China's Insurgency in Xinjiang
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The Uyghur Movement China’s Insurgency in Xinjiang A Monograph By MAJ Shawn M. Patrick United States Army School of Advanced Military Studies United States Army Command and General Staff College Fort Leavenworth, Kansas AY 2010-1 Approved for Public Release; Distribution is Unlimited Form Approved REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE OMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing this collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to Department of Defense, Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports (0704-0188), 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302. Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS. 1. REPORT DATE (DD-MM-YYYY) 2. REPORT TYPE 3. DATES COVERED (From - To) 20-05-2010 SAMS Monograph July 2009 – May 2010 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER The Uyghur Movement: China’s Insurgency in Xinjiang 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER Major Shawn M. Patrick (U.S. Army) 5e. TASK NUMBER 5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORG REPORT School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS) NUMBER 250 Gibbon Avenue Fort Leavenworth, KS 66027-2134 9. SPONSORING / MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S ACRONYM(S) Foreign Military Studies Office & Command and General Staff College FMSO / CGSC Director, FMSO 731 McClellan Ave. 11. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S REPORT Fort Leavenworth, KS 66027-1350 NUMBER(S) 12. DISTRIBUTION / AVAILABILITY STATEMENT Approved for Public Release; Distribution is Unlimited 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 14. ABSTRACT In 742, a predominantly Turko-Mongolian steppe nomadic tribe known today as the Uyghurs migrated eastward from eastern Turkey towards the oases of modern-day Xinjiang province of China; they have remained there for the last 1,268 years. Throughout this time, this population has endured the hardships of political, economic, cultural, ethnic, and religious persecution ranging from nomadic tribal disputes to unrelenting and brutal aggression from the Chinese government. The purpose of this monograph is to analyze the impacts of Chinese persecution on the Uyghur population in order to determine the potential Chinese policy provides for Al Qaeda-like terrorist organizations to influence, or establish a foothold within, Xinjiang. By analyzing previous Uyghur uprisings and current Chinese policy using the models of insurgency as prescribed by David Galula and Bard E. O’Neill, this monograph seeks to test the author’s hypotheses: Chinese persecution of the Uyghur population will create a Uyghur insurgency; and focused persecution is providing the means for establishment of regional ties to external global ideological organizations like Al Qaeda. This monograph concludes that the current U.S. led global war on terrorism has provided China with the requisite freedom to act against the Uyghurs without repercussion and has enabled the emergence of Al Qaeda and its satellite organizations in Central Asia, therefore providing a direct link between this organization and radicalized Uyghur youth. 15. SUBJECT TERMS Uyghur, Uighur, China, Xinjiang, Sinkiang, Insurgency, Counterinsurgency, Policy, Al Qaeda, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, East Turkistan Republic, Soviet-Afghan War, Ideology, Jihad 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION 18. NUMBER 19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON (U) OF ABSTRACT OF PAGES Stefan J. Banach COL, U.S. Army a. REPORT b. ABSTRACT c. THIS PAGE 19b. PHONE NUMBER (include area code) (U) (U) (U) (U) 52 913-758-3302 Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8-98) Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39.18 SCHOOL OF ADVANCED MILITARY STUDIES MONOGRAPH APPROVAL MAJ Shawn M. Patrick Title of Monograph: The Uyghur Movement: China’s Insurgency in Xinjiang This monograph was defended by the degree candidate on 8 April, 2010 and approved by the monograph director and reader named below. Approved by: __________________________________ Monograph Director Dr. Daniel G. Cox, Associate Professor __________________________________ Monograph Reader James Tennant, COL, US Army ___________________________________ Director, Stefan J. Banach, COL, IN School of Advanced Military Studies ___________________________________ Director, Robert F. Baumann, Ph.D. Graduate Degree Programs i Abstract THE UYGHUR MOVEMENT: CHINA’S INSURGENCY IN XINJIANG by MAJ Shawn M. Patrick, USA, 52 pages. In 742, a predominantly Turko-Mongolian steppe nomadic tribe known today as the Uyghurs migrated eastward from eastern Turkey towards the oases of modern-day Xinjiang province of China; they have remained there for the last 1,268 years. Throughout this time, this population has endured the hardships of political, economic, cultural, ethnic, and religious persecution ranging from nomadic tribal disputes to unrelenting and brutal aggression from the Chinese government. The purpose of this monograph is to analyze the impacts of Chinese persecution on the Uyghur population in order to determine the potential Chinese policy provides for Al Qaeda-like terrorist organizations to influence, or establish a foothold within, Xinjiang. By analyzing previous Uyghur uprisings and current Chinese policy using the models of insurgency as prescribed by David Galula and Bard E. O’Neill, this monograph seeks to test the author’s hypotheses: Chinese persecution of the Uyghur population will create a Uyghur insurgency; and focused persecution is providing the means for establishment of regional ties to external global ideological organizations like Al Qaeda. This monograph concludes that the current U.S. led global war on terrorism has provided China with the requisite freedom to act against the Uyghurs without repercussion and has enabled the emergence of Al Qaeda and its satellite organizations in Central Asia, therefore providing a direct link between this organization and radicalized Uyghur youth. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction: Background and significance………………………………………………………..1 The Uyghur People: Cultural and Religious Origins………………………………………………8 Previous Uprisings Establishment of the First East Turkistan Republic……………………………………...14 The Inter-ETR Years: 1934-1944………………………………………………………..18 The Ili Rebellion and Establishment of the Second East Turkestan Republic…………..21 The Baren Incident – 1990………………………………………………………………27 The 1979 Soviet-Afghanistan War – Links to Terrorism?.............................................................31 Global ideologies and Uyghur Jihadists………………………………………………………….33 China and Current Policy in Xinjiang……………………………………………………………37 Analysis…………………………………………………………………………………………..39 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………. 44 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………...49 iii “The culture and identity of the Uyghur people of Xinjiang have been shaped by geographic, cultural, and historic interactions with China and surrounding civilizations since the seventh century CE. By the twentieth century, Uyghur identity has evolved in such a way that the Uyghurs can neither acculturate comfortably into China, as Beijing would like, nor effectively resist the Chinese state, as Uyghur nationalists and militants would like.”1 BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE Chinese and central Asian history is rife with religious and territorial conflict. As early as 742, Uyghurs have been documented as occupying modern-day Xinjiang province and, as such, have long been the focal point for political, social, and economic persecution by the Chinese government.2 Of significant importance are three separate periods of Uyghur3 uprisings in response to Chinese policies and military action designed to crush the expansion of Islam: the 1846 Moslem rebellion during the Qing Dynasty; the Uyghur rebellions of 1931-1934 and 1940- 1949 resulting in two separate installments of the East Turkistan Republic (1933-1934, and 1944- 1949 respectively); 4 and the most recent occurring between 1990 and 1998. Drawn into focus is a minority population that has claimed cultural, ethnic, and religious affiliation with the northwest region of modern day Xinjiang province, where the practice of the Islamic religion and participation in government are taboo in and amongst an ethnically dominant Han Chinese population and predominantly atheist society. Although each uprising is unique regarding the environmental conditions that existed pre- and post-rebellion, the overarching premise of incompatible religious and political preference has 1 Justin Rudelson and William Jankowiak, “Acculturation and Resistance,” In Xinjiang: China’s Muslim Borderland, edited by S. Frederick Starr, (New York, NY: M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 2004), 299. 2 Owen Lattimore, Sinkiang: Pivot of Asia, (Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company, 1950), 122. 3 Within the translated texts and between multiple authors there are many different spellings: Uighur, Uyghur, Uyghar, and Uighar. This author will use the spelling Uyghur throughout the text. All other spellings utilized by cited authors will appear