Produced by the Eastern Turkistan Information Center

15 December 1997

(1)  MUSLIM UPRISING BREWS IN CHINA
11/23/97, The Associated Press

"Communist authorities have  linked separatism to what they call illegal religious activities. A speech by the head of Xinjiang's legislature said separatists want to set up ``the Islamic Republic of East Turkestan.'' Other reports warn of actions by the ``Party of God. Gladney, the Muslim expert,said most Uighurs are wary of separatism, given the experiences of the former Soviet republics of Central Asia civil war in Tajikistan, poverty in Turkmenistan."

(2)  CHINA FEARS FOR ITS WILD WEST
November 15-21, 1997, The Economist

"Railways, roads and pipelines are vulnerable to guerrilla attacks. At the congress of China's Communist Party in September, the situation in Xinjiang was said to be grave. The large garrison that China keeps there is a deterrent to dissent, but, as other countries have discovered, force alone may not be enough to repress deeply felt demands for independence."

(3)  CONTACTS BETWEEN TURKISH & UIGHUR COMMUNITIES IN MONTREAL
12/09/97, TURKISTAN-L e-mail discussion list

"In organizing and establishing of its activities the Uighur Cultural Center is actively helped by the Quebec Turkish Cultural Society."

(4)  XINJIANG'S ILLITERACY REDUCED TO 4 PER CENT
12/09/97, Xinhua
"Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has been praised by the central government and by the United Nations Educational,Scientific, and Cultural Organization (Unesco) for ist pro-literacy effort."

(5)  SILK ROAD AGAIN BUSTLES WITH TRADE
12/07/97, CNN, Donna Liu contributed to this report

"I could make more money if I gave up farming and just made silk. But we are farmers.   That is our life," one man said. And while farming is difficult in the dusty reaches of the old Silk Road, the revival of this ancient trade route may bring the farmers a new measure of prosperity.

(6)  UZBEK-CHINESE RELATIONS
12/12/97, RFE/RL Newsline

"Qian said the two countries are still neighbors even though they do not share a common border.

(7)  LARGE NATURAL GAS FIELD FOUND IN CHINA URUMQI
12/10/97, Asia Pulse Pte Ltd

"A large natural gas field estimated at 30 billion cubic metres has been discovered in the Uygur Autonomous Region."

(8)  JAPAN EX-IM BANK SAYS MAKES $225 MLN LOAN TO CHINA
12/05/97, Reuters

"The Export-Import Bank of Japan signed agreements to extend untied loans to the Bank of China.  The loans would be used for three projects including the Urumqi Hetan Road Project in the northwestern region of Xinjiang."

(9)  EXPECTED BUMPER HARVEST FREES COTTON MARKET IN CHINA
11/24/97, CND-Global

"About a third (1.4 million tonnes) of China's cotton production now comes from the northwestern autonomous region of Xinjiang, where cotton grown is comparable to the Californian variety in terms of fibre length and strength."

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(1)  MUSLIM UPRISING BREWS IN CHINA
11/23/97, The Associated Press

Communist authorities have  linked separatism to what they call illegal religious activities. A speech by the head of Xinjiang's legislature said separatists want to set up ``the Islamic Republic of East Turkistan.'' Other reports warn of actions by the ``Party of God.'' Gladney, the Muslim expert, said most Uighurs are wary of separatism, given the experiences of the former Soviet republics of Central Asia -- civil war in Tajikistan, poverty in Turkmenistan.

KASHGAR, China (AP) -- Imam Aronghan Aji looked the image of respectability as he set out in clerical robes and white turban to lead morning prayers at the ancient Adighar Mosque.
But the leader of state-sanctioned Islam in China's rugged western reaches never made it. He was stabbed by assassins intent on wiping out Chinese rule. A year and a half later, the dignified octogenarian's health is frailer, his gait slower, his psyche shaken and his assailants' message clearer.

``Bribed and incited by separatists, these people were told others would rally around them if they killed patriotic religious leaders,'' said Imam Mamatmin, an aide to Aronghan.

A call to rise up is reverberating among Muslims in China's Xinjiang region. Separatists, better financed and better armed than ever before, are feeding on age-old fears and new discontents.

Anti-Chinese sentiment has grown explosive on a volatile mix of religious ferment from the Islamic world, nationalism from newly independent Central Asian countries and anger that Chinese migrants seem to be getting richer while native Turkic-speaking Muslims remain poor.

Although small in number, the separatists can count on support from disaffected Muslims at home and a network of lobbyists championing their cause from Istanbul to Washington.

Since attacks began in early 1996, pro-Chinese clerics have been assassinated in at least four cities -- seven on one day alone; bombs exploded nearly simultaneously on three buses in the regional capital of Urumqi; and a border city erupted in a riot. The separatists also are suspected of blowing up a bus in Beijing, 1,400 miles away.

Authorities have closed mosques, conducted mass arrests and deployed army patrols, but the attacks have continued. Months after last February's riot in Yili, police were uncovering plots for more unrest and finding caches of guns, explosives and separatist propaganda, the  state-run Xinjiang Daily reported.

Western investors keen on developing Xinjiang's oil reserves are already being warned by industry analysts that the violence may disrupt their business.

Friction in Xinjiang is a function of geography. Through its rolling grasslands, snow-capped mountains and forbidding deserts run rich oases that form China's best land routes to the rest of Eurasia.

The ancient Silk Road that carried luxury goods between China and the Roman Empire traversed Xinjiang (pronounced sheen-jyahng). British spies fought Russian agents, first imperial and then Bolshevik, for influence in the region in the espionage epic known as ``the great game.''

``The history of Xinjiang is one of great game politics and the new great game is bigger and badder than the old great game,'' said Dru Gladney, an expert on China's Muslims at the University of Hawaii.

As China opened Xinjiang's once closed border over the past decade, Muslim traders and pilgrims traveled the region and brought back radical views of Islamic nationalism. Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran have sent money to spur trade and religion and sway public allegiances. From Afghanistan come arms and opium.
Talk in the bazaars of Urumqi and Kashgar, an oasis city on the western border, is not of revolt but resentment.  Uighurs, members of Xinjiang's largest ethnic group, complain that incoming ethnic Han Chinese have unfairly benefited from the still poor area's recent rapid growth.

Few Uighur faces are found among the oil workers in the Tarim Basin, a Texas-sized wasteland. A new town of gleaming white-tile buildings built to service the industry in the ancient caravan town of Korla mainly houses 4,500 workers from other parts of China.

Anger swells even in Kashgar, an overwhelmingly Uighur city near the Kirghiz and Tajik borders where Chinese influence seems limited to the writing on shop and street signs and a statue of Mao Tse-tung.

The border trade that helped the city thrive a few years ago has stagnated. A swath of the city's huge bazaar set aside for small traders from neighboring countries stands empty, much of their business taken over by state firms.

``Business is bad. Uighurs can't get permission to do the things that the Han get easily. Conflict between us is becoming more intense,'' said Adil, an unemployed Uighur hanging out in Kashgar's new town center.

Despite the simmering resentment, Uighurs in Kashgar seem to farm, trade and worship without regard to the Chinese, whom they outnumber 3-to-1.

Muslim men young and old crowd by the thousands into the 550-year-old Adighar Mosque, Xinjiang's largest, for midday prayers. Imam Aronghan insists his state-sanctioned mosque is flourishing harmoniously and free from government interference.

The imam, a member of Xinjiang's top government advisory body, would not answer questions about the attempt on his life on May 12, 1996. His  assistant, Imam Mamatmin, described the assassins, later caught by police, as people from other parts of Xinjiang in the service of unspecified foreign forces.

``These are not religious believers but they are cloaking themselves in  religion. According to the holy Koran, murder, arson and robbery are not allowed,'' said Mamatmin, also a government adviser. ``They can never succeed. Our country is strong. Our people are getting richer.''

The imams refused to say if economic discontent was fueling separatism, suggesting such questions be left to political leaders. The leader of Xinjiang's Communist Party, Wang Lequan, canceled an arranged interview with The Associated Press and did not answer written questions on the  issue.

Communist authorities have clearly linked separatism to what they call illegal religious activities. A speech by the head of Xinjiang's legislature in July and published by Xinjiang Daily seven weeks later said separatists want to set up ``the Islamic Republic of East Turkistan.'' Other reports warn of actions by the ``Party of God.''

Gladney, the Muslim expert, said most Uighurs are wary of separatism, given the experiences of the former Soviet republics of Central Asia civil war in Tajikistan, poverty in Turkmenistan. But the crackdown has alienated many Uighurs.
``Very few people are engaged in separatist activities,'' said an Uighur in the regional government, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid jeopardizing his position. ``But the authorities have branded these people too severely. They're turning an entire people into an  enemy.''

(2)  CHINA FEARS FOR ITS WILD WEST
November 15-21, 1997, The Economist

"Railways, roads and pipelines are vulnerable to guerrilla  attacks. At the congress of China's Communist Party in September, the situation in Xinjiang was said to be grave. The large garrison that China keeps there is a deterrent to  dissent, but, as other countries have discovered, force alone may not be enough to repress deeply felt demands for independence."

Kashgar.  When President Clinton appointed a special representative this month to keep an eye on Tibet, he might also have given some thought to another discontented Chinese region, Xinjiang. Although the Tibetans' demands for independence are well known, the growing rebellion in Xinjiang could eventually haver a greater impact on the area.

Indigenous Uighurs in Xinjiang want independence for the land they call East Turkistan.   Although formally "autonomous", Xinjiang takes ist orders from Beijing. The 6m Han Chinese immigrants have reduced the Muslim Uighurs to 54% of the population. The Uighurs fear that, if the influx continues, they will become the minority. As it is, the Chinese get the best-paid jobs, while about 25% of adult Uighurs are believed to be unemployed. Hundreds of mosques have been closed. Uighur schools are neglected.

This year, thousands of angry Uighurs have taken to the streets to protest at repressive Chinese rule. The protests started in Yining in February. Since then, according to Uighur sources, there have been about 40 uprisings. In late September, it was recently disclosed, Uighurs chanting anti-communist and anti-Chinese slogans occupied government offices in half a dozen towns, among them Shanshan, Hoxud and Hutubi. According to a Hong Kong newspaper with links to the region, troops were met with home-made bombs and machinegun fire. Some Uighurs held out for six days. Buildings were destroyed, 80 people were killed and more than 200 were injured; 800 separatists were arrested. Past experience suggests their fate will be execution or the labour camps. The Uighurs seem undeterred. The latest exploit by Uighur guerrillas is to set fire to an oil refinery at Maytag.

Oil and minerals are among the reasons China values Xinjiang. The Chinese have ruled it on and off since 1759. More significantly, it borders Central Asia, through which China could import Middle Eastern oil in relative safety should there ever be war in the South China Sea. With this in mind, China is building new roads, railways and pipelines westward from its heartland. The Central Asian states themselves have oil and gas reserves. China recently won a contract to develop Kazakhstan's second-largest oilfield, a deal that American oil firms were after, strongly supported by the American government. China also eyes Uzbekstan, America's favoured ally in Central Asia. A railway through Kirgizstan(eager for Uzbek gas) across the Chinese border Kashgar would give landlocked Uzbekstan a route to a seaport and East Asian markets.

Such plans depend on keeping Xinjiang secure. Railways, roads and pipelines are vulnerable to guerrilla attacks. At the congress of China's Communist Party in September, the situation in Xinjiang was said to be grave. The large garrison that China keeps there is a deterrent to dissent, but, as other countries have discovered, force alone may not be enough to repress deeply felt demands for independence.

(3)  CONTACTS BETWEEN TURKISH & UIGHUR COMMUNITIES IN MONTREAL
12/09/97, TURKISTAN-L e-mail discussion list

"In organizing and establishing of its activities the Uighur Cultural Center is actively helped by the Quebec Turkish Cultural Society."

In 1997 an Uighur Community in Montreal registered a sharp growth of its members. The Uighur Cultural Center was organized and is holdingregular sessions of its members.

In organizing and establishing of its activities the Uighur Cultural Center is actively helped by the Quebec Turkish Cultural Society, the mainstream Turkish social organization in Montreal.

On December 7, 1997 the first joint party was organized. More than 100 Turks (born in Turkey), about 40 Uighurs (born in China, Kazakstan and Kyrgyzstan) and some representatives of Volga Tatar and Azeri Communities participated in this joyful and meaningful event.

The party was initiated by speaches of the leaders of both Cultural  Organisations - Mr. Mehmet Sozen (Quebec Turkish Cultural Society) and Mr. Nur Muhammad (Montreal Uighur Culltural Center). Then chat (sometimes easy, sometimes difficult), meals, national and modern Turkish and Uighur dances followed...

It appeared easier to communicate in Turkish and Uighur than one could imagine, the only thing needed for that is to be a native Turkic speaker and a strong will to understand each other! We will continue this experience during our next party - New Year Party.

Renat Taziev (Taci) Member of the Quebec Turkish Cultural Society Council (Contacts with Other Turkic Communities)

(4)  XINJIANG'S ILLITERACY REDUCED TO 4 PER CENT
12/09/97, Xinhua

"Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has been praised by the central government and by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (Unesco) for ist pro-literacy effort."

URUMQI (Xinhua) -- The number of illiterate people in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has fallen from 1949's 90 per cent to 4 per cent of the total population after nearly five decades.
The autonomous region has 16 million people, 76 per cent of whom are farmers and herdsmen. As a relatively backward region in terms of economic development, it has been praised by the central government and by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (Unesco) for its pro-literacy effort.

To promote literacy, the regional government allocates more than 1 million yuan ($12,600) every year for the campaign, and laws and regulations related to the work have been promulgated.

Technical training schools for farmers and herdsmen have also been set up in more than 80 per cent of the towns and counties in the region. The local government has also worked hard to provide educational opportunities for school-age children, and those efforts also have helped promote literacy.  As a result, the region's urban illiteracy rate has been brought down to below 2 per cent, lower than the State's standards.

(5)  SILK ROAD AGAIN BUSTLES WITH TRADE
12/07/97, CNN, Donna Liu contributed to this report

"I could make more money if I gave up farming and just made silk. But we are farmers.   That is our life," one man said. And while farming is difficult in the dusty reaches of the old Silk Road, the revival of this ancient trade route may bring the farmers a new measure of prosperity.

XINJIANG, China (CNN) -- As it crossed the hostile desert of China's barren northwest, the old Silk Road was once defined by the oases that dotted the way: Kashgar, Yarkand and Hotan.  Later, ocean shipping overtook those trade spots and made them obsolete.   But since China  began opening up two years ago, the pendulum has swung the other way again, and trade of all kinds is again flourishing along the old crossroads.

"The future is very bright, very bright. It will develop more and more.  We can purchase a lot of things from China to import into Pakistan," one Pakistani trader said.

Much of the trade involves the four former Central Asian Soviet republics that share the Turkic culture of the natives of China's Xinjiang autonomous region.  Soon railways will reopen the old trade routes and provide a further boost to trade.

"The government will build a railway network in this region," said a Chinese official. "And we'll use the network to transport our local goods, such as cotton, fruit and many other commodities -- not only to domestic markets but also overseas."

A lot of exports involve Chinese goods such as shoes, toys and cosmetics. But some of the treasures of ancient Cathay are still for sale, including silk.

In one valley along the way, there is a revival of the techniques used to make silk, particularly at the household level. From boiling the cocoons of the silkworm to spinning the fine threads, dying and eventually weaving the fabric on handmade looms, this is the kind of art and craft that has been passed on through the generations by a few remaining families. 

Some of the unique fabrics have become so popular that producers find it difficult to keep up with demand. "I could make more money if I gave  up farming and just made silk. But we are farmers.  That is our life," one man said.  And while farming is difficult in the dusty reaches of the old Silk Road, the revival of this ancient trade route may bring the farmers a new measure of prosperity.

(6)  UZBEK-CHINESE RELATIONS
12/12/97, RFE/RL Newsline

Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov met with his Chinese counterpart Qian Qichen in Beijing on 11 December, according to ITAR-TASS and Xinhua. The two ministers expressed their satisfaction at the course of bilateral relations and noted that the volume of trade between the countries was not yet big enough, but has grown steadily in recent years. Agreements were signed on civilian and criminal judicial assistance and environmental protection.  Qian said the two countries are still neighbors even though they do not share a common border. (BP)

(7)  LARGE NATURAL GAS FIELD FOUND IN CHINA URUMQI
12/10/97, Asia Pulse Pte Ltd

"A large natural gas field estimated at 30 billion cubic metres
has been discovered in the Uygur Autonomous Region."

A large natural gas field containing geological reserves estimated at 30 billion cubic metres has been discovered in the Hutubi region at the northern foot of northwest China's Tianshan Mountains. The gas field, in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, is about 60 kilometers from Urumqi, the regional capital, south of the Tianshan Mountains and north of the Junggar Basin. In August of 1996 one testing well promised a daily output of 780,000 cubic meters of natural gas and 140,000 tons of light oil.

(8)  JAPAN EX-IM BANK SAYS MAKES $225 MLN LOAN TO CHINA
12/05/97, Reuters

"The Export-Import Bank of Japan signed agreements to extend untied loans to the Bank of China.  The loans would be used for three projects including the Urumqi Hetan Road Project in the northwestern region of Xinjiang."

TOKYO, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The Export-Import Bank of Japan on Friday signed agreements in Beijing to extend untied loans totalling $225 million to the Bank of China, the Ex-Im Bank said.  The loans would be used for three projects -- the Xiamen Haicang Bridge Project in the eastern province of Fujian, the Shenzhen Airport Expansion Project in southern Guangdong province, and the Urumqi Hetan Road Project in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, the bank said in a statement.  All of these projects had been given priority under China's current five-year plan and were expected to help the country's stable economic development, it said.  The untied loans do not require purchases of   goods and services from Japan.

(9)  EXPECTED BUMPER HARVEST FREES COTTON MARKET IN CHINA
11/24/97, CND-Global

"About a third (1.4 million tonnes) of China's cotton production now comes from the northwestern autonomous region of Xinjiang, where cotton grown is comparable to the Californian variety in terms of fibre length and strength."

[CND, 11/21/97] China has instituted measures allowing supply and demand forces to dictate production and consumption of cotton in response to an expected bumper harvest this year, AFP reported from Shanghai on Monday.  SHI Jianwei, deputy director of the Cotton and Flax Bureau, told reporters that the expected production is 4.3 million tonnes this year. Last year it was 4.2 million tonnes. According to Shi, cotton hectarage has fallen by two to three million mu (130,000 to 200,000 hectares) to 67 million mu (4.47 million hectares). The policy now allows peasants to produce whatever crop they want for profit. This resulted in crop switches away from cotton in Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces.  About a third of China's cotton production now comes from the northwestern autonomous region of Xinjiang, where cotton grown is comparable to the Californian variety in terms of fibre length and strength, industry sources said. The Chinese cotton industry has grown from a supply shortfall three years ago.  Up to 650,000 tonnes of cotton was imported last year. Cotton imports were expected to fall to 500,000 tonnes this year, mainly from  the United States, Mexico and Australia. "If textile mills find imported cotton cheaper they will buy more but this will drive up the prices. We are letting market forces determine the supply situation," Shi said. (Weihe Guan, Ray ZHANG)

Prepared by:

Abdulrakhim Aitbayev (rakhim@lochbrandy.mines.edu)

WUNN newsletter index

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The World Uyghur Network News electronic newsletter is produced by the Eastern Turkistan Information Center (ETIC) in cooperation with the Taklamakan Uighur Human Rights Association (USA), and is devoted to the current political, cultural and economic developments in Eastern Turkistan and to the Uyghur people related issues.

Eastern Turkistan (Sherqiy Turkistan in Uyghur) is a name used by the indigenous people of the region for their motherland located in what is at present the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic China.

The World Uyghur Network News brings information on situation in Eastern Turkistan from the Uyghur and other sources to the attention of the international community.

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EASTERN TURKISTAN INFORMATION CENTER
Director: Abduljelil Karkash
Lindwurmstr 99, 80337 Munich, Germany
http://www.uygur.com   E-mail: etic@uygur.com
Fax: 49-89-54 45 63 30 Phone: 49-89-54 40 47 72