China's Internal Security Dilemma and the “Great Western Development”: The Dynamics of Integration, Ethnic Nationalism and Terrorism in Xinjiang

An elephant in the planning room: Political demography and its influence on sustainable land-use planning in drylands

“…The Soviet puppet regime of the East Turkestan Republic was formed in the three districts of Xinjiang (Ili, Altai and Tacheng) following an uprising in 1944, but was handed over to the Chinese Communists when they came to power in 1949 (Clark and Kamalov, 2004;Clarke, 2007a). A mass migration of the Uyghur into Kazakhstan occurred in 1962, as Sino-Soviet relationships deteriorated, and then again in 1997, after the rebellion in Yining.…”

“…In fact this approach to guarding borders can be traced back 2000 years to the Western Han Dynasty (Matthew and Cliff, 2009). This approach has played an important role in uniting the nation and consolidating frontier defense (Lattimore, 1951;Becquelin, 2000;Clarke, 2007a). In addition to requiring troops to go to Xinjiang, the emperors encouraged peasants (mainly Han, but also other ethnic groups such as Hui and Mogol) to reclaim land in Xinjiang, including allowing the families of military personnel to accompany troops.…”

“…In addition to the economic goals, the strategy aimed to restore ecological balance and establish secure supplies of resources needed for further national economic development (Goodman, 2004). Some authors, however, have argued that the formation and implementation of the West Development Strategy largely reflected the grave concern of national security and unity, which outweighed other economic, social and ecological concerns (Clarke, 2007a). To a great extent, the stated goals of opening development projects, narrowing the socioeconomic divide and restoring ecological balance in the west, they claim, were actually to enhance the implicit goals of attracting Han migrants to sustain an ethnically favorable composition in regions like Xinjiang (Becquelin, 2000(Becquelin, , 2004.…”

“…One of the important measures was to encourage Han migration through state sponsored land reclamation (Clarke, 2007a). This effort exacerbated the existing ethnic tensions and competition for limited employment and educational opportunities in the cities, and land and water in the countryside (Bovingdon, 2002).…”

The Hanification of Xinjiang, China: The Economic Effects of the Great Leap West

“…Mao Zedong once said, ‘We say China is a country vast in territory, rich in resources and large in populations; as a matter of fact it is the Han nationality whose population is large and the minority nationalities whose territory is vast and whose resources are rich’ (Tyler :204). Today, Great Leap West rhetoric emphasizes nation‐building priorities where ‘the rich resources lying untapped “wait” for the spiritual impulse of the “Chinese nation” for their exploitation’ (Clarke :328). It also implies the necessity of the Hans to provide assistance to the backward ethnic societies so that the latter may become culturally modern (Clarke ).…”