Policy Analysis, Division And Fusion - Ethnic Problems In Xinjiang

The People's Republic of China is a united multi-ethnic country but ethnic issues in Xinjiang have been a serious issue in China since the beginning of the opening reforms. The national identity and regional autonomy for ethnic minorities by the CPC have brought harmony and development to Xinjiang. Along with carrying out the reform and opening up policy, the economy prospered and the basic living standards of citizens in Xinjiang improved greatly. However, riots and insurgency occurred in Xinjiang once again in 1990s. This paper will focus on the riots and insurgency in Xinjiang and analyze the possible relationship between governmental policy and instability in Xinjiang.This paper can be divided into six parts. The first part illustrates the research objective and methods. According to some early research conclusions, this paper focuses on the Chinese domestic policy and its actual social effect rather than focusing on the clash of different civilization between Han and Uyghur or the international perspectives. The second part looks back through modern history of Xinjiang and points out inappropriate policies carried out by Kuomintang (KMT) which further led to insurgencies in Xinjiang. Then the third part of this paper introduces Chinese traditional minority national policies and points out that the policy of national identity and the system of regional autonomy which is carried out by the CPC made contributions on improving basic living standard and brought stability to Xinjiang. However, Xinjiang has been caught in serious insurgencies and riots since 1990. Most of the terrorists are Uyghur. Some suggest that the differences between Han Chinese and Uyghur minority create the instability in Xinjiang, especially the difference of language, religion and living pattern. Resorting to ethnic differences is a cliche. This paper analysis the Chinese central governmental program for the development of Xinjiang and how strive for equality has generated its own social results in the form of frustration and insurgency. In order to prove this assumption, I will analyze various policies of Xinjiang, such as economic policy, demographical policy, ethnic minority policy etc. and then show that policies in Xinjiang have brought about unintended consequence. Finally, this paper also enters a comparative analysis with Chechnya in Russian.