Violence, Discourse, and Politics in China’s Uyghur Region

Violence, Discourse, and Politics in China’s Uyghur Region
Author: Pablo A. Rodríguez-Merino
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2022-12-30
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 100081887X

This book investigates how Uyghur-related violent conflict and Uyghur ethnic minority identity, religion, and the Xinjiang region, more broadly, became constituted as a ‘terrorism’ problem for the Chinese state. Building on securitization theory, Critical Terrorism Studies (CTS), and the scholarly definitional debate on terrorism, it develops the concept of terroristization as a critical analytical framework for the study of historical processes of threat construction. Investigating the violent events reported in Xinjiang since the early 1980s, the evolving discursive patterns used by the Chinese state to make sense of violent incidents, and the crackdown policies that the official terrorism discourse has legitimized, the book demonstrates how the securitization, and later terroristization, of Xinjiang and the Uyghurs, is the result of a discursive and political choice of the Chinese state. The author reveals the contingent and unstable nature of such construction, and how it problematizes the inevitability of the rationale behind China’s ‘war on terror’, that has prescribed a brutal crackdown as the most viable approach to governing the tensions that have historically characterized China’s rule over the Turkic Muslim ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of the politics of contemporary China, security and ethnic minority issues, International Relations and Security, as well as those adopting discursive approaches to the study of security, notably those within the critical security and terrorism studies fields.

Violence, Discourse, and Politics in China's Uyghur Region

Violence, Discourse, and Politics in China's Uyghur Region
Author: PABLO A. RODRIGUEZ-MERINO
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022-12-30
Genre:
ISBN: 9781032311029

This book investigates how Uyghur-related violent conflict and Uyghur ethnic minority identity, religion, and the Xinjiang region more broadly, became constituted as a 'terrorism' problem for the Chinese state. Building on securitization theory, Critical Terrorism Studies (CTS), and the scholarly definitional debate on terrorism, it develops the concept of terroristization as a critical analytical framework for the study of historical processes of threat-construction. Investigating the violent events reported in Xinjiang since the early 1980s, the evolving discursive patterns used by the Chinese state to make sense of violent incidents, and the crackdown policies that the official terrorism discourse has legitimized, the book demonstrates how the securitization, and later terroristization, of Xinjiang and the Uyghurs, is the result of a discursive and political choice of the Chinese state. The author reveals the contingent and unstable nature of such construction, and how it problematizes the inevitability of the rationale behind China's 'war on terror', that has prescribed a brutal crackdown as the most viable approach to governing the tensions that have historically characterized China's rule over the Turkic Muslim ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of the politics of contemporary China, security and ethnic minority issues, International Relations and Security, as well as those adopting discursive approaches to the study of security, notably those within the critical security and terrorism studies fields.

The War on the Uyghurs

The War on the Uyghurs
Author: Sean R. Roberts
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2022-01-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 0691234493

How China is using the US-led war on terror to erase the cultural identity of its Muslim minority in the Xinjiang region Within weeks of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, the Chinese government warned that it faced a serious terrorist threat from its Uyghur ethnic minority, who are largely Muslim. In this explosive book, Sean Roberts reveals how China has been using the US-led global war on terror as international cover for its increasingly brutal suppression of the Uyghurs, and how the war's targeting of an undefined enemy has emboldened states around the globe to persecute ethnic minorities and severely repress domestic opposition in the name of combatting terrorism. Of the eleven million Uyghurs living in China today, more than one million are now being held in so-called reeducation camps, victims of what has become the largest program of mass detention and surveillance in the world. Roberts describes how the Chinese government successfully implicated the Uyghurs in the global terror war—despite a complete lack of evidence—and branded them as a dangerous terrorist threat with links to al-Qaeda. He argues that the reframing of Uyghur domestic dissent as international terrorism provided justification and inspiration for a systematic campaign to erase Uyghur identity, and that a nominal Uyghur militant threat only emerged after more than a decade of Chinese suppression in the name of counterterrorism—which has served to justify further state repression. A gripping and moving account of the humanitarian catastrophe that China does not want you to know about, The War on the Uyghurs draws on Roberts's own in-depth interviews with the Uyghurs, enabling their voices to be heard.

China's Forgotten People

China's Forgotten People
Author: Nick Holdstock
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 364
Release: 2019-06-13
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1788319818

After isolated terrorist incidents in 2015, the Chinese leadership has cracked down hard on Xinjiang and its Uyghurs. Today, there are thought to be up to a million Muslims held in 're-education camps' in the Xinjiang region of North-West China. One of the few Western commentators to have lived in the region, journalist Nick Holdstock travels into the heart of the province and reveals the Uyghur story as one of repression, hardship and helplessness. China's Forgotten People explains why repression of the Muslim population is on the rise in the world's most powerful one-party state. This updated and revised edition reveals the background to the largest known concentration camp network in the modern world, and reflects on what this means for the way we think about China.

Xinjiang and the Chinese State

Xinjiang and the Chinese State
Author: Debasish Chaudhuri
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 267
Release: 2017-08-18
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 135140105X

This book focuses on the nature of ethno-national conflicts and impacts of ideological orientation of the Communist Party of China (CPC) towards the national question in the context of Han nationalism and political, economic and security policies towards Xinjiang. Violence in Xinjiang since the mid-1990s is projected as one of the major national security challenges for China, along with issues pertaining to Tibet and Taiwan. The author argues that the post-Mao reformist model may have been a beneficial economic and political innovation, but failed in dealing with regional conflicts and unrests arising out of the demands for independence, freedom, greater autonomy and assertion of democratic and civic rights. The book discusses Chinese nationalism and the construction of Uyghur national identity, consequences of economic modernisation in the region, ethnic conflicts and coercive measures, the security and social stability situation in Xinjiang, intensification of violence in Xinjiang under the new leadership, vision of the ‘Chinese dream’, key policies and programmes, post-riot fallouts and social contradictions manifest in discourses surrounding development, separatist violence, religious fundamentalism and international terrorism. With its in-depth, accessible and comprehensive analyses, this book will be a valuable addition to scholars and researchers of Chinese studies, politics and international relations, security and strategic studies, sociology, social anthropology and ethnic studies.

The War on the Uyghurs

The War on the Uyghurs
Author: Sean R. Roberts
Publisher:
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2020-09
Genre: China
ISBN: 9781526147684

Within weeks of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, the Chinese government warned that it faced a serious terrorist threat from its Uyghur ethnic minority, who are largely Muslim. In this explosive book, Sean Roberts reveals how China has been using the US-led global war on terror as international cover for its increasingly brutal suppression of the Uyghurs, and how the war's targeting of an undefined enemy has emboldened states around the globe to persecute ethnic minorities and severely repress domestic opposition in the name of combatting terrorism. Of the eleven million Uyghurs living in China today, more than one million are now being held in so-called reeducation camps, victims of what has become the largest program of mass detention and surveillance in the world. Roberts describes how the Chinese government successfully implicated the Uyghurs in the global terror war-despite a complete lack of evidence-and branded them as a dangerous terrorist threat with links to al-Qaeda. He argues that the reframing of Uyghur domestic dissent as international terrorism provided justification and inspiration for a systematic campaign to erase Uyghur identity, and that a nominal Uyghur militant threat only emerged after more than a decade of Chinese suppression in the name of counterterrorism-which has served to justify further state repression. A gripping and moving account of the humanitarian catastrophe that China does not want you to know about, The War on the Uyghurs draws on Roberts's own in-depth interviews with the Uyghurs, enabling their voices to be heard.

The Xinjiang conflict and the utility of China’s counter-terrorism measures

The Xinjiang conflict and the utility of China’s counter-terrorism measures
Author:
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
Total Pages: 28
Release: 2023-01-30
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 3346803007

Seminar paper from the year 2017 in the subject Politics - Region: South Asia, grade: 1,7, University of Aarhus, language: English, abstract: This paper addresses the following questions: First, what is the origin of the conflict between Uyghurs and Han Chinese, which make up the central government? Second, who are the terrorist organizations in Xinjiang and what impact do they have on China? And as a third question, which counterterrorism measures are used by the Chinese government to fight domestic terrorism and in how far are they appropriate to achieve a more peaceful security environment in the region and the country? After the 9/11 attacks, not only the US, but also countries all around the globe realized the comprehensive threat posed to them by terrorist organizations. Consequently, a revision and enhancement of the counterterrorism capabilities took place all over. This also happened in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which widened their counterterrorism measures and joined Bush’s ‘war on terror’. The target of this newly inflamed campaign was mainly the Uyghur population of Xinjiang district, seen as a major threat of domestic unrest by the Chinese government. Separated from China proper through a wide geographical distance and the differing culture of Islam, this region had been a child of sorrow for them for a long time. Because of that, the central government used the chance to intensify their fight against separatism and extremist terrorism, which it assumed to be originating mainly in XInjiang. However, China is facing a peak of terrorist attacks since 2014, which proves their strategy of proceeding with cruelty far from perfect. Therefore, this paper will have a closer look at the ‘Uyghur case’ and assesses the authorities' counterterrorism measures. For this analysis, mainstream literature by Krueger & Malečková and Kydd & Walter is used, which examines the impact of economic factors on the likelihood to join a terrorist organization and the consequences of indiscriminate counterterrorism measures. Finally, it will postulate some policy advice, useful for maintaining stability in the area while at the same time reducing the threat of terrorist attacks for the country.

Complete Guide to China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region - Volume 1, Uighur Protests, Terrorism, Modern Identity, Human Rights, People's Republic of China Ethnic Minorities, Political Prisoners

Complete Guide to China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region - Volume 1, Uighur Protests, Terrorism, Modern Identity, Human Rights, People's Republic of China Ethnic Minorities, Political Prisoners
Author: State Department
Publisher:
Total Pages: 524
Release: 2017-06-07
Genre:
ISBN: 9781521455227

This unique book provides an encyclopedic overview of all aspects of the Uyghur population and the Chinese Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, protests and alleged terrorism by Muslim Uyghurs, Chinese government policies toward the Uyghurs, oppression, history, Chinese human rights, U.S. policy issues, and much more. This massive compendium includes government reports, federal material, military information, and Congressional hearing transcripts. Because of the enormous size of this material, for reproduction in paperback format it has been divided into two volumes.Contents:VOLUME 1 - Uyghurs in Xinjiang: United or Divided Against the PRC? * State Department Material * Human Rights in Xinjiang: Recent Developments * Xinjiang * The Islamic Republic of Eastern Turkestan and the Formation of Modern Uyghur Identity in Xinjiang * Uyghur Muslim Ethnic Separatism in Xinjiang, China * Xinjiang and China's National Security: Counter-Terrorism or Counter-Separatism? * Nationalism and Islamic Identity in Xinjiang * The Fracturing of China? Ethnic Separatism and Political Violence in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region * Freedom Fighters or Terrorists? Exploring the Case of the Uighur People * Uyghurs Without Borders? The Economic and Social Status of Uyghurs in Kazakhstan and Its Impact on Interethnic Conflict and Transnational Threats * Protracted Counterinsurgency Chinese COIN Strategy in Xinjiang * Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) Xinjiang and Uyghur Coverage * Congressional-Executive Commission on China - Annual Report 2012VOLUME 2Congressional-Executive Commission on China - Annual Report 2012 (Conclusion) * Human Rights in China and U.S. Policy: Issues for the 113th Congress * Investigating the Chinese Threat, Part II: Human Rights Abuses, Torture and Disappearances * The Internet in China: A Tool for Freedom or Suppression? * Political Prisoners in China: Trends and Implications for U.S. PolicyIn the past decade, Chinese authorities have carried out especially harsh religious and ethnic policies against Uighurs, a predominantly Muslim Turkic ethnic group living primarily in China's far northwestern Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Once the predominant ethnic group in the region, Xinjiang's 8.5 million Uighurs now constitute an estimated 40% of the population as many Han have migrated there, particularly to the regional capital, Urumqi. The PRC government asserts that many Muslims in China, including Uighurs, receive preferential treatment due to special policies toward minority groups, that PRC economic policies have benefitted Uighurs, and that firm religious and ethnic policies are necessary to prevent terrorism. In 2010, China's top leadership held the first "work forum" focused on the XUAR. The forum produced an ambitious economic development plan for the region, but did not address longstanding Uighur political and religious grievances.The PRC government has often conflated the religious and cultural practices of Uighurs in Xinjiang with subversive activities or the "three evils of religious extremism, splittism, and terrorism." It claims that the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a Uighur organization that advocates the creation of an independent Uighur Islamic state, was responsible for terrorist attacks in China and has ties to Al Qaeda. In 2011, Xinjiang courts tried 414 cases of endangering state security, up 10% over the previous year. In June 2012, the official press announced that police had arrested six Uighurs in connection with an attempted hijacking aboard a plane travelling from Hotan, Xinjiang to Urumqi. Representatives of the World Uyghur Congress countered that the onboard disturbance was not a hijacking attempt but rather a "brawl over a seat dispute."