Some foreign observers tend to regard Chinese state propaganda as cobwebs, intricately woven webs of deception that one must brush away to reveal the underlying truth. Yet, an examination of the delicate threads that comprise the web may shed light upon even the darkest corners of Zhongnanhai. Propaganda can provide insight into the greatest ambitions and worst fears of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Such insights are particularly valuable for those seeking to understand the current situation in Xinjiang (East Turkestan). Here, the state engages in a heavy propaganda campaign to win the support of the local population, chiefly Uyghurs and other Central Asian ethnic groups. The most critical and reoccurring themes focus upon fostering ethnic unity; social harmony and stability; patriotism; economic development; territorial integrity; and close relations between the military and the people. Propaganda is an inextricable part of CCP patriotic education campaigns. Propaganda is omnipresent in public spaces, found everywhere from municipal buildings to schools, roadways, buses, and town squares.
Although the outside world is keenly aware of the integral role that propaganda plays in protecting and promoting Chinese interests in Xinjiang, foreigners rarely have the opportunity to ascertain how the relationship between state and society is negotiated at the grassroots level. How do locals in different regions tend to view their personal relationship with the state? How do they express their own ethnic and religious identity? To what extent does the educational background, profession, or social status of Uyghurs and members of other ethnic groups affect their opinions on governance and the Chinese Communist Party? How do locals receive, interpret, and respond to state propaganda? What is the current state of relations between Chinese, ethnic minorities, and the state security apparatus?
In a series of short articles, I will share personal observations, experiences, and conversations from around Xinjiang that elucidate these abstract themes in a more concrete way. At the same time, due to the sensitive political nature of the subject under discussion, I must pay due diligence in protecting my sources. Seeking answers to these questions is a critical task for not only myself, but also for other scholars in the field. I nevertheless hope that these articles will provide the reader with fresh information and insights into modern-day Xinjiang.
Graham Adams specializes in the study of ethnic minority policy in the People's Republic of China. His name has been changed to protect his identity.
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Yolvas Tiger
When the international community, especially America and Europe, discuss the Uyghur or Xinjiang issue, the Chinese get super-nervous. They know this is not their land and without it the rise of China is really a pipe-dream. The Chinese claims that "Xinjiang is part of CHina since ancient times". However, "Xin" means "New" and "Jiang" means "Land" in Chinese langauge. So "Xinjiang" really means "New Land", not "ancient territory or part of China." But that indicates how shameless and irrational the Chinese claims are, just like its claims of "Senkakou Islands" and the entire South China Sea.
Unlike the British, the Chinese occupy, conquer and devour its neighbours and shamelessly claim the occupied territories as part of CHina. If that is true, China should be a part of Mongolia because Mongols occupied China. It was really the Manchus who conquered East Turkestan and Tibet, not Chinese. The Chinese communists simply reoccupied East Turkestan and Tibet and claimed them as part of PRC. In fact, China's real border is their Great Wall. It is a useless stupid wall built by Chinese emperors to designate its border to fend out the Mongols, Uyghurs and Tibetans, which they now claim as "Chinese". Complete nonsense. The international community should really understand that China is a real imperialist, expansionist, colonialist, and threat to regional and international peace, beginning in South China Sea.
Rex Zeppelin
Actually, although the term 新疆 (Xinjiang) is a creating of the Qing dynasty and only dates back to the mid-1700's (which ironically is as old as the United States), Han presence in Xinjiang dates back 2000 years. There are ruined cities in the sand from the time of Christ (Jiaohe) near Turpan in Central Xinjiang that speak to this heritage (before Uyghurs were even in Xinjiang!), and Han presence in the region has been continuous (but small) since then, mostly merchants and traders who plied their Silks and other goods to traders in Transoxiana.
I'm not trying to validate the PRC historical narrative that Xinjiang is the ancient territory of China, but it should be noted that the Uyghur ethnicity actually originated in Mongolia, before losing in a series of tribal conflicts with other Mongol tribes and escaping to their current home in the Tarim Basin of southern Xinjiang. The history has been massaged on both sides to bolster claims to legitimacy. History is a very political tool and in sensitive areas like XJ especially so.
My understanding now is that over the course of Xinjiang's 3000 year history it's been a political ping-pong ball, and it has submitted to multiple occupations including the Mongols, Chinese, Tibetans, Turkic forces from the Kazakstan/Uzbekistan area, and even extensive economic and political influence from the Russian Empire/Soviet Union to the north . The fact is, the region is just too fecund and strategically important to be left to its own devices by covetous and ambitious surrounding powers. Combined with the fact that Southern Xinjiang is home to one of the most formidable and harsh deserts in the world–with all inhabitation in Oasis towns that ring the desert like a necklace–make mounting a centralized defence against invaders a nightmare.
The Xinjiang ethnic identity was also for a long time a pretty fluid thing, owing to the shifting occupying powers and Silk Road trade. Many ordinary Uyghurs even just 200 years ago would probably identify more closely with their town than with the concept of Xinjiang/East Turkestan. I think that the advent of the PRC and the Sino-Soviet Split probably contributed to the consolidation of the Uyghur ethnic identity by erecting hostile borders around Xinjiang where before trade and people had flowed freely. The Turkic population in Xinjiang was cut-off, now living in a 'cul-de-sac' of the Chinese state, a far cry from its ancient geopolitical importance as the 'Crossroads of Asia.' Add to this the mind-bogglingly ill-conceived and brutal policy of the Mao/Gang of Four years, which was a crucible that forged the modern Uyghur cultural identity as an oppressed, Islamic people without a nation. So we are again witnessing the results of forcible state attempts at ethnic assimilation creating an extremist response, and the PRC is largely reaping what it sowed in the periodal crackdowns of the past 60 years.
ibrahim
china leaders is doing a great and correct thing bringing their country to prosperity and peace. others are just envious looking how china have improve and what china have become today. usa and other western countries who are envious and are threaten that china is overtaking them are just doing black propaganda, interfering in others internal affair, inciting unrest and disturbances, creating chaos and war, inciting conflict among people and nations just to advance its own greedy interest.
Shanghaier
I don't think so, we are alarmed, yes, but still amazed. But we also hear a lot of voices below the propaganda, just as we hear from other nations. However, we are not free of errors like the Chinese propaganda claims the CCP are. We made our mistakes, in Iraq, in Vietnam and other places.
What people easily forget that a lot a lot and a lot of the technology and ways China was build through the 80's, 90's and 00's was supplied by people from the western nation. People who stayed in China, and teached and showed, and checked how to do. We still have talks with our students and know their feelings.
John Chan
China respects ethnic minorities and pays heavy effort to lure their participation in the business of managing the new China.
Comparing to the USA, Australia, Japan, India, the minorities in those nations are suppressed, discriminated, ignored and downcasted. It is same shame on them who claim they are developed world, civilized, democratic and caring human rights. Those national should take a page from China on how to respect minorities and treat them as equal.
Yolvas Tiger
The China you just described exists only in Chinese propaganda, not in reality. In reality, China is aggressively committing cultural genocide against Uyghurs, Tibetans and Mongols. China has already finished committing such genocide against Manchus and other ethnic minorities in southern China. That is why Manchus practically do not exist in China any more. If they exist, their culture, language, traditions and beliefs do not.
Your China doesn't even respect the rights of Chinese people. Using brutal force to rule 1.3 billion people is the way for the Chinese communists since day one in 1949. That is why Chinese people do not have human rights, freedom of speech, or the press. The international community should not turn a blind eye to China's human rights violations and cultural genocide against unique Uyghur and Tibetan peoples. They should never believe in Chinese propaganda, just like the posting of John Chan. Thanks.
John Chan
@Yolvas Tiger,
Eastern Turkistan is a creation of Islamic terrorists that want to abuse people all over world with regressive Islamic theocracy. They will be hunted down by all nations in the international community.
Human rights, freedom of speech, or the press do not exist in Islamic theocracy, talking about Christianity is a punishable crime by the Sword in Koran.
harry
the funny thing is most of my friends who lives in Manchuria has taken the ethnicity of Manchu and gave up being Han Chinese, because they get specail treatments in university examines and state departments are requiered to take in certain amount of ethnic minorities every year making the competion for ethic miniorities much easier to get a job in any state department.
cultrual assimination of manchus and mongols was done by the Qing dynasty when Qing emperors of the late qing dynasty cant even speak Manchurian. China has done a much better job at cultrual preservation than most other countries that's why miniority language like ZHuang tibetan uyghur etc still has millions of speakers, and that's why in USA almost no one speaks native indian, or native aboriginee in australia or moari in new zealand. in terms of cultrual genocide China is way behind that most colonialist western nations.
Dalai Dayak
What are the status of the Indian low caste, the Australian aborigines, the Japanese ainus and the American red Indians?
Kangmin Zheng
@John Chan
Why no one burn themselves to death in nations you mentioned?
Good luck trolling.
John Chan
@Kangmin Zheng,
There were a lot of Vietnamese monks and nuns burnt themselves to death to protest American and its lackeys’ brutality against Vietnamese while the American and its lackeys were trying to liberate Vietnam. It seems you are quite ignorant.
China supports religion freedom, not just the right to practise spiritual enlightenment, also the right from being exploited and abused by the unscrupulous snakeoil salesmen in the name of religion, those snakeoil salesmen are a wolf in monk's robes, a devil with a human face but the heart of a beast, they misled their cult followers into self-immolation for their personal gains.
China condemn those cults, but the so called western democracies finance those unscrupulous cults to destabilize and smear other nations for their imperialist greed. It seems CIA has taught the DL the trick they experienced in Saigon.
Tony
The monks in Vietnam are no longer burning themselves and may soon be welcoming the Americans back at Cam Ranh Bay because they are worried about the new bullies in Asia! And its not the Japanese!!!
Dalai Dayak
Because there is no other person as evil as the Dalai Lama who instigates self immolation.
Robert
China respects their minoriteis by by stealing their state and brutally ruling them and moving loads of Han Chinese to make them minorities in their own state.
John Chan
@Robert,
Only the USA, Canada, Australia, and Japan did “by stealing the minorities’ state and brutally ruling them and moving loads of the White aliens to make them minorities in their own state.”
Shawn
Just like European in North and South Americas.
ibrahim
@john chan, well said. everything you have said is true.
BB
@John Chan,
Talking Under the Influence or Talking While Intoxicated is a crime against society. Do you know that?
John Chan
@BB,
You are wrong, “Talking Under the Influence or Talking While Intoxicated” is not a crime in a society respects freedom, liberty and justice, those talks will not be admitted in the court as evidence for prosecution; but it will be the means to fabricating crimes for prosecution in the totalitarian society and military dictatorship nation.
It seems you are from a society does not respect freedom, liberty and justice, and your mindset is full of totalitarian and autocratic traits.
BB
@ John Chan,
You're damn right. Yeah, I'm from the PRC!
Dan Kantzer
Anyone who thinks China does not suffer from the same aspects of racism and top-down corruption based on power and wealth is stoned on opium. Just visit there a few times and try to do business. It becomes pretty apparant.
Jeff Church
"Anyone who thinks China does not suffer from the same aspects of racism"
Indeed it is very true that China does not suffer from much racism. Only those for a fervent cause fail to see this crux.
Not all bigotry is racism. Racism has a specific meaning. Racism is bigotry based on race, externallly observable features that cause alienation and inescapable discrimination.
Bigotry based on ethnicity among people of the same race has very different sociology. Thus in the USA there was light-skinned blacks "passing for white" and we still have "driving while black" but not "driving while Russian".
In the USA just a half century earlier there was anti-Slav bigotry. To escape this bigotry many Slavic whites just changed their name, just as Natalie Wood did. When one can just change a name to escape discimination, there is no racism, and bigotry was evaded by such catering to prejudice.
Just as there are Russian Wood's in the USA; there are Tibetan Chen' and Mongolian Li's in China.
Not all bigotry is racism.
Jeff Church
Actually both China and the USA have made great progress socially.
For both China and the USA the social objective has to be assimilation, aka cultural genocide in some fervent circles, irrespective of rhetoric.
In general, China has the gift of racial similarity; the USA has the benefits of greater income and political system.
There are dozens of entertainers in China who are ethnic minorities such as Tibetans and Mongolians. The mainstream Chinese audience welcomes them enthusiastically and inclusively, and much less significantly respectfully.
To a minority person, being respected by the majority is like being kissed by a sister. Ultimately, a minority will likely want to be socially included, especially in courtship and marriage, and to become a part of the majority. Ethnic persons in a given generation will often deny this truism; such is the sociology of assimilation. The so-called cultural genocide is as much inter-generational contrast as it is the outcome of a political struggle.
Americans for the Tibetan cause should first look at their country’s rejection of the Akaka Bill of 2000, which would have granted cultural protection to the Hawaiians, and the coercive busing for cultural dilution of children against the choice of 85% of black parents (100% of white parents) in order that a black kid had to sit next to a white kid 40 hours a week.
In their personal life, Americans for the Tibetan cause should know that American racial minorities are after their blonde daughters and sons, or them, not any cultural identity. Their personal conduct in the USA should not be affected by feeling for the Tibetan cause of cultural preservation. Hispanic youths in the USA are glad that the border has passed them when a pretty blonde is attainable.
I think China has a progressive minority policy; perhaps the execution is likely not up to Western standard but the basic thrust of the Chinese minority policy is quite progressive and wise. Human beings do not need any ethnic identity, but such fact should not be articulated openly.