Let me say something first before I start any more of this post. As far as I’m concerned, the name of the Western Chinese province that contains Urumqi and Kashgar doesn’t start with an “X.” (Go here to see the official name and to find more info). I’m much more partial to Eastern Turkestan or even Chinese Turkestan. Just thought I’d lay my bias down in case I say anything nasty about Han Chinese racism and policies that make Uighurs a minority in their own land. Far be it from me to hide my biases.
I have a friend teaching in East Turkestan right now who served in Peace Corps Uzbekistan with me. She speaks beautiful Khorezm-cha (a regional dialect of Uzbek), and she’s smart as a whip, so she is able to speak to Uighurs in more or less their own tongue (Uighur and Uzbek are very similar). Chinese officials and handlers have told her she should cut it out, don’t talk to locals. This is but a window into Chinese attitudes towards the natives.
China’s treatment of Uighurs is atrocious. It’s gotten worse after 9/11. Why? The foul treatment in the first place has to do with how China tends to treat its minorities in general. It’s gotten worse after 9/11 because Uighurs are Muslims who yearn for independence. Yes, there are some violent Uighur opposition groups, but the Uighurs are by and large peaceful.
Shame on Kyrgyzstan for complicity in Beijing’s abuse by deporting Uighurs, some of them refugees, to China, where they face torture and execution. Why is Kyrgyzstan doing this? They apparently began caving in to China when they joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in 1996. For some reason, Kyrgyzstan feels the need to be compliant to the wishes of great powers (the United States and Russia have their way with Kyrgyzstan too, but neither one is asking for members of a particular ethnic group to torture and murder).
It’s a damned crying shame. Kyrgyzstan is in many ways the most pleasant of all Central Asian states, so it’s sad to hear them engaged in this behavior.
