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On January 11, 2001, "Xinjiang daily" newspaper reported that,
following the order from the Central Committee of the Chinese
Communist Party (CCP), the CCP Committee of the Xinjiang-Uighur
Autonomous Region (XUAR) launched a new two year long political
campaign in villages of East Turkestan. The goal of the campaign is
to prevent the "spread of separatist ideas and activities in villages
of the region". The strategy of the new campaign was worked out at a
special meeting held in the regional capital Urumchi on January 3 - 5
under the chairmanship of Wang Lequan, the First Secretary of the XUAR
CCP Committee.
Addressing the gathered, Wang Lequan said that "the cadres in the
Region understand the strategic importance of Xinjiang and they must
resolve the very hard task of fighting against separatism and to
defend the unity of the country".
Uighur farmers are increasingly becoming the object of attacks of the
Chinese communist authorities who want to strengthen their political
control in villages of East Turkestan. The authorities are afraid that
villages in East Turkestan serve as bases for the members of the
Uighur liberation movement. According to the confidential governmental
documents, the resistance to Chinese authorities has already risen to
a level of a general movement in regions with dense Uighur population
such as Kashgar, Hotan, and Aksu.
The Chinese authorities are also concerned about "minority" cadres who
keep close relations with local people because of some incidents of
collaboration with the Uighur liberation movement. |
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