top of page
WHO ARE THE UIGHURS
The Uighurs/Uyghurs are an ethnically Turkic group of Sunni Muslims who originated from Central Asia. They are the main minority group in Xinjiang, a region in Northwest China formally known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. However, the region is unofficially referred to as East Turkistan as many, including the Uyghurs. The region has been a part of China since the Manchu empire but won independence against the Republic of China. It retained independence until the People's Republic of China (PRC) reintegrated the region in 1949.
The majority of the Uyghurs are heavily concentrated in Xinjiang, with approximately 12 million occupying the region. Their name comes from the language they speak, which is Uyghur, a Turkic language.
CHINESE - UYGHUR RELATIONS
The history between Uyghurs and Han Chinese has been one full of blood and tension. The Uyghurs have been fighting against Chinese rule since the imperial days of China. Though in 1949, the region was brought to heel by the PRC. The annexation of Xinjiang into the PRC has brought increasing racial, ethnic, and religious discrimination throughout the region by the Chinese government.
​
This is part of their effort to embrace Sinocentrism, an ideology that China is the cultural, political, and economic center point of the world. This ideology has been a critical pillar in China's reformation as a part of Deng Xiaoping's chairmanship of China. In addition to reforming the country politically and economically, it put forward a mindset of Chinese nationalism, but more importantly, Han Chinese nationalism.
​
The Han - dominated PRC has sought to assimilate the region by promoting the mass migration of Han Chinese to neutralize the Uyghur dominance. In recent years, the government has sought more direct action to deal with the restless Uyghur minority in the region. Their tactics include mass surveillance, an increase in security forces, restrictions specifically targeting Uyghurs, mass detention, and direct and indirect reprisal for dissonance.
Adapted to a modern form, China has put forward Han-Centrism, a form of Chinese nationalism asserting Han Chinese to be superior to other races and have the right and responsibility to bring China to the forefront of the world. As a result, it has to China utilizing its Century of Humiliation, where interventionism and imperialism by the United States, Western powers and Japan reduced China to a weak and feeble state. They used this to antagonize the world and incite nationalism and racial superiority, effectively contending its "rightful" place as a world power. As such, they have attempted to assert their influence abroad and at home, especially in rebellious regions such as Xinjiang.
To learn more about the Uyghurs and their history of China, please click here.
bottom of page