Autonomy in Xinjiang: Han
Nationalist Imperatives and Uyghur Discontent
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by Gardner Bovingdon
List Price: $10.00 |
This is the eleventh publication in Policy Studies, a
peer-reviewed East-West Center Washington series that presents scholarly
analysis of key contemporary domestic and international political, economic, and
strategic issues affecting Asia in a policy relevant manner.
About the Author
Gardner Bovingdon is assistant professor in the Department of Central Eurasian
Studies, and adjunct assistant professor in the department of Political Science
and East Asian Languages and Cultures, at Indiana University, Bloomington.
Product Description:
This study analyzes the sources of conflict in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. It
considers international influences, militant Islam, and enduring ethnonational
hatreds, all identified by some observers as causes of unrest. While these
factors have affected politics in Xinjiang, none is the prime source of
friction. The study argues that the system of regional autonomy itself, while
billed as a solution to the region’s political problems, has instead provoked
discontent and violence. Rather than providing substantial autonomy to Uyghurs,
Beijing has thwarted their exercise of political power in various ways.
Examining in detail both the legal institutions and the policies enacted in
Xinjiang, the study shows how these have contributed to Uyghur dissatisfaction
and thus contributed to unrest. In recent years Chinese policy advisors have
suggested further diminishing the scope of autonomy in Xinjiang as a way of
reducing conflict there. The author argues on the basis of the foregoing
analysis that such a move would increase rather than decrease friction. The
analysis and the conclusions should be of interest to policymakers and analysts
concerned with the conflict in Xinjiang, the other autonomous regions in China,
and autonomy regimes elsewhere in the world.
Available free at:
http://www.eastwestcenter.org/stored/pdfs/PS011.pdf