan Administrative County), an ancient city in the south of the Tarim Basin.

The region has recently attracted attention primarily because of the Communist Party's systematic human rights crimes, such as the forced sterilization and mass imprisonment of Uighur residents in re-education camps.

History

Ancient

In the 1st millennium BC, Xinjiang was populated by numerous ethnic groups, both nomadic and sedentary. In ancient times, the inhabitants were often Indo-European ethnic groups, such as Tochars and Saks; from the west and south, culturally Hellenized inhabitants of the Graeco-Bactrian Empire probably also arrived temporarily, establishing trade links with Fergana and the Indus Valley. Later, Mongolian or Turkic-speaking tribal groups joined them, but there were also Sino-Tibetan peoples (Tibetans, Han Chinese, and Qiang) who settled Xinjiang and the Tarim Basin from the southeast.

Under the Chinese emperor Han Wudi (141-87 BC), who first conquered the Tarim Basin for China, the Chinese long-distance trade routes were connected to the network of ancient Persian and Graeco-Bactrian trade routes, opening up the long-distance trade network of the Silk Road. As a result, the cities in Xinjiang and the Tarim Basin became trading centers that were also home to Sogdian, Chinese, Persian, Syrian-Aramaic, Jewish, and other merchants whose writings were preserved in the arid climate of the Taklamakan, as were writings in regional languages and religious languages.

In the 2nd-3rd century BC, this area came under Xiongnu rule, but was conquered in 104 BC during the Han Dynasty by the Empire of China, which had a strategic interest in the Silk Road. In 25, the Chinese were defeated by the Xiongnu and were not able to reestablish their rule until 73.

After the fall of the Han dynasty, the Xianbei and Rouran tribes controlled this territory. In the second half of the 6th century, the Eastern Turkic Kaganate was briefly able to establish itself in Dsungarei, but during the Tang dynasty China regained its lost territories (645-763) and briefly extended its influence into western Central Asia.

In 745 the Uighur Kaganate arose in succession to the second Turkic Kaganate, which was destroyed by the Kyrgyz in about 840.

Medieval

After their great empire in Mongolia was destroyed by the Kyrgyz, most of the nomadic tribes of the Uighurs moved from Baikal to Xinjiang in the 9th century. Here they built their own state in the Turfan Basin, which became a vassal of the Kara-Kitan in the 12th century. Later, the area was completely subjugated by the Mongols and incorporated into the Chagatai Khanate. Chagataic (which gave rise to Uighur, Uzbek, and other languages) developed over the Middle Ages into the most respected and dominant language in Xinjiang and the Tarim Basin, gradually displacing most of the older languages and linguistically assimilating their speakers. After 1250, the Uighurs embraced Islam. After the final demise of these empires, the western Mongolian tribes of the Oirats founded the Jungar Khanate in 1640.

Modern Times

Around 1757, the area was finally subjugated by the Qing Empire under Emperor Qianlong. During the first half of the 19th century, the khans of Kokand, based in Central Asia, constantly caused unrest in the areas around Yarkant and Kaxgar. After the crushing of the Islamic Emirate, which had achieved temporary independence in the Tarim Basin under the leadership of Jakub Bek (1864-77), the Qing dynasty united Dsungarei and the Tarim Basin to form the province of Xinjiang (Chinese: "New Frontier"). In 1876 Kokand was captured by the Russian general Skobelev. The tsar dissolved the Khanate of Kokand and annexed the area to Russian Turkestan; from 1871 to 1881, the Ili region was also a part of the Russian Empire. Until the Xinhai Revolution in 1911, Xinjiang was considered a zone of influence of the Russian Empire; from 1928 at the latest - until the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 - the Soviet Union exerted strong influence in Xinjiang. The USSR maintained a military base in Xinjiang, dominated the economy and even conducted military expeditions in the Ili region.

Modern

With the support of the first Chinese president Yuan Shikai, Governor Yang Zengxin established a military dictatorship in Xinjiang. After his assassination in 1928 and the brief interlude of Jin Shuren's rule, Sheng Shicai came to power in Ürümqi in 1933. The Islamic Republic of East Turkestan briefly split off in the south of the province. He was aided by Soviet troops as part of the Soviet invasion of Xinjiang. He accepted the influence of the Soviet Union and with its help built up the economy of Xinjiang. In search of allies, Sheng turned to the Guomindang in the 1940s and henceforth became an extreme anti-communist. On January 5, 1945, his rule ended as a result of the "Three Regions Revolution" (named after Altay, Gulja, and Qoqek). The revolutionaries proclaimed a republic of East Turkestan, whose territory covered about 10% of today's Xinjiang, but which was not recognized by any state in the world. A year later, nationalist and revolutionary-democratic forces in Xinjiang reached an agreement and a coalition government was formed.

In 1949, the Chinese Communists achieved an incorporation of Xinjiang into the People's Republic of China. In September 1955, the "Uyghur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang" was created. During the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), Xinjiang, like all of China, had to endure the Red Terror, which cost many lives and left lasting consequences. Many cultural assets were destroyed. Since the era of Deng Xiaoping, Xinjiang has been greatly affected by the "Chinese economic miracle", but mainly settled Han Chinese benefit from it.

Current situation

Already at the beginning of the 19th century, during the Qing dynasty, about 30 percent of the population of Xinjiang were Han Chinese and 60 percent members of Turkic peoples. Pan-Turkish nationalists accuse the Chinese government of striving for a Sinicization of the indigenous population (similar to Tibet). Today, the proportion of Han Chinese is just over 40%, while Uyghurs make up about 46% of the total population.

International observers reported re-education camps from the mid-2010s onwards; the non-governmental organisation Human Rights Watch spoke of massive human rights violations in this regard, others even of ethnocide and genocide or genocide. Up to one million people a year are said to be "arbitrarily detained in internment camps where they are politically and culturally indoctrinated," according to UN estimates. The existence of such camps was officially confirmed by the government in October 2018, but at the same time allegations of mistreatment were denied.

In late June 2020, Adrian Zenz first reported on forced sterilizations and abortions of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the camps. His analysis of Chinese statistics and government documents revealed a decline in the birth rate in Xinjiang between 2015 and 2018, plummeting by 24 percent on average, and by 84 percent in two prefectures. According to Zenz's government documents and statistics, 1.1 percent of all married women of childbearing age in Xinjiang were sterilized in 2018; of all intrauterine device insertions in the People's Republic of China, about 2.5 percent were performed in Xinjiang in 2014, according to Zenz's calculations, this proportion rose to about 80 percent in 2018; about 1.8 percent of China's population lives in Xinjiang (as of 2020).

In addition to the assimilation program in re-education camps, the so-called labor transfer program resettled and deployed several hundred thousand Uyghurs for forced labor (especially the cotton crop) within Xinjiang beginning in the second half of the 2010s decade.

Uighur kaganate and areas under its rule (red line) around 820


Uighur princesses, wall fresco from Bezeklik, cave 9, c. 9th-12th century AD, now in the Museum of Asian Art, Berlin-Dahlem


Wide streets and modern high-rise buildings characterize today's cityscape of Ürümqi.


Flag of the Uyghur independence movement


Probably a Graeco-Bactrian armed man with Greek royal diadem and mythical centaur. Carpet from the Sampul cemetery near Hotan, 3rd-2nd century BC.

Population

Population structure and figures

Ethnic groups in Xinjiang, census 2000
Ethnicity	Population	Percentage share1
Uyghurs	8.345.622	45,21
Han	7.489.919	40,58
Kazakhs	1.245.023	6,74
Hui	839.837	4,55
Kyrgyz	158.775	0,86
Mongolian	149.857	0,81
Dongxiang	55.841	0,30
Tajik	39.493	0,21
Xibe	34.566	0,19
Manchurian	19.493	0,11
Tujia	15.787	0,086
Uzbeks	12.096	0,066
Russians	8.935	0,048
Miao	7.006	0,038
Tibetan	6.153	0,033
Zhuang	5.642	0,031
Daur	5.541	0,030
Tatars	4.501	0,024
Salar	3.762	0,020
Source: 2000 Population Census of China, Volumes 1, 2

 

Population of Xinjiang
Year	Population
1954	4.873.608
1964	7.270.067
1982	13.081.681
1990	15.155.778
2000	18.459.511
2010	21.813.334
2020	25.852.345
Note: 1 estimate Source: Citypopulation.com

Xinjiang is predominantly inhabited by Turkic peoples, of which the largest group are the Uyghurs. The northern part of the region is populated mostly by Kazakhs, Mongols, and some Tuvans. In the west there are also Kyrgyz, Mongols (Oriats) and Tajiks. Since ancient times, Xinjiang, through which most of the Eastern Silk Road passes, has been the subject of numerous conflicts between different peoples and tribes.

Xinjiang has a population of about 25.2 million (as of 2019). According to a 1953 census, Uyghurs accounted for 75% of the population (over 3.6 million), but by 2000 they accounted for only 45% (over 8.3 million); Han, on the other hand, increased from 6% (300,000) to 41% (7.6 million) over the same period. Kazakhs (7%) and Hui (5%) follow at a great distance. All other ethnic groups (including Kyrgyz, Tajiks and Mongols) account for less than 1% of the population.

Religion

The main religion in Xinjiang among the Uighurs and the Hui Chinese is Islam, while many of the Han Chinese practice the Chinese folk religions, Daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism, or are areligious. Muslims make up 58% of the population (as of 2010). Christianity accounts for 1% of the population.

Nationalities in Xinjiang: largest groups by district: Blue = Uyghur Red = Han Chinese Yellow = Kazakhs