National security and unity, and China's western development program

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Notes

1. For these causes and an overview of western development, see Hongyi Harry Lai, ‘China's Western Development Program: Its Rationale, Implementation, and Prospects’, Modern China, vol. 28, no. 4, 2002, pp. 432–66.

2. See David S. G. Goodman, ‘The Politics of the West: Equality, Nation-building and Colonisation’, Provincial China, vol. 7, no. 2, 2003, pp. 127–50.

3. Zou Dongtao, Zhongguo Xibu Da Kaifa Quanshu (Collected Works on Great Western Development in China), Beijing: Remin Chubanshe, vol. 3, 2000, pp. 754–863; Hongyi Harry Lai, ‘China's Western Development Program’, p. 433.

4. Hongyi Harry Lai, ‘China's Western Development Program’, pp. 436–42. For an insiders’ discussion on the topic, refer to Du Ping, Shi Peihua, Xiao Jincheng, and Yang Jie, Xibu Qiujin: Xibu Da Kaifa De Zhengce Beijing Yu Shangye Jiyu (Getting Gold in The West: The Policy Background and Commercial Opportunities in Great Western Development), Beijing: Zhongguo Yanshi Chubanshe, 2000. Du Ping is a Chinese central official in charge of regional development and was involved in its conceptualization.

5. Dali Yang, Beyond Beijing: Liberalization and the Regions in China. London: Routledge, 1997, p. 92.

6. Zhonggong Nianbao (Annual Reports on Chinese Communism), 1997, pp. 3, 82–3 and 1998, pp. 1, 130–1, 4–73.

7. State Statistical Bureau (SSB), Quanguo Gesheng, Zizhiqu, Zhixiashi Lishi Tongji Ziliao Huibian: 1949–1989; China Regional Economy, pp. 202–3; Gao Zhengang, Gao Mianhou, Zhang Shenfeng, Wang Shuguang, Meng Guang, and Tang Yipu, Xibu Da Kaifa Zhi Lu (The Road of Great Western Development). Beijing: Jingji Kexue Chubanshe, 2000, p. 64.

8. Tang Ming, Shehui Zhuyi Chuji Jianduan de Minzu Maodun Yanjiu (A Study of Contradictions between Ethnicities at the Primary Stage of Socialism). Beijing: Zhongguo Shehui Kexue Chubanshe, 2002, p. 51.

9. State Statistical Bureau of PR China, Zhongguo Tongji Nianjian (China Statistical Yearbook). Beijing: Zhongguo Tongji Chubanshe, 1999, pp. 38, 113.

10. For literature on the Chinese influence in Xinjiang, refer to David Christian, A History of Russia, Central Asia, and Mongolia. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 1998; Ira M. Lapidus, A History of Islamic Societie. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002, pp. 351–55, 725–31; A. Doak Barnett, China's Far West: Four Decades of Changes. Boulder: Westview Press, 1993, p. 344.

11. Wang Xi'en, Dangdai Zhongguo Minzu Wenti Jiexi (An Analysis of Ethnic Issues in Contemporary China). Beijing: Minzu Chubanshe, 2002, p. 297.

12. Colin Mackerras, China's Minorities: Integration and Modernization in the Twentieth Century. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1994, pp. 35–8.

13. For this part of history on Xinjiang, refer to Svat Soucek, A History of Inner Asia. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000.

14. ‘East Turkestan Is Preparing for Jihad’, Kaifang (Open Magazine), July 1998, p. 57; Colin Mackerras, China's Minorities, pp. 94, 171–2.

15. Ira M. Lapidus, A History of Islamic Societies, pp. 547–48, 691–2; Wang Xi'en, Dangdai Zhongguo Minzu Wenti Jiexi, pp. 283–4.

16. Ahmad Lufti, ‘Blowback: China and the Afghan Arabs’, Issues & Studies, vol. 37, no. 1, 2002, pp. 171–6.

17. ‘Hear Our Prayer’, Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER), 13 April 2000, p. 25; ‘An Armed Separatist Group Xinjiang Caught in Xinjiang’, Ming Bao, 2 September 1999; ‘The Secret Policy to Keep a Region in Check’, South China Morning Post (SCMP), 28 August 2000; Colin Mackerras, China's Minorities, pp. 194–6. Separatists in Xinjiang may be distinguished by their ethnicity into Uighurs and Kazakhs, with the former being more vocal and adamant, or by their ideology into fundamentalists and the secular.

18. Ahmad Lufti, ‘Blowback’, pp. 171–8.

19. ‘East Turkestan is Preparing for Jihad’, Kaifang, July 1998, p. 58; ‘Hear Our Prayer’, FEER, 13 April 2000, pp. 24–5; Nicolas Becquelin, ‘Xinjiang in the Nineties’, China Journal, vol. 44, July 2000, pp. 65-90; Ahmad Lufti, ‘Blowback’, pp. 192–5.

20. Gardner Bovingdon, ‘The Not-so-silent Majority: Uyghur Resistance to Han Rule in Xinjiang’, Modern China, vol. 28, no. 1, 2002, pp. 39–78.

21. Interview with a former resident in Xinjiang, December 2002. Alternatively, some Han, especially migrant workers, also take low-end jobs that local ethnic minorities shun, such as shoe polishing.

22. See above interview in December 2002.

23. Gardner Bovingdon, ‘The Not-so-silent Majority’, p. 57.

24. Xing Guangcheng, ‘China and Central Asia’, in Roy Allison and Lena Jonson, eds, Central Asian Security. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2001, pp. 161–3.

25. For reports on these events, refer to Nicolas Becquelin, ‘Xinjiang in The Nineties’, p. 87; Tang Ming, Shehui Zhuyi Chuji Jianduan de Minzu Maodun Yanjiu, p. 153; Colin Mackerras, China's Minorities, p. 174; news posted at http://www.cdi.org/terrorism, accessed on 3 October 2003.

26. See Associated Press report, ‘Muslims Riot in Western China’, at http://www.mndaily.com/daily/1997/ 02/11/world_nation/wn11a.ap, accessed on 11 April 2003.

27. News posted at http://www.uygur.org/enorg/wunn97WUNN (WUNN) on 4 March 1997; Zhonggong Nianbao, 1998, pp. 1–131.

28. For discussion on this period of Tibetan history, refer to A. Tom Grunfeld, The Making of Modern Tibet. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1996, pp. 34–108; Colin Mackerras, China's Minorities, p. 151. The Dalai Lama's appeal could be seen from the warm public reception of his speech at University of Wisconsin at Madison in late 1989 after he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

29. Interview with a Chinese surveyor of religion in Tibet in the mid-1980s, April 1986.

30. Tsering Shakya, The Dragon in the Land of Snows: A History of Modern Tibet Since 1947, New York: Columbia University Press, 1999, pp. 419–21; Colin Mackerras, China's Minorities, pp. 153–63; Xu Mingxu, Yinmou Yu Qiancheng: Xizang Saoluan De Lailong Qumai (Intrigues and Devoutness: The Origin and Development of the Tibet Riots). Hong Kong: Mirror Books, pp. 311–56.

31. ‘Sino-Tibetan Negotiations’, posted at http://www.tibet.com/Proposal/index.html accessed on 23 August 2001.

32. Colin Mackerras, China's Minorities, p. 187.

33. Zhonggong Nianbao, 1998, pp. 1–132.

34. William R. Jankowiak, ‘The Last Hurrah? Political Protest in Inner Mongolia’, Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs, nos. 19–20, 1988, pp. 269–88.

35. Colin Mackerras, China's Minorities, pp. 163–4.

36. Wang Xi'en, Dangdai Zhongguo Minzu Wenti Jiexi (An Analysis of Ethnic Issues in Contemporary China). Beijing: Minzu Chubanshe, 2002, p. 283.

37. Zhonggong Nianbao, 1998, pp. 1–133. For further discussion on Mongolians in China, refer to Uradyn Erden Bulag, The Monguls at China's Edge: History and the Politics of National Unity. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002; Uraydn E. Bulag, Nationalism and Hybridity in Mongolia. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

38. Wang Xi'en, Dangdai Zhongguo Minzu Wenti Jiexi, p. 282.

39. Interview with a Chinese researcher on drug use in China, October 2000.

40. Gill Bates, Jennifer Chang, and Sarah Palmer, ‘China's HIV Crisis’, Foreign Affairs, March/April 2002, p. 97.

41. Interview (1998) with a Chinese biologist who worked on AIDS in a leading laboratory in China. This was true until 2001, two years after the western drive was launched.

42. For detailed discussion of the popularity of religions among the Han and other ethnic groups in China, refer to Table 1 and analyses in Hongyi Lai, ‘Religious Revival in China: Copenhagen Journal of Asian Studies, No. 18, 2003, pp. 40–64.

43. Tang Ming, Shehui Zhuyi Chuji Jianduan de Minzu Maodun Yanjiu, pp. 42–3. For an additional analysis on interaction between Han and Uighurs, see Ji Ping and Gao Bingzhong, ‘A Quantitative Analysis of Various Factors in the Interaction of Uighur and Han Ethnicities in Xinjiang’, in Pan Naigu and Ma Rong, eds, Zhongguo BianYuan Diqu Kaifa Yanjiu (A Study of the Development of China's Boundary and Remote Areas). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1994, pp. 183–260.

44. Xu Mingxu, Yinmou Ye Qiancheng: Xizang Saoluan de Lailong Qumai, pp. 303–8; Tang Ming, Shehui Zhuyi Chuji Jianduan de Minzu Maodun Yanjiu, p. 155.

45. Tang Ming, Shehui Zhuyi Chuji Jianduan de Minzu Maodun Yanjiu, pp. 42–3.

46. Tang Ming, Shehui Zhuyi Chuji Jianduan de Minzu Maodun Yanjiu, pp. 105–6.

47. Tang Ming, Shehui Zhuyi Chuji Jianduan de Minzu Maodun Yanjiu, pp. 111–3, 105–10.

48. News reports posted at http://www.singtao.com/news on 14 December 1998; news reports posted at http://www.future-china.org.tw/spcl_rpt/uygr/ugr19991013.htm accessed on 22 August 2001.

49. News report posted at http://www.mingpao.com on 18 August 1998, accessed 2 September 1999. In comparison, the Hui Muslim in China has accepted more of the Han Chinese culture and has more peaceful relations with the Han Chinese. For discussion on the Hui identity as assigned by the state, refer to Dru Gladney. Muslim Chinese, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996.

50. John Pomfret, ‘Separatists Defy Chinese Crackdown: Persistent Islamic Movement May Have Help From Abroad’, Washington Post (Foreign Service), 26 January 2000; ‘Beijing Enlists Arab Help to Fight Islamic Movement in East Turkestan’, posted at http://www.muslimedia.com/archives/world99 accessed on 30 November 2003.

51. ‘Hu Meets Musharaff’, posted at http://news.xinhuanet.com, accessed on 3 November 2003.

52. Wang Xi'en, Dangdai Zhongguo Minzu Wenti Jiexi, p. 282.

53. Conversation with a Tibetan Buddhist follower who has visited the Dalai Lama's monastery in India, December 2002.

54. Wang Xi'en, Dangdai Zhongguo Minzu Wenti Jiexi, pp. 282–3.

55. John Kenneth Knaus, Orphans of the Cold War: America and the Tibetan Struggle for Survival. New York: Public Affairs, 1999.

56. Most of the active members of the Politburo Standing Committee, a top diplomat, two top military leaders, and four most senior Party veterans regarded the NATO bombing of China's embassy as an intentional act. They included Jiang Zemin, Li Peng, Zhu Rongji, Li Ruihuan, Wei Jianxing, Li Lanqing, Qian Qichen, Zhang Wannian, Chi Haotian, Qiao Shi, Wan Li, Song Ping, and Liu Huaqing. For an insider's detailed account of these leaders’ stances, see Zong Hairen, Zhu Rongji zai 1999 (Zhu Rongji in 1999), Hong Kong: Mirror Press, 2001, pp. 71–90.

57. World Bank, World Development Report 2000/2001. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001, pp. 290–1.

58. Wu Chuanjun, Zhongguo Jingji Dili (China's Economic Geography). Beijing: Kexue Chubanshe, 1998, pp. 62, 67–8.

59. Research Group on Sustainable Development, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhongguo Ke Chixu Fazhan Zhanlüe Baogao (A Report on China's Strategy for Sustainable Development), Beijing: Kexue Chubanshe, 2000, p. 162.

60. Research Group on Sustainable Development, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhongguo Ke Chixu Fazhan Zhanlüe Baogao (A Report on China's Strategy for Sustainable Development). Beijing: Kexue Chubanshe, 2000, pp. 158–9; Elspeth Thomson, ‘China's Growing Dependence on Oil Imports’, EAI Background Brief No. 87. Singapore: East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore, 2001, p. 19; Zhongguo Fazhan Baogao (China Development Report). Beijing: Zhongguo Jingji Chubanshe, 2001, p. 100.

61. ‘China's Oil Reserve Can Only Last Seven Days?’, Lianhe Zaobao, 17 February 2003.

62. Elspeth Thomson, ‘China's Growing Dependence on Oil Imports’, pp. 2–4.

63. Wu Chuanjun, Zhongguo Jingji Dili (China's Economic Geography), Beijing: Kexue Chubanshe, 1998, p. 136.

64. ‘Great Western Exploration Is a “Second Priority”’, Jing Bao, February 2000, p. 30.

65. ‘Western Region Development: Ten Projects Scheduled for 2000’, Beijing Review, 19 June 2000, pp. 17–8.

66. Chen Yao, Xibu Kaifa Da Zhanlüe Yu Xin Silu (Grand Strategy and New Thinking in Western Development). Beijing: Zhonggong Zhongyang Dangxiao Chubanshe, 2000, pp. 106–7.

67. ‘Western Region Resources and Investment Policies’, Beijing Review, 10 July 2000, p. 20.

68. Hongyi Harry Lai, ‘China's Western Development Program’, pp. 432–66; ‘A Decisive Battle Concerning the Fate of the Nation’, Zheng Ming, February 2000, p. 47; ‘The Origin of Deliberation and Preparation for the Sutian Canal’, Jing Bao, April 2000, pp. 40–1. China also wants to improve water quality through improving the environment in the west.

69. Wu Chuanjun, Zhongguo Jingji Dili, p. 357.

70. Ahmad Lufti, ‘Blowback’, p. 186. Among the problems Beijing needs to solve in transporting oil and gas from Xinjiang are building of infrastructure as well as prevention of possible sabotage to the transport routes. Nevertheless, Beijing is pressing ahead with its gas pipeline projects.

71. ‘Chinese Foreign Minister Upbeat on Relations with Kazakhstan’, BBC Worldwide Monitoring, 22 December 2002.

72. ‘Ministry of Foreign Affairs: China and Russia Will Keep Promises on the Pipeline for Crude Oil’, posted at http://news.xinhuanet.com accessed on 18 November 2003.

73. ‘Chinese Foreign Minister Upbeat on Relations with Kazakhstan’, BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific, Sunday, 22 December 2002.

74. ‘State Council Listens to the Project Report on Transporting Western Gas to the East’, posted at http://www.peopledaily.com.cn on 4 September 2000.

75. For thorough discussion on the progress, successes, and limits of various economic projects and policies in the Western Program, refer to Hongyi Lai, ‘China's Western Development (I): Progress in the First Two Years’; ‘China's Western Development (II): Problems Ahead’, EAI Background Briefs Nos. 156 & 157. Singapore: EAI, National University of Singapore, 26 May 2003.

76. Interviews with Chinese experts on Xinjiang in Beijing, late September to October 2003. Statistics come from National Bureau of Statistics of China, China Statistical Yearbook 2002, p. 58; ‘The Year of 2002 in Xinjiang’, posted at http://www.stats.gov.cn accessed on 30 November 2003.

77. ‘Dalai Lama “Sabotaging Economy”’, South China Morning Post, 6 August 2001; ‘Beijing Pours Billions into Tibet to Quell Unrest’, South China Morning Post, 11 March 2001.

78. For information regarding the plan and the railway, see ‘Train Will Run on the Roof of the World’, Beijing Review, 12 April 2001, pp. 16–7; ‘Beijing Pours Billions into Tibet to Quell Unrest’, South China Morning Post, 11 March 2001.

79. ‘The Construction of Tibet Segment of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Is in Full Swing’, posted at http://www.chinawest.gov.cn/chinese/asp/ on 19 November 2003.

80. ‘9.7 Billion Yuan Invested in 109 Key Projects in Tibet’ and ‘Highway Construction Records Highest Historical Level in Tibet’, posted at http://www.chinawest.gov.cn/chinese/asp accessed on 29 November 2003.

81. Statistics come from National Bureau of Statistics of China, China Statistical Yearbook 2002, p. 58; ‘The Year of 2002 in Tibet’, posted at http://www.stats.gov.cn accessed on 30 November 2003.

82. ‘Decline in Refugee Numbers as China and Nepal Tighten Security on Tibetan Border’, posted at http://www.tibetinfo.net/news-updates/2002/0201.htm accessed on 1 December 2003; ‘Tibet Has Best Public Security: Overseas Student’, posted at http://www.chinaembassy.org.au/eng /27376.html accessed on 1 December 2003.

83. Xing Guangcheng, ‘China and Central Asia’, in Roy Allison and Lena Jonson, eds, Central Asian Security. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2001, pp. 159–65.

84. ‘Ministers’ Summit to Tackle Terrorism’, posted at http://china.scmp.com/ZZZH5YXSNVC.html on 7 January 2002.

85. See Zhonggong Nianbo, 1998, pp. 1–137. Since the September 11 attacks on the United States, Beijing has stepped up its crackdown on Muslim militants, declaring militants as East Turkestan terrorists. See ‘Twin Mission for PLA Troops’, South China Morning Post, 27 September 2001; ‘Unveil the Horrible Truth of East Turkestan Activists’, posted at http://www.wenxuecity.com on 2 November 2001.

86. ‘”Shanghai Six” Press on with Anti-terror Base’, posted at http://www.gazeta.ru on 23 September 2003.

87. ‘China Will Join Military Exercises by 6-Nations at the Border’, posted at http://www.zaobao.com on 4 June 2003; ‘The First Stage of Anti-Terror Military Exercises of SCO Complete’, posted at http://news.xinhuanet.com/world on 8 August 2003.

88. ‘Wang Lequan Points out Xinjiang Should Ruthlessly Strike Three Forces’, posted at http://www.chinesenewsnet.com on 10 December 2001.

89. ‘Tibet Rights Group Says Terror Crackdown Worsens Abuses’, South China Morning Post, Monday, 7 January 2002.

90. ‘China Executes a Tibetan in Connection with Bombing Attacks’, New York Times, 28 January 2003.

91. ‘Our Country Faces “Penetration at All Fronts” by Illegal Drugs’, posted at http://news.xinhuanet.com accessed on 30October 2003.

92. For example, central provinces such as Anhui, Jiangxi and Shanxi regard the new policy as unfair. See David S. G. Goodman, The Politics of the West: Equality, Nation-building and Colonisation’, Provincial China, vol. 7, no. 2, 2003, pp. 127–50.

93. Interview on 13 February 2003 with a Chinese scholar who has long researched the local politics.

94. Hongyi Harry Lai, ‘Legislative Activism and Effectiveness of Provincial Delegates at the 1988 NPC’, Issues & Studies, vol. 37, no. 1, 2001, pp. 73–101.