© Kamla-Raj 2016 Anthropologist, 26(1,2): 72-80 (2016) Ethnic Composition of Xinjiang Population: Past and Present
Svetlana Kozhirova1, Aigul Khazhmuratova and Taissya Marmontova
L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Faculty of International Relations, Department of Regional Studies, Astana, Kazakhstan, 010000 1E-mail: [email protected]
KEYWORDS China. Ethnic Groups. Han Chinese. Uighurs
ABSTRACT This study was carried out to analyze the characteristics and specificity of the XUAR national composition formation during the modern and contemporary periods. The main thesis of the work is the proposition that the formation of the modern structure of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region population is extended in time and dependent on Beijing’s policy towards national outskirts. The researchers consecutively showed stages in the formation of Xinjiang population highlighting five stages in the formation of modern ethnic composition. The main conclusion of the research is that a demographic explosion is expected in the XUAR in the coming years. A surge of the positive migration balance can occur only at the expense of the “infusion” of Han Chinese from the interior regions of China. In this way, China’s central government is trying to bind “demographically” and strengthen its position in the western region, through Central Asia.
INTRODUCTION China. The migration from the central regions to the western outskirts of the republic has become Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is lo- one of the ways to mitigate autarky for Beijing, cated in northwest China, in the very heart of which is peculiar to border regions. Eurasia. This Chinese Province is one of the five The 2010 census (last official census in Chi- autonomous regions of China and is home to na) shows Xinjiang as having 21.82 million peo- the Uyghurs, one of the 56 ethnic minorities re- ple while the 2000 census registered 18.46 mil- siding in the country. XUAR has only a nominal lion. The population is concentrated in two seg- “autonomous” status and holds a strategic place ments, the corridor on the northern foothills of in China’s domestic as well as foreign policy the Tengri Tagh (Tian Shan) and the arcs of oa- maneuvers (Swati 2015). The area of the region ses to the south of the Tengri Tagh. The Uy- is 1,664,900 sq. km, which is 1/6 of the entire ghurs are located in the south and the Kazaks territory of China. Xinjiang shares borders with are in the north. The Han are migrating in a steady 8 countries, namely, the Republic of Mongolia, stream into the central area and following paths the Russian Federation, the Republic of Kazakh- of migration to the other urban centers (China Policy Institute Blogs 2016). Several factors have stan, Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Afghan- contributed to the change in ethnical structures istan, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the of Xinjiang. These include several types of mi- Republic of India (Sheng 2005). The vast territo- grations, regional implementation of national ry of Xinjiang is home to 55 of the 56 ethnic population policy, changes in lifestyle, rural to groups living in China. Achieving a stable so- urban movements, and changes in the economic cio-political stability in Xinjiang acquires spe- situation (Toops 2000). cial significance to Beijing in connection with The purpose of this paper is to analyze the the more obvious stake on natural resources of the changes in the ethnic composition in the Chi- Central Asian states in meeting the growing needs nese province of Xinjiang in the modern and of China’s oil and natural gas imports and energy contemporary period. security of the country as a whole (Bondarenko To achieve this goal it is proposed to solve 2007). such problems as: From the perspective of the Regional Stud- • Classifying the population of Xinjiang in ies theory, the analysis of ethnic processes in accordance with the principles, adopted for Xinjiang allows to evaluate the center and the the division of the population in China periphery. Ever since its conquest the Xinjiang itself. region has been difficult to manage for the cen- • Examining the main stages of formation of tral government. The national factor was not the the multinational population of Xinjiang. last in the list of difficulties that the central au- • Identifying how the policy of “Great West- thorities have experienced on the outskirts of ern Development” affected the situation in ETHNIC COMPOSITION OF XINJIANG POPULATION 73
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the • Examining the main stages of formation of twentieth century. the multinational population of Xinjiang. • Showing how the ethnic situation in the re- • Identifying how the policy of “Great West- gion is capable of impacting domestic and ern Development” has affected the situa- foreign policy of the People’s Republic of tion in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region China. in the twentieth century. • Examining how the ethnic situation in the • Showing how the ethnic situation in the re- region could affect the security of the Re- public of Kazakhstan. gion is capable of impacting domestic and The subject of this study is the ethnic com- foreign policy of the PRC. position of the population of Xinjiang. The ob- The methodological basis of the study is the ject of the study is the changes in the environ- concept, the idea, the scientific approaches ad- ment of the Xinjiang’s population in the modern vanced in recent years by historians, anthropol- and contemporary period. ogists, demographers and political analysts with The hypothesis of this research is the as- respect of the analysis of ethnic processes in sumption that the model of Beijing’s policy to- China in general and in particular, Xinjiang. ward Xinjiang is based on the increasing of de- mographic pressure on ethnic minorities. This is METHODOLOGY one of the ways to suppress separatist tenden- cies. Along with this, significant investments in The research data for this study is the wide the economic development of the western terri- range of works dedicated to issues such as eth- tories enhance the international significance of nic processes in Xinjiang, the national policy of the region, and on the other hand, strengthen its China, ethnic conflict in Xinjiang, as well as the connection with the center. analysis of the impact of economic processes in The theme related with the analysis of the Chinese western provinces on domestic and for- Xinjiang ethnic composition is a matter of dis- cussion actively analyzed in scientific literature. eign policy of China. During last years, this is- Ethnic groups in Xinjiang are studied by Chi- sue is being actively considered by authors from nese scientists as well as representatives of the Kazakhstan such as K. Syroezhkin, R. Izimov and English-speaking Western countries, such as in A. Kaukenov. In 2014 the monograph “Xinjiang: a paper prepared in 2009 by G. Fuller and S. Fred- The Big Question for China and Kazakhstan” erick Starr, “Xinjiang: China’s Muslim Border- was published by K. Syroezhkin, containing the land”. In recent years, this issue is being active- results of the latest research on Xinjiang from ly considered by authors from Kazakhstan such Central Asian Region, the region that existed for as K. Syroezhkin, R. Izimov and A. Kaukenov. centuries and is the gateway of China to the About a year ago, there was a published mono- Western world and which still remains its trou- graph by K. L. Syroezhkin, named “Xinjiang: The bled “province”. Big Question for China and Kazakhstan”, con- It is worth mentioning that the majority of taining the results of the latest research on Xin- researchers writing in Russian investigate the jiang, a region that for centuries has been and is ethnic composition of the Xinjiang people in close the gateway of China to the Western world and connection with the Uyghur issue. At present, which still remains its troubled “province”. the Chinese policy in Central Asia aimed at the However, the issue of how ethnic processes joint solution of “three evils” (terrorism, sepa- in Xinjiang affect the situation both inside China and in countries bordering Xinjiang is still ratism, extremism) problem is actively studied as controversial. well. Analyzed issues in this study are also ac- The aim of the paper is a comprehensive anal- tively debated in the English-speaking expert ysis of the ethnic composition of the Xinjiang space. Researches by such authors as the Uygur Autonomous Region in the twentieth Yuchao Zhu, Dongyan Blachford, Stanley Toops, century. Jihyeon Jeong and AmiEe Ertürk were published The achievement of this goal is proposed to in recent years. The specificity of these studies solve such problems as: is that Xinjiang ethnic issues are discussed in • Classifying the population of XUAR in ac- the context of the analysis of the center and pe- cordance with the principles adopted for the riphery interaction. Researchers are actively de- division of the population in China itself. bating ethnic disparities. The assumption of this 74 SVETLANA KOZHIROVA, AIGUL KHAZHMURATOVA AND TAISSYA MARMONTOVA paper suggests that China’s economic policy in integrated many lands of Central Asia populated Xinjiang is a way to solve these imbalances. by the then present national minorities within The methodology of this study is based on China. In the Qing era, China lost the Han-popu- the combination of general and specific research lated Hong Kong and Taiwan, as they were his- methods. To implement the goals and objectives, torically parts of the Middle Kingdom alienated the authors used methods such as comparison, respectively by Britain and Japan in the XIX cen- analysis, synthesis, chronological and diachro- tury. In the middle of the XVI century, Han pop- nic approaches. ulated Macao, which was also historically part Analysis and synthesis, as basic methods of of China passed to Portugal. humanitarian studies, are important here for iden- Before the conquest of West China by Qing tifying trends in the formation of the multination- troops in the middle of the XVIII century there al population of Xinjiang and determining the de- was a powerful Dzhungar Khanate in its north- velopment prospects of the ethnic situation. ern part, the territory where the Oirat tribes lived. The chronological and diachronic approach The southern part (East Turkestan) was mainly are important in order to identify the stages of inhabited by Uygurs, and some Kyrgyz nomadic formation of the Xinjiang population in modern tribes lived in the northwestern part. By the mid- and contemporary period, and to show specific 50s of the XVIII century, Qing troops seized the features of the multinational population of Xin- area. In 1760, Xinjiang became China’s Imperial jiang, its differences from other provinces of vicegerency, all the power here was concentrat- China. Furthermore, the predictor-prognostic ed in the hands of the Manchu military officials. method was used. This method is important in Qing government moved some Manchu and order to forecast how the ethnic composition of Mongol tribes here for the settlement of the dev- Xinjiang will change in short and medium terms. astated territory of Dzungaria. They were divid- The methodology of the study also included the ed into approximately equal outman parts, called collection and study of data, analysis of the gen- “Sumun”, as some of them did not have their eral scientific and specialized works in the Rus- own military organization. sian and English languages. The tribes were settled as follows: Sibo, So- lons and Daurs, as well as two groupselyut’s OBSERVATIONS AND DISCUSSION sumuns were settled in Ili territory, Tarbagatay China is a multinational state. Officially, there and in other areas. Chahars were settled in the are four categories of the population by ethnici- northern part of Xinjiang (Inner Mongolia), Cha- ty and nationality in China: Han Chinese, ethnic har’s Summun were also resettled in Ili areas and minorities, Huaqiao and foreigners. Tarbagatay (Syrtlanov 1913). The Hans are people of Chinese origin who During the settlement of all of these tribes are citizens of China (including China and the the Qing government did not allocate the entire Republic of China in Taiwan). National minori- tribe to a single territory, but tried to settle them ties are Chinese citizens of non-Chinese origin. at a considerable distance from each other, di- These two population groups are considered to viding into sumun groups or individual sumun be the Chinese in China, although outside the mixed with sumuns of other tribes. In this way country, the Chinese usually referred as Chinese the Qing government created barriers to their regardless of their nationality and place of resi- integration, which ultimately made it easier to dence. Huaqiao are people of Chinese nationality suppress discontent of these tribes. However, who are not citizens of China, but who are perma- certain benefits were provided to these tribes. nently residing outside the People’s Republic of All of them, agricultural and pastoralist tribes China and Taiwan. Foreigners are all those who were completely exempted from any taxes. As a do not possess nationality of China (including result, in the former territory of the Jungar Khan- the nationality of the Republic of China on Tai- ate the total number of inhabitants including the wan) and do not belong to the people of Chinese Qing army was about 100 thousand people, or origin (that is, to the Han and Huaqiao). about one-tenth of its former population (Moiseev Modern China territory was mainly formed in 2003). the XVIII century as a result of the military cam- However, the number of settlers did not solve paigns of the Manchu Qing dynasty (which ruled the problem of settlement of the northern part of China in 1644-1912), which by force or pressure Xinjiang, and the Qing government began to re- ETHNIC COMPOSITION OF XINJIANG POPULATION 75 settle other representatives of the agricultural The Qing Dynasty completed the annexation people there. of Xinjiang in 1759 and the demand for freedom The Uighurs, called “Taranchi” were moved was first documented in 1865 by Yakub Beg, a from East Turkestan in North Xinjiang. They local leader. The Uighurs enjoyed a brief period constituted the major part of agricultural popu- of statehood in 1931-1934, declaring the East lation of Ili region. To control the Uighur settlers Turkestan Republic, extending from the Tian a local government unit headed by Hakim-Bek Shah mountains to the Kunlun mountains (Swati was created. Citizens who arrived from China it- 2015). self began to establish settlements of Chinese In Chinese historiography, the people of Xin- colonists. These settlements were of three types: jiang are regarded as “KuagoMinzu”, trans-state military settlements of Chinese troops (Bin-tun), (divided nation) people or “KuatszinMinzu” and settlements, where the Chinese were exiled cross-border nations (peoples living on both sides to Xinjiang for crimes of tilling the land (Fan- of the border). The category of “coming-leaving tun). Such settlements were relatively few, and people” who conducted seasonal economic ac- they were mostly located in the border areas with tivity on both sides of the border was recognized China. The third category was civil settlements in the Qing Empire. Therefore, the history of the of colonists, both Chinese and Dungan. The larg- neighboring regions was studied within the frame- est number of these settlements was situated in work of the overall Chinese history. the eastern part of Xinjiang along the northern In 1944-1949 China became weaker due to its sole of Tien Shan spur. involvement in its civil war. It was six years after Kazakhs and Kyrgyz people began to return the establishment of the People’s Republic of to their old nomadic camps after the defeat of the China, under Chairman Mao Tsetung, that the Oirat Khanate. This migration was especially Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region was creat- massive in the second half of the nineteenth cen- ed, with ethnic Uighur Muslims comprising the tury, when the struggle of the Uighurs and Dun- majority (Swati 2015). gans against the Qing rule in Xinjiang began, In the first nationwide census held in 1953, that struggle ended with the formation of new more than 400 ethnic groups were registered to domains created by the rebels in the region. be officially recognized, and the combined pop- After the re-conquest of Xinjiang in 1878, the ulation of ethnic minorities was 35.32 million Qing government was forced to admit much of the area located near the border with Russia (Ertürk 2016).In 1953, the ethnic composition was owned by Kazakhs and Kyrgyz. Uyghur seventy-five percent, Kazakh ten per- The Kirghiz were divisible into two kinds, cent, Han six percent, and others nine percent. namely, OtuzOgul and Ichkilik, they were nomads More Han and Hui came from Gansu. The 1982 in the northwestern part of East Turkestan, in census showed that the Uyghur accounted for a the foothills of the Tien Shan and Pamir. Accord- smaller share of the population down to forty- ingly, the area of residence of Kazakhs were di- five percent, the Kazakh decreased to seven per- vided into three groups: cent, while the Han increased to forty percent 1. Ili group, which consisted of Atban and (Toops 2000). Kyzai tribes. Nomadic camps of these tribes Modern Xinjiang is an autonomous region were in the Ili region, river valleys of Ili, where the Uighurs is the majority ethnic group. Tekes and Kunges. Xinjiang ethnic minorities, such as Kazakhs, Hui 2. Tarbagatai group. It consisted of Kerey, (Dungan), Kyrgyz, Tajiks, Cibo and Mongols are Naiman and Uaktribes. These tribes migrat- compactly settled on the territory of 5 districts, 6 ed through the vast space of the southern autonomous prefectures and 43 ethnic commu- slope of the Tarbagatay ridge, river valleys nities (Official Home Page of the PRC Embassy of Saura, Dzhair and Barlyk. in USA 2016). Among them, more than 21 million 3. Altai group consisted of Kerey and Naim- residents of Xinjiang, about forty-six percent are antribes. Their encampments occupied small the Uighurs, Han thirty-nine percent, Kazakhs areas, and they had to rent Mongolian grass- seven percent, and the remaining 44 ethnic land (Kurmanbaev et al. 1982). groups comprised eight percent of the popula- Thus, by the 80th of the XIX century the eth- tion. Most of the Uighurs and Kazakhs are Mus- nic composition of the population close to the lims. In the capital of Xinjiang Urumqi, majority modern one was formed in Xinjiang. of the population (73%) is Han Chinese, while 76 SVETLANA KOZHIROVA, AIGUL KHAZHMURATOVA AND TAISSYA MARMONTOVA the number of Uighurs is about 12.3 percent of vice, their number during the period from 1958- the total population (Zheng 2009). However, in 1961 amounted to 861,400, but only 200-250 thou- spite of such ethnic diversity, many ethnic sand of them settled in Xinjiang for permanent groups in the region are represented insignifi- residence (Shan and Chen 2009). cantly and make up only a small part of the total Finally, the last category was people who re- number. settled in Xinjiang “in an orderly manner”. This Chinese ethnographers identified several category was represented by graduates of edu- stages in the ethical situation changes of the cational institutions, cadres, technicians, unmar- region (Sheng 2012). The first phase covers the ried women, intellectuals, convicted in the peri- period between 1949-1961, the second from 1962- od of “the struggle with the Left” criminal ele- 1963, the third is 1964-1980, the fourth is 1981- ments, sent for re-education, and so on. It is nec- 1989, and the fifth is 1990-1993. Each of these essary to clarify their number, but a simple arith- stages has its own typical features, exerting a metic shows that they were more than a million specific effect not only on the ethno-social pro- people. cesses, but also on the peculiarities of its ethnic The second stage was characterized by a and socio-economic development. sharp reduction in the flow of migrants to Xin- The first stage was characterized by the jiang and even negative net migration. In two growth of the population in the region mainly years, due to the positive migration balance the due to the positive migration balance. In the first population of the region increased by only 69 decades of the Communist rule, Han migrants to thousand, while 1,964,600 left Xinjiang in 1962. Xinjiang were motivated by political ideals and Such a significant reduction in the flow of mi- developmental discourses. Economic profit was grants is explained by several factors. Firstly, a not the focus of this early migration. In 1949, significant deterioration in the socioeconomic Xinjiang’s Han population represented about six situation in the PRC and the excesses in the im- percent (291,000) of the population 4,333,400. The plementation of national policies led to an in- Turkic-speaking farmers and populations of oa- crease in the stream of refugees. In 1962, more sis referred to today as Uyghur then made up than 60 thousand Uighurs, Kazakhs and Dun- about seventy-five percent (3,291,100) of Xin- gan crossed the border with the Soviet Union jiang’s population. The remainder was comprised and stayed there for permanent residence. of Kazakhs, Dungan/Hui, Kyrgyz, Mongols, The Kazakh Population in Xinjiang in the first Russians and others (Joniak-Lüthi 2013). half of the 20th century can only be roughly esti- Within 12 years, the population here almost mated. According to the first available dates of doubled, with 1,877 thousand from 2,677 thou- census (first half of 40 years), there were 438,500 sand or 67.84 percent of the population growth (11% of total population of province) including accounted by a positive migration balance. The 384,400 (over 50%) in trans-border zone (Ablazey social structure of migrants was quite specific. 2016) The first category was represented by military Secondly, this period of the PRC history falls units of the People’s Liberation Army involved on the so-called “reconcilement” period, when it in the liberation of Xinjiang (193 thousand peo- seemed that the Chinese leadership came back ple), as well as the workers and employees of to common sense and she had overcome the eco- Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps nomic and political voluntarism. Qualified spe- (hereinafter - XPCC) formed in 1953 (175 thou- cialists sent to Xinjiang “in an orderly manner” sand people). were in demand at the enterprises within the coun- The second category is represented by youth, try, and this led to their departure from the re- sent “for the development of the border lands”. gion. However, as the further development of In 1958, the CPC Central Committee made a deci- the PRC has shown, this period was quite short, sion on the planned relocation to Xinjiang of and the hopes for returning to the normal eco- two million young people from Jiangsu, Hubei, nomic development was limited (Shan et al. 2009). Hunan and Anhui. In fact, 255,700 youths and In 17 years of the third stage, Xinjiang’s pop- taking into account their family members, 302,500 ulation increased by 5,390.6 thousand people, people were relocated during this period. including 1,499 thousand people, or 27.8 percent The third category comprised the so-called at the expense of external migration. Socially, “free workers”. According to the Migration Ser- newcomers were presented in several categories, ETHNIC COMPOSITION OF XINJIANG POPULATION 77 that is, young people from Shanghai, Beijing, As before, at the end of 20th century the most Tianjin, Wuhan, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, they important methods of the Chinese leadership joined the XPCC divisions, demobilized soldiers designed to prevent the secession of Xinjiang and unmarried women, intended to solve the became (along with economic construction in problems of family and marriage, “free workers” Xinjiang) military and violent suppression of its in search of a better life, and “special immigrants” natives’ opposition demonstrations and the Han sent to the region for re-education. colonization. However, some changes have tak- A characteristic feature of the fourth stage is en place in the use of these methods. a negative migration balance. During this period Firstly, political campaigns have now become 871 thousand people left and only 625.3 thou- more moderate than in the 50-70 of the 20th centu- sand came to the region. The reason for this was ry when they followed one after another, were the change in the domestic policy of the Chinese large in scope and number of participants and leadership. China began her economic and polit- usually descent down the non-Han dissenters. ical transformation, which was associated with Secondly, in the 80-90s of the XX century, the respective social expectations. Xinjiang there was a much higher degree of coordination youth trying not to be in the position of the gen- between the military and forced suppression of eration that missed its chance quickly moved to centrifugal tendencies and Han colonization. the regions of the country where these changes Moreover, the role of the latter method has grown were actually being implemented. This affected in comparison with the first. Requirements for the long-term socioeconomic development of the the qualitative composition of the Han settlers region, because, as a rule, the best specialists in the territory of the Xinjiang Uygur Autono- left. mous Region rose significantly. The fifth stage, for obvious reasons, Chinese In the 50-70s of the XX, century police, secu- scholars limited to 1990-1993, but it actually last- rity services and the army were mainly engaged ed all the decade of 90s and it was characterized in military suppression of the centrifugal force by a relatively stable dynamics of migration pro- manifestations (Han settlers had to settle in Xin- cesses. There was no dramatic increase in both jiang), in the 80-90s of the XX century, military activities of security agencies moved by the the influx of migrants and departure from the re- wayside due to the ongoing modernization and gion. Population growth in Xinjiang occurs nat- liberalization of the PRC. This attenuation was urally and is mainly due to the increase in the supposed to be compensated for willingness of proportion of non-Han ethnic groups. This once immigrants from the Mainland, if necessary, to again is due to political and economic reasons. effectively help the army and police to suppress With regard to the political ones, first of all, it is the possible attempts to weaken the Chinese necessary to note a certain degree of liberaliza- authorities in Xinjiang. tion in national and religious policies, promoting So, if earlier, the Chinese authorities were of- the principles of the new economic policy in all ten not particularly great, attention was paid to regions of the PRC, and granting autonomy to the level of education and military training of the independently established economic contacts Han settlers in the 80s and especially in 90s of with foreign countries. As for economic reasons, the XX century, the authorities of Xinjiang try- it is the expansion of self-realization, the begin- ing to consolidate the Han Chinese, who are fa- ning economic recovery in Xinjiang, benefits and miliar with local conditions, well prepared phys- preferential policies implemented by the Centre ically and militarily, committed to the existing re- in respect of national regions of the PRC, the gime in the PRC and the idea of preserving the new opportunities offered by the policy of “open unity of China. doors” (Kozhirova 2008). Earlier the Chinese authorities did not partic- The ethnic autonomous areas occupy more ularly pay great attention to the level of educa- than sixty percent of China and most of the ex- tion and military training of the Han settlers. In ternal borders are precisely there. This fact is the 80s and especially in 90s of the XX century, especially important for China, given the char- the Xinjiang authorities tried to consolidate the acteristics and nature of migration, as well as the Han Chinese who were familiar with local condi- specificity of the natural population growth tions, well prepared physically and militarily, com- among the Turkic-speaking peoples. mitted to the existing regime in the PRC and the 78 SVETLANA KOZHIROVA, AIGUL KHAZHMURATOVA AND TAISSYA MARMONTOVA idea of preserving the unity of China. Generally, Foreign powers have meddled incessantly in preference was given to retired soldiers and of- the affairs of the province up to the creation of ficers of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the PRC. A particularly important activity showed especially if they have served in Xinjiang. The Russia (the Soviet Union since 1922), the United Chinese authorities tried to settle them (as well Kingdom and Japan. as other Han Chinese who arrived from the Main- Russia and the Soviet Union did not want land) in the areas immediately adjacent to the the province secession from China but at the border with Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakh- same time sought to preserve the ability to effec- stan, and encouraged the indigenous popula- tively influence the situation in Xinjiang. tion of Xinjiang to relocate from a border area Agrarian reform, intensive economic devel- into the internal area of Xinjiang (sometimes si- opment of Xinjiang, the Han colonization and multaneously). In this way, an attempt was made violent suppression of tendencies towards to exclude the possibility of providing foreign achieving of independence by this region, these aid through Central Asia and Kazakhstan to sup- were the main methods the Chinese authorities porters of independence in Xinjiang. In the early 1990s, Beijing decided to stimu- designed to firmly reserve the XUAR for China. late the economic growth of Xinjiang by creation The economic development of Xinjiang also of special economic zones, subsidizing for local contributed to the decline of the social base of cotton farmers and the re-organization of the tax supporters of separation of the National District system. In August 1991, the Xinjiang govern- from China. As a result, a large-scale industrial ment began drafting the Tarim Basin project to complex based mainly on the petrochemical, light agricultural production. During this period, and textile industry began to take shape in Xin- Beijing invested in the infrastructure of the re- jiang. Important steps have been taken along the gion, road construction, which improved com- path of agricultural modernization of Xinjiang. munication between Xinjiang and other parts of All these factors led to the consolidation of China (Syroezhkin 2014). Xinjiang’s economy into a single economic com- The importance of China’s western regions plex of the PRC, and now a substantial part of its for the country is determined by the large area, population is interested in preserving the unity which is about forty percent of its territory, huge of China. The latter is especially true for those reserves of mineral resources, convenient geo- who are engaged in the modern sectors of the graphical position and important defense value economy. for China. However, there are also other factors that Incomplete modernization processes of Xin- contribute to the maintenance of persistent cen- jiang economy and its involvement in an emerg- trifugal sentiments of many non-Han represen- ing unified economic organization were the main tatives of its population in Xinjiang. These in- reasons of survivability of centrifugal attitudes clude the presence in Xinjiang of a large number in the region. of small and medium-sized enterprises of local Manchu dynasty policy negatively affected industry, the interests of the workers (mostly not the state of the Xinjiang economy, the authori- Han) of these enterprises do not require the pres- ties of the Republic of China were unable to pro- ervation of the territorial integrity of China, the vide a progressive economic development of the province, in the XVIII century, the territories of whole backward agriculture, the unilateral nature Xinjiang (which is divided into South Xinjiang, of Xinjiang industry, Han colonization of the with historical name, Dzungaria and North Xin- autonomous region, and military-administrative jiang, a historic name, Kashgar) were forcibly methods of eliminating everything that is not in incorporated into the Qing Empire, Manchu and the interests of Beijing. Chinese officials were often treated with indigni- The most resistant centrifugal sentiments are ty, the political, economic and cultural needs of in southern Xinjiang, where there is a higher pro- the indigenous population of this remote region portion of local industrial enterprises and the were neglected, and anti-Chinese riots of non- Hans are lesser in number than in the northern Han population were suppressed here by force. part of Xinjiang. The impact of the recent past, All these appendage circumstances became the when Kashgaria was the main focus of the anti- reasons for Xinjiang’s unwillingness to be a part Chinese resistance in Xinjiang also contributes of China. to this. ETHNIC COMPOSITION OF XINJIANG POPULATION 79
The role of China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autono- China. Thus, the central Chinese government is mous Region in the regional context has also trying to “demographically” bind and strength- changed. Today it is not only the foreign trade, en its position in the western region, through transport and logistics hub of Central Asia, but which it is possible to successfully promote their it has turned into the “industrial workshop”, and interests in Central Asia. in the near future, will also become the financial center of the region. The concept of “Economic CONCLUSION Belt on the Silk Road” in the implementation of which Xinjiang is seen as “an outpost of China’s According to the official terminology, there penetration to the West” makes this certain. If are four categories of the population by ethnici- so, whether one likes it or not, the processes ty and nationality living on the territory of the that take place in the western regions of China, People’s Republic of China, namely, Han Chinese, and especially in the Chinese Xinjiang will have ethnic minorities, Huaqiao and foreigners. Xin- a permanent impact on the Central Asian states, jiang Province is the home to 55 to 56 major eth- not only in terms of economic or trade expansion nic groups of China. Uyghurs is the main ethnic or demographic pressure (Official page of Coun- group of the province. Such ethnic groups as cil of Foreign Relation 2016). the Kazakhs, Hui (the Dungans), Kyrgyz, Tajiks, The study revealed that the process of form- Cibo and Mongols also reside in the territory of ing the multinational population of Xinjiang is the province. historically a very long process that began dur- The main stages of the formation of the Xin- ing the period of the Qing Empire. jiang population were identified as the result of As Stanley Toops and Agnieszka Joniak-Lüthi the study. The process of the formation of the note, Xinjiang was not predominantly Han almost region’s population is chronologically very ex- until the founding of the People’s Republic. The tensive: it began in the late Qing period and end- current ethnic composition of Xinjiang was formed ed in the early 90s of the 20th century. after the Chinese authorities declared the land The Beijing’s Great Western Development settlement policy for the northwest territories. Strategy had a major influence on the ethnic pro- Xinjiang is China’s borderland and a strate- cesses in Xinjiang. All measures including the gically important region, both in terms of econo- agrarian reform, economic development projects, my and security. The authors agree with Jihyeon and active relocation of Han Chinese are intend- Jeong, Constantine Syroezhkin and Adil Kauken- ed to link the region to China most inseparably. ova that there is a tendency for an increase in In general, one must admit that Beijing has suc- Han population in Xinjiang. Along with the nat- ceeded. Today an industrial complex based on ural demographic processes among the non-Han petrochemical, light and textile industries is cre- minorities, this fact has an impact not only on ated in Xinjiang. Agriculture has been seriously the situation in China, but also affects Central modernized. Thus, the Central Government cre- Asia. ates awareness of the importance of preserving There is a hypothesis in academic circles of the unity through the active involvement of the Russian speaking experts about the prospects economy of Xinjiang in China’s economy. This of increasing demographic pressure on the coun- helped reduce the social base of supporters of tries of Central Asia, from Xinjiang and the emer- Xinjiang independence. But it turned out impos- gence of the illegal migration problem. sible to completely eradicate centrifugal tenden- In the next 10-20 years, a new population ex- cies. Along with the industrial giants a large num- plosion is expected in Xinjiang. According to the ber of small enterprises exist in Xinjiang, and the calculations of Xinjiang demographers, Xin- interests of the employees of these structures jiang’s population will increase up to 24.1-30.1 do not require preservation of territorial integri- million, and according to the overstated forecast, ty of China. up to 33.5-40.6 million by 2030. In other words, Southern Xinjiang still remains a zone with a the total population of Xinjiang is approaching high level of centrifugal tendencies. This is ex- the lower projected threshold. All forecasts pre- plained by the fact that the number of large in- dict a sharp jump in the positive migration bal- dustrial enterprises is much less there. One also ance, which can occur exclusively due to “infu- needs to remember that Kashgar was an impor- sion” of Han Chinese from the inner regions of tant hotbed of anti-Chinese resistance. 80 SVETLANA KOZHIROVA, AIGUL KHAZHMURATOVA AND TAISSYA MARMONTOVA
In recent years, the international role of Xin- Beginning of the XXI Century. Dissertation, Unpub- jiang has changed significantly. Foreign trade, lished. Moscow: Science. transport and logistics development of the prov- China Policy Institute Blogs March 2016. From