Ethnic Conflict in Xinjiang, China, and the Application of John Burton's
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China’s Repression of the Xinjiang Uyghur: Ethnic Conflict in Xinjiang, China, and the Application of John Burton’s Human Needs Theory By Shannon Gallagher Thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Faculty of Human Sciences Department of Human Sciences Conflict Studies Saint Paul University Summer 2019 Ó Shannon Gallagher, Ottawa, Canada, 2019 i Table of Contents: Abstract ..................................................................................................................................................... v Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................... vi List of Abbreviations ........................................................................................................................... vii Chapter 1: Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Strategies of Inquiry and Methodology .............................................................................. 7 2.1 Review of the Literature ................................................................................................................ 7 2.1.1 Types of Data and Sources ........................................................................................................ 7 2.1.2 Descriptive Human Rights Approach ........................................................................................ 8 2.1.3 Terror/Counterterror Approach ................................................................................................. 9 2.1.4 Analytical Human Rights Approach ........................................................................................ 11 2.1.5 The Lacuna in the Literature ................................................................................................... 14 2.2 Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................................... 14 2.2.1 Understanding Violence .......................................................................................................... 14 2.3 Human Needs Theory ................................................................................................................. 17 2.3.1 Specific Human Needs ............................................................................................................ 17 2.3.2 Human Needs Theory and Violence ........................................................................................ 19 2.3.3 Human Needs Theory and Terrorism ...................................................................................... 19 2.3.4 Human Needs Theory and Identity .......................................................................................... 20 2.3.5 Human Needs Theory and Resolution ..................................................................................... 20 2.3.6 Application of Human Needs Theory ...................................................................................... 21 2.4 Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 22 2.4.1 Historical Trajectory ................................................................................................................ 22 2.4.2 Application of Human Needs .................................................................................................. 23 2.5 Academic and Social Pertinence ................................................................................................ 25 Chapter 3: Regional Context: History of Deprivation and Conflict in Xinjiang ............................. 27 3.1 Pre-1949: Introduction of Xinjiang into China and History Prior to the Establishment of the People’s Republic of China (1949) .............................................................................................. 27 3.1.1 Claims to Xinjiang ................................................................................................................... 27 3.1.2 Introduction of Xinjiang into the Chinese Geobody ............................................................... 28 3.1.3 The Opium Wars and Their Impacts on Chinese History and Memory .................................. 29 3.1.4 Uyghur Resistance to Han Rule ............................................................................................... 30 3.2 Establishment of the PRC: Post-1949 and the Establishment of an Autonomous Region .... 31 3.2.1 Establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) ........................................................ 31 3.2.2. Autonomous Regions in China ............................................................................................... 32 3.2.3 Autonomy in Xinjiang ............................................................................................................. 33 3.2.4 Repression Under Mao ZeDong .............................................................................................. 36 ii 3.2.5 Repression after Mao’s Death ................................................................................................. 38 3.3 The Fall of the USSR and Rising Concerns Regarding Separatism in the 1990s ................. 39 3.4 Strike Hard Campaigns and the Nation’s First Formal Counterterrorism Policies ............ 39 3.4.1 State Repression as a Feature of the Strike Hard Campaigns .................................................. 41 3.4.2 The Strike Hard Campaigns Today ......................................................................................... 43 3.5 September 11th and the Effects on Chinese Policy ................................................................... 44 3.5.1 China and The War on Terror .................................................................................................. 44 3.5.2 Critiques of China’s Counterterror Approaches ...................................................................... 46 3.6 Han Migration and Economic Reform ...................................................................................... 48 3.6.1 Economic Development to Counter Unrest ............................................................................. 48 3.6.2 Han Migration .......................................................................................................................... 48 3.6.3 Strategic, Economic and Security Interests in Xinjiang .......................................................... 50 3.7 A Tipping Point: The 2009 Urumqi Riots ................................................................................. 52 3.8 Conflict and Violence After the 2009 Urumqi Riots ................................................................ 53 Chapter 4: Regional Context: Features of Deprivation and Conflict in Xinjiang ........................... 56 4.1 Chinese Definition of Terrorism ................................................................................................. 56 4.1.1 Definition and Understanding of Terrorism ............................................................................ 56 4.1.2 Chinese Counterterrorism Law ............................................................................................... 58 4.1.3 Critiques of China’s Definition ............................................................................................... 59 4.2 The White Papers of the Government Regarding National Defense and Terrorism ............. 60 4.2.1 White Papers Prior to September 11th, 2001: China’s National Defense (1998) and China’s National Defense in 2000 ................................................................................................................ 60 4.2.2 White Paper: China’s National Defense in 2002 ..................................................................... 61 4.2.3 White Paper: China’s National Defense in 2004 ..................................................................... 62 4.2.4 White Paper: China’s National Defense in 2006 ..................................................................... 63 4.2.5 White Paper: China’s National Defense in 2010 ..................................................................... 63 4.2.6 Report: China’s Military Strategy ........................................................................................... 64 4.2.7 Criticisms of the White Papers ................................................................................................ 64 4.3 Religion in Xinjiang After 2009 .................................................................................................. 65 4.3.1 Religion in China .................................................................................................................... 65 4.3.2 White Paper: Freedom of Religious Belief in Xinjiang ........................................................... 65 4.3.3 The Chinese Constitution, Ethnicity, and Religion ................................................................. 66 4.3.4 The State Administration of Religious Affairs ........................................................................ 66 4.3.5 Role of Religion for Ethnic Groups in China .......................................................................... 67 4.3.6 White Paper: Freedom of Religious Belief in Xinjiang: Religious Practice ..........................