Separatism: Sino‐Muslim conflict in Xinjiang

Abstract

Violent incidents between Han Chinese and Muslim, primarily Uighur, minorities in Xinjiang, have frequently erupted throughout history both before and after the communist takeover in 1949. Struggle for the control of China's north‐western regions, tension between religion and the state, a continuous cultural and behavioural friction, demographic change, manipulation by the Soviet Union and, last but not least, nationalist‐irredentist aspirations, are among the main reasons for these incidents. Their proliferation since the early 1980s is due to greater domestic relaxation, accelerated economic development, the breakdown of the Soviet Union and the consequent emergence of Central Asian independence, the upsurge of international Islam, and increased exposure to the outside world. A combination of negative and positive means, Beijing's response to these incidents reflects its concern about the strategic importance of Xinjiang which borders on eight countries, where China's nuclear tests have been held, and whose population is predominantly Muslim.

Notes

Research for this paper has been facilitated by a grant from the Hebrew University's Research and Development Authority, for which I am grateful. I would also like to thank Mrs. Won Zhang and Mr. Zhang Hongbo for their assistance.