The Uyghurs in Modern China

Abstract

The Uyghurs are a Turkic-speaking ethnic group, most of whom live today within the People’s Republic of China. Virtually all Uyghurs are Muslims, and most are oasis farmers, small-time traders, or craftsmen. They constitute the majority population of the Tarim Basin, a region that eventually fell under Chinese rule after the Qing conquest of 1759. Although Turkic speakers predominated in the Tarim Basin for several centuries, the modern Uyghur identity was only named and formalized in the 20th century. During that period, a succession of Chinese states gradually transformed Uyghur lands from a loosely held dependency under the Qing to a closely monitored, assimilationist, settler colony in the 21st century, ruled by a Han Chinese–dominated bureaucracy. Uyghurs inherit traditions rooted in Turko-Persianate Central Asia, elaborated in the 20th century by strong influences from Soviet Central Asia and continually adapted to a political context of shifting outsider regimes punctuated by briefly successful independence movements.

The violation of human security and identity of Uyghur Muslim community through social construction process

“…Mao Zedong prohibited the religious activities of Muslims. He launched a policy that dismantled Xinjiang's Islamic Court and Islamic Law, which functioned already in both the Qing and ROC periods (Thum, 2018).…”

“…In non‐Han provinces such as Xinjiang and Tibet, the policy attacked the local identity of the Uyghurs by forcing them to conform to the majority Chinese norm. Islamic practices and local Muslim celebrations were prohibited: schools were closed: dozens of mosques were converted to party offices: religious texts were destroyed, local intellectuals were tortured, beards were prohibited, and religious leaders were forced to raise pigs (Brophy, 2017; Thum, 2018). Han cadres of the Red Guards caused tensions to mount even more.…”

Homogenizing nationalists, budding fascists, and truculent exceptionalists: the end of world order in the Indo-Pacific

“…With time, Han economic, demographic, educational, and political colonization, as well as the manias of the Anti-Rightist Campaign and the Cultural Revolution (Thum 2018 ), fueled ethnic tensions. In the 1980s, many Uyghurs embraced with renewed vigor Turkic and Islamic values, and in the early 1990s a few groups advocated insurrection; these groups were suppressed in 1990 and 1997 (Smith Finley 2019 , pp.…”

Unwanted Identities: The ‘Religion Line’ and Global Islamophobia

“…Xinjiang is inhabited by the Uighur Muslims. While the modern identity of Uighurs has emerged only in the twentieth century, they have been living there for centuries (Thum 2018). Xingjiang came under the rule of China in 1759.…”

“…Xingjiang came under the rule of China in 1759. Uighurs 'faced an openly assimilationist agenda from authorities in Xinjiang' as they forced them to 'conform to Chinese cultural norms' (Thum 2018) following the cultural revolution (1966)(1967)(1968)(1969)(1970)(1971)(1972)(1973)(1974)(1975)(1976), a political campaign led by Mao Zedong (Hammond 2019). Besides the targeting of the Islamic religion (shutting down mosques, destruction of copies of the Qur'an, banning of Hajj) (Hammond 2019), a massive demographic shift happened to bring members of the dominant Han ethnic group of Chine into Xinjiang.…”