Uyghur Muslim Ethnic Separatism in Xinjiang, China

The April 1990 armed uprising in Baren marked an increase in Uyghur Muslim violence in Xinjiang, China. Two justifications ethnic separatism and religious rhetoric are given. The Uyghurs, who reside throughout the immediate region, are the largest Turkic ethnic group living in Xinjiang as well as being overwhelmingly Muslim. This combination of ethnicity and religion also involves the movement of religious and political ideologies, weapons, and people. The desired outcome by groups that use violence is, broadly speaking, a separate Uyghur state, called either Uyghuristan or Eastern Turkistan, which lays claim to a large part of China. While some Uyghurs want a separate state, others want to maintain cultural distinction within an autonomous relationship with China, and others are integrating into the Chinese system. There is no single Uyghur agenda. The violent outbreaks in Xinjiang occur sporadically, and the groups that claim responsibility are frequently splintering, merging, and collapsing. Some of the Uyghur groups make claims that are difficult to substantiate. Nonetheless, the Uyghur grievances against the Chinese government have old roots. Some of the newer elements include Turkey's unofficial support and Muslim funding and training from abroad. The heavy-handedness of the multiple "strike hard" campaigns by the central Chinese government in Xinjiang simukaneously tamps down violence in the short-run but fuels a sense of injustice and mistnist among the Uyghurs in the long-run. Beginning in 1996, regular "strike hard" campaigns were used to fight crime and threats to order by mobilizing police, but are used in this decade to deal increasingly with "separatism, extremism and terrorism." A heavy police presence is a constant in Xinjiang.