brzezinksi wants a "color revolution" here. but first he (probably) has
to get tibet and mongolia. vmann
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/xinjiang_province_the_islamic.html
April 11, 2008
Xinjiang Province - The Islamic Jihad Battlefront in China
*By* *Janet Levy* <http://www.americanthinker.com/janet_levy/>
When the 2008 Summer Olympic Games were awarded to Beijing seven years
ago, hope arose that China's new-found status as a modern, world power
and position in the world media spotlight would prompt increased
tolerance and democracy nationwide. Clearly, that optimism has been
dashed by the turmoil in Tibet.
Stellar economic performance and reforms, viewed sanguinely by the West
as a sure route to liberalization, have occurred in China devoid of
political reform. China's use of brutal force and massive arrests
against Tibetan protestors bear witness to this lack of progress.
Indeed, China today stands revealed as one of the worst perpetrators of
human rights violations and religious repression in the world.
Among those singled out for similar harshness and violence is a portion
of China's 30-million-strong Muslim community: the Islamic jihadists of
the northwestern province of Xinjiang and surrounding areas. With Tibet
in mind, the West may be tempted to view this decades-long unrest in
Central Asia as yet another example of Chinese aggression and
expansionism against a beleaguered population seeking independence. Yet,
such a view is shortsighted and dangerous. For, in truth, the Islamic
Jihadists of China's Xinjiang are linked to the Taliban in Afghanistan
and Al Qaeda. Their terrorist methods and ideology are of a piece with
the larger Islamic Jihadist goal to overthrow existing governments and
install a religious theocracy. They, in fact, represent the Chinese
battlefront of the worldwide Islamic Jihad.
*China**'s Muslim Population *
Inaccessibility to China's far flung regions and the exclusion of
questions about religion in the last three national censuses make it
difficult to obtain accurate figures about the Chinese Muslim
population. But it is estimated at around 30 million, the second largest
religious group in China after Buddhists. About 20 million are Hui,
concentrated mostly in northwestern China. Another 8.5 million are
Uyghurs who reside in Xinjiang province.
The Hui, culturally similar to the majority Han Chinese, follow Islamic
dietary laws and some customs of Muslim dress but have engaged in only
limited jihadist activity. Evidence exists of uprisings in two Hui
villages, as well as some protest activity against the Danish cartoons
of Mohammed. However, discrimination and economic deprivation against
the Uyghurs and their push for a separate state have made for more
extensive and organized jihadist activities by the militant, Uyghur
Muslims throughout Central Asia. The nature of this activity -- the
extent to which it is an uprising for a separatist state or supports a
pan-Islamist agenda -- is difficult to assess given Communist China's
history of repression of religious groups, rampant human rights abuses
and lack of a free press, but some conclusions can be made.
*The Uyghurs *
The desire for an independent Uyghur state is a fairly recent
development, dating from the 1930's, but the Uyghurs themselves are a
historically nomadic people of Turkic Indo-European origin who can be
traced back to the 700s.
The province in which they live, Xinjiang, is large and sparsely
populated, representing one-sixth of China's total land mass. It borders
Tibet, Russia, Kazakstan, Kyryzstan, Tajikstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan
and the Indian state of Kashmir. Xinjiang is rich in oil, gas and
mineral deposits. It also has numerous military installations and, until
1996, nuclear testing facilities, giving it significant and strategic
military importance to China.
The Uyghurs have a separate language, culture, religion and identity
from the dominant Han, who are deemed the "true," ethnic Chinese.
Uyghurs hold a multiplicity of identities, including Muslim, Uyghur,
Turk or Chinese and have historically been opposed to Han or majority
Chinese rule. The Uyghurs in Xinjiang maintain an informal ethnic
apartheid. They view the Chinese as inferior occupiers, equate
Confucianism and Buddhism with idolatry, and frequent their own stores
and restaurants. An estimated 23,000 mosques exist in the region, with
many small neighborhood facilities, some financed by Saudi Arabia and
Pakistan.
According to Igor Rotar, a Central Asia correspondent for The Jamestown
Foundation, Uyghurs "tend to be more zealous Muslims than their Central
Asian neighbors. The majority of local, married women wear burqas, which
is quite rare in Central Asia, and middle-aged men prefer to have
beards."[1] Rotar says a Uyghur Muslim in Xinjiang explained to him
that "In the Quran it is written that a Muslim should not live under the
authority of infidels, and that is why we will never reconcile with the
Chinese occupation." China's restrictive policy on family size is also a
point of contention in this community.
In direct contrast to this view, visiting Associated Press reporter,
William Foreman, recently observed, "Most Uighurs practice a moderate
form of Islam. The men wear ornate skullcaps, or "doppi," while most
women favor head scarves but rarely cover their faces. Many can be seen
dressed in tight skirts or stylish hip-hugging designer jeans and high
heels."[2]
As a non-Han people, Uyghurs have been viewed by the Chinese as inferior
and portrayed as untrustworthy, shiftless, warring troublemakers. They
have been discriminated against in employment and are victims of
economic deprivation in an underdeveloped area. Drug use, particularly
opium and hashish, is rampant and has added to the hopelessness and
poverty. A high incidence of AIDS due to heroin injection appears to
have attracted little government intervention to combat the problem.
*The Push for Uyghur Independence*
In the 1930s, Uyghur separatists proposed a constitution for a Uyghur
republic that referenced Islam and shariah law but focused primarily on
economic development and political freedom. The occupation of northern
Xinjiang in 1949 by China's military, the People's Liberation Army, was
viewed as a hopeful sign because China's leader, Chairman Mao Zedong,
pledged an end to "Great Han chauvinism." In reality, Chinese Communists
valued Xinjiang, not for egalitarian reasons, but as a strategic and
natural, resource-rich asset. Meanwhile, the Han-dominated, Communist
Party asserted a unified, Chinese identity and sought to eliminate the
distinct Uyghur culture and history.
During the Cold War, the Uyghurs of Xinjiang, surrounded by the Chinese
and the USSR, had limited options for self-determination. In the 1980s
when restrictions eased in China against ethnic minorities and religious
practices, the Uyghurs spoke out about discrimination and injustice.
They reasserted their demands for a homeland, which continue to this
day. An active Uyghur exile community in Central Asia, estimated at
400,000, has sought to draw attention to the plight of the Uyghurs and
their quest for a separate state.
*The Uyghur-Jihadist Link *
Motivated by legitimate desires for independence, militant Turkic Muslim
Uyghurs in Xinjiang have, since the 1970's, engaged in terrorist
activities. These include killing police and military officers, robbing
banks, rioting and bombing. The Uyghurs in Xinjiang, members of the
400,000-strong Uyghurs in the diaspora and other Islamist groups in
Central Asia have become part of a pan-Islamic movement that developed
since the mid-1980's and includes terrorist activity that intensified
after the break-up of the Soviet Union. Islamists in Xinjiang have
reportedly received financial support and training from the Taliban in
Afghanistan, Al Qaeda and the Jamaat-i-Islami of Pakistan.
The potential for the Islamization of the region and the ability of
Islamists to capitalize on the existing conflict between the Uyghurs and
the Chinese government is a real concern to the Communist government.
The strongest militant Islamist groups in the region include the East
Turkistan Liberation Organization (ETLO), the Islamic Movement of
Uzbekistan (IMU) and the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM),
allegedly linked to Al Qaeda. The IMU renamed itself the Islamic Party
of Turkistan and publicly declared that it seeks to create an Islamic
state across Central Asia and expand its recruitment efforts throughout
the region. For traditional Uyghur separatists, these groups represent a
source of wealthy supporters who offer funding, weapons support and
terrorist training. They also help buttress and reinforce the global
Islamist movement into China. For example, in 1989, Al Qaeda set up a
base in China with links to the ETIM and the IMU.
Xinjiang's porous border with Kazakhstan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan and
Afghanistan facilitates the conducting of terrorist training just
outside of China, as well as the movement of weapons, explosives and
terrorist operatives. It also enables the indoctrination of Muslims in
extremist ideology out of the reach of China.
China reports that the ETIM has ties to Central Asia Uyghur Hezbollah in
Kazakstan and that 1,000 Uyghurs were trained by Al Qaeda. They maintain
that 600 of them escaped to Pakistan, 300 were caught by U.S. forces on
the battlefield in Afghanistan and 110 returned to China and were
caught. At the beginning of the conflict in Afghanistan, U.S. forces
did, in fact, report that 15 Uyghurs were imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay.
According to B. Raman, former head of the Counterterrorism Division of
India's external intelligence agency, the Uyghurs have been approached
by the Hizb ut-Tahrir, a political party whose goal is to unite all
Muslim countries in a unitary Islamic state. The Hizb ut-Tahrir in
Pakistan and in other parts of Central Asia, has sought to use the
Uyghurs to set up sleeper cells in Xinjiang.
*Home-Grown Uyghur Terrorism *
However, it would be inaccurate to characterize the Uyghurs as
completely influenced by outside jihadists, for, their own history is
rife with violence in the name of Islam. The first major uprising of
Uyghur Muslims took place in Northwestern China in 1990 with a series of
protests. As a result, China deployed troops and began to conduct
military exercises in the region.
In 1996, following the first meeting of the countries that would later
form the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, (Russia, China, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan), China began clamping down on the
Uyghur Muslims. In an effort toward political stabilization, the Chinese
implemented measures to improve the economy of the area and built roads,
rails and pipelines connecting Xinjiang with Central Asia. But an
unanticipated result of this economic expansion was the establishment of
alliances in border states for Islamic terrorist training and the
smuggling of drugs, arms and people.
In 1997, Uyghur Islamists were responsible for several bombings,
including a bus bombing in Beijing. Although an Uyghur terrorist group
claimed responsibility for the Beijing bombing, Chinese media covered up
this fact as they did with many other terrorist attacks prior to the
Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States.
*China**'s Position on Terrorism - Pre & Post 9/11 *
This attitude began to change just prior to 9/11, when Taliban fighters
from Afghanistan began incursions into Xinjiang. The activities prompted
formation in June of 2001 of the China-initiated, Shanghai Cooperation
Organization (SCO). The SCO was designed to combat Islamism by setting
up a terrorist monitoring center, promoting economic development
throughout the region and establishing Chinese and Russian hegemony over
the area.
At its first meeting, it reached an agreement calling for cooperation to
prevent terrorism and insurgency, mutual identification of terrorists
and terrorist organizations, suppression of terrorist activities and
extradition of terrorists. Member states also agreed to create rapid
deployment forces, conduct joint military exercises, investigate sources
of terrorist financing and exchange information on illicit WMD
manufacturing, purchase, storage and movement.
This represented a huge step forward because, up to 9/11, the Chinese
government was not open about the existence and extent of jihadist
activities within its country. Chinese authorities viewed acts of
terrorism as a police, law-and-order issue rather than a global jihadist
effort and believe that disseminating public reports on crime spreads
the activity and increases unrest.
After 9/11, China changed its position to show that it, too, was a
victim of the Islamist jihad. The government admitted the proliferation
of terrorist activities over the previous decade, listing explosions,
assassinations, poisonings, rioting and vehicle fires. At the time, they
claimed to have uncovered links between Uyghur Muslim groups and Al
Qaeda, Hezbollah, the Taliban and Hizb ut-Tahrir.
At a press conference in Pakistan in 2002, Chinese government officials
publicized the arrest of a high-level Uyghur terrorist by Pakistani
authorities. The Chinese also requested that the United States
repatriate 300 Uyghurs captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan, who
were alleged fighters for Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
In 2003, China signed an extradition treaty with Pakistan to remand
terrorists from the ETIM and the ETLO, whom they believed were
affiliated with Al Qaeda and the Taliban and who had received training
and funding from Osama Bin Laden. The Chinese government pressured
Pakistan, known for its alliance with the Taliban and its promulgation
of jihadist ideology, to turn over known Uyghur militants who had
escaped to Pakistan. This appeal has not produced significant results.
*Recent Uyghur Violence *
Jihadist violence has continued to escalate over the last few years. In
2004, Uyghurs trained by the IMU were suspected of involvement in an
explosion in Balochistan, Pakistan, in which three Chinese engineers
were killed. The following year during the Eid-al-Adha religious
celebrations, two explosions from suicide bombings near the Kazakstan
border in Xinjiang killed 13 people and injured 18.
In January of 2007, the Chinese raided an ETIM terrorist training camp
close to the Afghanistan and Pakistan borders. The raid, in which 18
terrorist suspects died, yielded a large explosives and weapons cache.
Also seized was a 32-minute video urging Uyghur Muslims to make use of
key public events as a platform to publicize their grievances worldwide.
It contained references to a "World Islamic Resistance Book" and the
establishment of China as a jihad zone, plus included an impressive
display of weapons and explosives and a demonstration of vehicle bombings.
On March 7, 2008, two men believed to be Pakistanis and a Uyghur woman
who was trained by a Pakistan-based terrorist group attempted to
sabotage a China Southern Airlines flight from Xinjiang to Beijing. The
woman, who traveled first class, carried flammable liquids onto the
aircraft that but failed to ignite them in the plane lavatory. All three
terrorists involved carried Pakistani passports.
*Chinese Counter-terrorist Measures*
To curtail incidents like those cited above of a potentially burgeoning
Islamist threat, the Chinese government maintains strict supervision
over Xinjiang and has dealt harshly with terrorist activity. China has
successfully altered the demography of the region by repopulating it
with Han Chinese, now the majority. To curb the influence of Islam, the
government engages in surveillance of mosques, restricts the
participation of youth and women in mosque activities, monitors the
content of services and curtails participation in the Haj. Muslim
clerics or imams who serve in the region must complete their training at
a state-controlled seminary and teach "moderate" Islam under the
leadership of the state.
A heavy police presence around the mosques and the military exists at
the border to prevent smuggling of people and weapons. Police routinely
cordon off areas in which terrorist incidents or rioting occurs and
remove and imprison the agitators before they reopen the area.
*Potential Threats to U.S. Security*
The Xinjiang-inspired violence is not restricted, however, to attacks
just against the Chinese. In May of 2002, a planned attack by the ETIM
on the U.S. Embassy in neighboring Kyrgyzstan was thwarted. At the time,
Pakistani authorities found blueprints indicating the location of the
embassy, the American military base and a synagogue.
In view of the strategic military and economic importance of Central
Asia, the need to protect its interests in the region and pressure from
the Chinese, the United States agreed to classify some local groups,
like the ETIM, as terrorist organizations and freeze their American
assets. Of course, geopolitical concerns over maintaining good,
Sino-U.S. relations played a major part in the State Department's
classification. The United States wants to ensure continued U.S.
military presence in Central Asia in the midst of China's growing
economic and political power in the region and any Chinese attempts to
check U.S. influence in the region.
Politics is also playing a larger role as the Olympics draw closer and
the international spotlight focuses on China's oppression of Tibetans,
Falun Gong and other repressed groups. While some may be prone to view
the Uyghur Muslims through the prism of China's historical crackdown on
religious groups and ethnic minorities, the record of historical,
jihadist terrorist activity, listed above, would argue against it.
Despite the Unites States' own grievances with China, serious questions
should be raised to better understand the global jihad, its role in
China and our fight in the war against Islamic terrorism.
We should ask: how much of the Uyghur separatist struggle has been
co-opted by the Islamists and is being used to breed fellow travelers
for the jihadist agenda? Who are victims -- the Uyghurs, China or both?
Is it realistic for China to fear Islamic extremism, territorial
expansion and the spread of insurgency to other aggrieved groups? Is
China using the excuse of terrorism as an excuse for a crackdown on the
Muslim Uyghurs or is China a victim of the extensive network of Islamic
terrorist groups in Xinjiang and Central Asia? Have the Islamists joined
forces with Uyghur separatists to capitalize on the struggle in Tibet?
Is the West failing to differentiate between radical Islam and
legitimate human rights grievances? Is China's "Strike Hard" policy
serving to radicalize the Uyghurs and causing them to find common cause
with the Islamists? Finally, how can the United States assist China in
the mutual fight against global Islamic terrorism and, at the same time,
successfully address issues of religious repression and civil rights?
As China faces world scrutiny and the threat of disruptions and boycotts
against the upcoming Olympics for its ruthless civil rights violations,
we should be mindful of the growing Islamization of the Xinjiang
province under the Uyghur conflict. Clearly, jihadist groups are active
in the region and have coordinated terrorist actions, recruitment,
training and financing. They are dedicated to the establishment of an
Islamic state in Central Asia, related to the worldwide Islamic jihad.
As has been evident in other parts of the world, Islamists deftly graft
their agenda onto regional political struggles to form unholy alliances
and advance their pan-Islamist agenda. We should not be deceived by our
zeal to focus on human rights abuses in China or focus entirely on Tibet
and the separatists. Instead, this important component of unrest in
Central Asia needs its own specific analysis, political action and
focused response.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Rotar, Igor, "The Growing Problem of Uighur Separatism", China
Brief, Volume 4, Issue 8, The Jamestown Foundation, April 15, 2004,
http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=395&issue_id=2935&article_id=236612
<http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=395&issue_id=2935&article_id=236612>
[2] Foreman, William, "China Faces Muslim Resentment in West," Yahoo
News, April 9, 2008,
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080409/ap_on_re_as/china_resentful_muslims