East Turkestan independence movement

The East Turkestan independence movement (Chinese: 东突厥斯坦独立运动), also known as the Xinjiang independence movement (Chinese: 新疆独立运动) or the Uyghur independence movement, is a political movement that seeks independence for Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, a large and sparsely-populated province-level subdivision of the People's Republic of China (PRC/China) located in the country's northwest, as a homeland for the Uyghur people, who are primarily of Turkic rather than Sinitic (Han Chinese) ethnic extraction. Within the movement, there is widespread support for the region to be renamed, since "Xinjiang" is seen by independence activists as a colonial name. "East Turkestan" is the most well-known proposed name. "Uyghurstan" is another well-known proposed name.

Not to be confused with East Turkistan Islamic Movement.

Kök Bayraq has become a symbol of the East Turkestan independence movement.
This emblem, featuring the basmalah-stylized tughra (calligraphic monogram), is sometimes used alongside the flag above.
Part of a series on the
History of Xinjiang
Ancient period
Medieval and early modern period
Modern period

Xinjiang was initially conquered by the Qing dynasty, a historical Chinese ethnic-Manchu regime, in the 1750s, with 1759 being the year of the establishment of the original form of the modern day administrative region. Xinjiang was subsequently inherited by the Republic of China (ROC), which succeeded the Qing dynasty in 1912, and then by the PRC, which mostly succeeded the ROC in 1949 (except in Taiwan). Throughout Qing and ROC rule, there were several periods of brief de facto independence for either the entire region of Xinjiang or parts of it, as well as foreign occupation and warlord governance. The PRC incorporation of Xinjiang occurred soon after the regime was established in 1949, and since then, Xinjiang has remained an integral region of China. The PRC claims that Xinjiang has been part of China for over 2000 years, though evidence for this claim is scant. Historically, Xinjiang has never truly been independent as "East Turkestan", though various non-Chinese regimes controlled the region at various points prior to the 1750s. Xinjiang has been a hotbed of ethnic and religious conflict throughout much of the period that it has been governed by successive Chinese regimes.

The Chinese government considers all support for the East Turkestan independence movement to fall under the definitions of "terrorism, extremism, and separatism".[1] The East Turkestan independence movement is supported by both militant Islamic extremist groups which have been designated terrorist organizations by several countries and the United Nations, such as the Turkistan Islamic Party,[2][3][4][5][6] as well as certain advocacy groups, such as the World Uyghur Congress. China considers the World Uyghur Congress a terrorist organisation although it has no verifiable links to terrorism. The United States and Germany support the position that the World Uyghur Congress is not a terrorist organisation.[7]

Proposed name
Main article: East Turkestan

The most common name for Xinjiang used by independence advocates is "East Turkestan" (or "Uyghurstan"). There is no consensus among secessionists about whether to use "East Turkestan" or "Uyghurstan";[8] "East Turkestan" has the advantage of also being the name of two historical political entities in the region, while Uyghurstan appeals to modern ideas of ethnic self-determination. Uyghurstan is also a difference in emphasis in that it excludes more peoples in Xinjiang than just the Han,[9] but the "East Turkestan" movement[10] is still a Uyghur phenomenon. The name "East Turkestan" is not currently used in an official sense by most sovereign states and intergovernmental organizations. Another proposed alternative is "Yarkand" or "Yarkent," which harkens back to the Yarkent Khanate, a powerful Uyghur state in the 16th and 17th centuries.

History
See also: Xinjiang under Qing rule, Islam during the Qing dynasty, and Migration to Xinjiang

Yaqub Beg establishment of Kashgaria
See also: Dungan Revolt (1862–77)

The Kokandi Yaqub Beg invaded Kashgar during the Dungan revolt to establish an independent state after taking advantage of local rebellions.

Also, during the Dungan revolt, the Taranchi Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang initially cooperated with the Dungans (Chinese Muslims) when they rose in revolt, but turned on them, because the Dungans, mindful of their Chinese heritage, attempted to subject the entire region to their rule. The Taranchi massacred the Dungans at Kuldja and drove the rest through the Talk pass into the Ili valley.[11]

Within the Republic of China (1912–1949)
The Second East Turkestan Republic was a short-lived Soviet-backed unrecognized republic in northern Xinjiang.

One of the earliest attempts at East Turkestan independence was the establishment of the short-lived "First East Turkestan Republic" (aka "Turkish Islamic Republic of East Turkestan"), which lasted between 1933 and 1934. This republic was formed following a rebellion in Kashgar against the Republic of China (1912–1949) (ROC), which was still in the process of conquering Kashgar after two decades of Warlordism in China (ROC). The Chinese Hui Muslim 36th Division (National Revolutionary Army) re-annexed the First East Turkestan Republic following Chinese (ROC) victories at the conclusions of the Battle of Kashgar (1933) and Battle of Kashgar (1934).

During the later years of China under the ROC, which was engaged against the Chinese Communists in the context of the Chinese Civil War, the Soviet Union under leader Joseph Stalin invaded Xinjiang and assisted a local rebellion at Ili (Yining City). The rebellion led to the establishment of the Second East Turkistan Republic (1944–1949), which existed in three northern districts (Ili, Tarbaghatai, Altai) of Xinjiang with secret aid from the Soviet Union. After emerging (mostly) victorious at the conclusion of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the People's Liberation Army annexed Xinjiang from the ROC and the Second East Turkestan Republic.

Within the People's Republic of China (1949–present)

Ever since the Chinese economic reform from the late 1970s exacerbated uneven regional development, while Uyghurs have migrated to urbanizing Xinjiang cities, some Hans have also migrated to Xinjiang for independent economic advancement. Increased ethnic contact and labor competition coincided with Uyghur separatist terrorism from the 1990s, such as the 1997 Ürümqi bus bombings.[12]

A police roundup of suspected separatists during Ramadan resulted in large demonstrations that turned violent in February 1997 in an episode known as the Ghulja Incident that led to at least 9 deaths.[13] The Urumqi bus bombs of 25 February 1997, perhaps a response to the crackdown that followed the Ghulja Incident, killed 9 and injured 68. Speaking on separatist violence, Erkin Alptekin, a former East Turkestan National Congress chairman and prominent Uyghur activist, said: "We must emphasize dialog and warn our youth against the use of violence because it delegitimizes our movement".[14]

Recent events
See also: Xinjiang conflict and Xinjiang re-education camps

Despite much talk of separatism and terrorism in Xinjiang, especially after the 9-11 attacks in the United States and the US invasion of Afghanistan, the situation in Xinjiang was quiet from the late nineties through mid-2006. In 2005, Uygur author Nurmemet Yasin was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment for inciting separatism following his publication of an allegorical short story, "The Blue Pigeon".[15] Rebiya Kadeer claimed that Turkey is hampered from interfering with the Uyghurs because it recognizes that the Kurdish-Turkish conflict may receive interference from China in retaliation.[16]

Views on independence

Arguments in favor of independence

Several proponents of independence state that the Uyghurs have had a defined history in Xinjiang for "over 4000 years",[17] a claim which has neither been proven nor disproven. There are historical arguments for the independence of Xinjiang, such as the argument that the People's Republic of China is a colonial occupier of Xinjiang, rather than the sovereign state which has traditionally ruled over Xinjiang. Evidence for this argument usually consists of claims that the PRC is not the legitimate successor state to either the ROC (now based in Taiwan) or the previous imperial dynasty of China, which is the Qing dynasty, or that previous regimes were also illegitimate.[18]

Arguments against independence

The main camp which is opposed to Xinjiang (East Turkestan) independence is the Government of China and its supporters (including Chinese nationalists). China officially claims that Xinjiang has been part of China (the historical region) since the year 60 BCE, when the Han dynasty of China established the Protectorate of the Western Regions.[19] China claims that Xinjiang has always belonged to China even at times when it was occupied by several other countries. Historically, various Chinese governments have described invasions of Xinjiang as a sort of "reconquest" of previously lost territories ever since the Han and Tang dynasties.

Some Uyghur nationalist historians such as Turghun Almas claim that Uyghurs were distinct and independent from Chinese for 6000 years, and that all non-Uyghur peoples are non-indigenous immigrants to Xinjiang.[20] However, the Han Dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) established military colonies (tuntian) and commanderies (duhufu) to control Xinjiang from 120 BCE, while the Tang Dynasty (618–907) also controlled much of Xinjiang until the An Lushan rebellion.[21] Chinese historians refute Uyghur nationalist claims by pointing out the 2000-year history of Han settlement in Xinjiang, documenting the history of Mongol, Kazakh, Uzbek, Manchu, Hui, Xibo indigenes in Xinjiang, and by emphasizing the relatively late "westward migration" of the Huigu (equated with "Uyghur" by the PRC government) people from Mongolia the 9th century.[20] The name "Uyghur" was associated with a Buddhist people in the Tarim Basin in the 9th century, but completely disappeared by the 15th century, until it was revived by the Soviet Union in the 20th century.[22]

Chinese government views

The Chinese government considers all support for the East Turkestan independence movement to fall under the definitions of "terrorism, extremism, and separatism".[1] The Chinese government claims that the independence movement is largely funded and led by outside forces that seek to weaken China; it further claims that despite such movements, Xinjiang has made great economic strides, building up its infrastructure, improving its education system and increasing the average life expectancy.[23]

In 2020, the Chinese government has published a White Paper on Employment and Labor Rights in Xinjiang, which has been circulated via Xinhua, the Global Times and other public news channels. In this paper, the Chinese government maintains the view that its policies in Xinjiang are directed to realize the (constitutional) mandate to provide employment and the facilitation of employment as the most fundamental project for ensuring and improving people's wellbeing.[24]

Republic of China (Taiwan) views

Isa Yusuf Alptekin, the father of Erkin Aliptekin (the founder of the World Uyghur Congress) opposed independence of East Turkistan and served the Republic of China to undermine both the First East Turkestan Republic (1933-1934)[25] and the Second East Turkestan Republic (1944-1949).[26][27] He fled China after the Kuomintang's rule in mainland was replaced by the Communists.

Chinese Muslim General Ma Bufang, the Republic of China's (Taiwan) ambassador to Saudi Arabia between 1957 and 1961, in response to a request by a former Uyghur Mufti living in Saudi Arabia, Abdul Ahad Hamed for accommodations to be granted to Uyghurs with Republic of China citizenship living outside of China, sent the following letter, which rejected Abdul Ahad Hamed's demands and his usage of the term "East Turkestan", upholding the official position of the Republic of China (Taiwan) that Xinjiang was a part of China and that it did not recognize the East Turkestan independence movement.[28]

Organizations

Nonmilitant organizations
ETGIE members at Capitol Hill on 14 September 2004

In general, the wide variety of groups who seek independence can be distinguished by both the type of government they advocate and the role they believe an independent East Turkestan should play in international affairs. One of the most seminal events of the East Turkestan independence movement was the establishment of the East Turkistan Government-in-Exile by a group of immigrants led by Anwar Yusuf Turani in Washington D.C. on 14 September 2004.[29]


Nonmilitant organizations which support the East Turkestan independence movement are as follows:

Militant organizations

Some groups that support independence for East Turkestan are militant, most of which have been labeled terrorist organizations by many governments. For example, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM, also Turkistan Islamic Party), which has claimed responsibility for attacks in Xinjiang, has been identified as a terrorist organization by the governments of China, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Turkey and the United States (until October 2020),[30] as well as the United Nations.[31][2][32]

Historical support

Historically, organizations which have supported the East Turkestan independence movement include:

Soviet Union
Main articles: Ili Rebellion, Second East Turkestan Republic, and Xinjiang conflict

The Soviet Union supported the Uyghur Second East Turkestan Republic in the Ili Rebellion against the Republic of China. According to her autobiography, Dragon Fighter: One Woman's Epic Struggle for Peace with China, Rebiya Kadeer's father served with pro-Soviet Uyghur rebels under the Second East Turkestan Republic in the Ili Rebellion (Three Province Rebellion) in 1944–1946, using Soviet assistance and aid to fight the Republic of China government under Chiang Kai-shek.[37] Kadeer and her family were close friends with White Russian exiles living in Xinjiang and Kadeer recalled that many Uyghurs thought Russian culture was "more advanced" than that of the Uyghurs and they "respected" the Russians a lot.[38]

Many of the Turkic peoples of the Ili region of Xinjiang had close cultural, political, and economic ties with Russia and then the Soviet Union. Many of them were educated in the Soviet Union and a community of Russian settlers lived in the region. As a result, many of the Turkic rebels fled to the Soviet Union and obtained Soviet assistance in creating the Sinkiang Turkic People's Liberation Committee (STPNLC) in 1943 to revolt against Kuomintang rule during the Ili Rebellion.[39] The pro-Soviet Uyghur who later became leader of the revolt and the Second East Turkestan Republic, Ehmetjan Qasim, was Soviet educated and described as "Stalin's man".[40]

The Soviet Union incited separatist activities in Xinjiang through propaganda, encouraging Kazakhs to flee to the Soviet Union and attacking China. China responded by reinforcing the Xinjiang-Soviet border area specifically with Han Bingtuan militia and farmers.[41] The Soviet Union supported Uyghur nationalist propaganda and Uyghur separatist movements against China. The Soviet historians claimed that the Uyghur native land was Xinjiang and Uyghur nationalism was promoted by Soviet versions of history on turcology.[42] The East Turkestan People's Party received support from the Soviet Union.[43][44][45] During the 1970s, the Soviets supported the URFET to fight the Chinese.[46]

See also

References

Citations
  1. Hasan, Mehdi (15 September 2018). "Has China detained a million Uighur Muslims?". Al Jazeera (This is an interview published by the news channel Al Jazeera on the video-sharing website YouTube. The interview was conducted between the presenter of the show (named Mehdi Hasan), the chairman of the Uyghur Human Rights Project at the time (named Nury Turkel), and the vice president of the Center for China and Globalization at the time (named Victor Gao)). Archived from the original on 28 February 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2019. I know [what] the importance of law is in China. I really hope everyone respects the law. However, in Xinjiang, the major threat we face is terrorism and extremism and separatism, and I think the authorities have the right to ensure that innocent people are not harmed and that extreme versions of religions of all kinds are not penetrating through the population, and then people cannot misuse religion as an excuse to stir up trouble, to destabilize, and to bring the society to a halt. And I think the people are justified to that.
  2. "Governance Asia-Pacific Watch". United Nations. April 2007. Archived from the original on 17 July 2007. Retrieved 23 August 2007.
  3. "هؤلاء انغماسيو أردوغان الذين يستوردهم من الصين - عربي أونلاين". 3arabionline.com. 31 January 2017. Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  4. "Turkey lists "E. Turkestan Islamic Movement" as terrorists - People's Daily Online". En.people.cn. 3 August 2017. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  5. Martina, Michael; Blanchard, Ben; Spring, Jake (20 July 2016). Ruwitch, John; Macfie, Nick (eds.). "Britain adds Chinese militant group to terror list". Reuters. Archived from the original on 14 August 2017.
  6. "U.S.Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List" Archived 3 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved on 29 July 2014).
  7. Lynch, Colum (25 May 2018). "U.S. Once Jailed Uighurs, Now Defends Them at U.N." Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on 25 May 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2019. Chinese officials claim that a Germany-based organization led by Isa, the World Uyghur Congress, is a political wing of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, which the U.N. Security Council designated a terrorist organization in September 2002.
  8. Bellér-Hann, Ildikó (2008). "Place and People". Community Matters in Xinjiang, 1880-1949: Towards a Historical Anthropology of the Uyghur. Brill. pp. 35–38, 44–45.
  9. Priniotakis, Manolis (26 October 2001). "China's Secret Separatists: Uyghuristan's Ever-Lengthening Path to Independence". The American Prospect. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
  10. Pan, Guang (2006). "East Turkestan Terrorism and the Terrorist Arc: China's Post-9/11 Anti-Terror Strategy" (PDF). China and Eurasia Forum Quarterly. Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and Silk Road Studies Program. 4 (2): 19–24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 January 2011.
  11. Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons (1871). Accounts and papers of the House of Commons. Ordered to be printed. p. 35. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  12. Hopper & Webber 2009, pp. 173–175.
  13. "China: Human Rights Concerns in Xinjiang". Human Rights Watch Backgrounder. Human Rights Watch. 17 October 2001. Archived from the original on 12 November 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  14. Priniotakis, Manolis (19 December 2001). "China's Secret Separatists". The Prospect. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017.
  15. McDonald, Hamish (12 November 2005). "China battles to convince terror sceptics". The Age. Archived from the original on 30 March 2014.
  16. Kadeer, Rebiya (2009). Dragon Fighter One Woman's Epic Struggle for Peace with China. Kales Press. p. 273. ISBN 978-0-9798456-1-1.
  17. "Who are the Uyghurs?". East Turkestan Australian Association. Archived from the original on 1 July 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  18. "East Turkestan; Brief History". World Uyghur Congress. 29 September 2016. Archived from the original on 30 July 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  19. "About Xinjiang". Sinkiang China Government Official Website. Archived from the original on 3 June 2019. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  20. Bovingdon 2010, pp. 25, 30–31.
  21. Bovingdon 2010, pp. 25–26.
  22. Bovingdon 2010, p. 28.
  23. China White Paper on Xinjiang 26 May 2004
  24. Justifying Forced Labor in Xinjiang? A Review of the White Paper "Employment and Labor Rights in Xinjiang". Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344338157_Justifying_Forced_Labor_in_Xinjiang_A_Review_of_the_White_Paper_Employment_and_Labor_Rights_in_Xinjiang [accessed Nov 18 2020]
  25. "Excerpts from the British MP memorandum to UK Foreign Office on the East Turkistan Republic (1934)". East Turkistan Government in Exile. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  26. Kamalov, Ablet (2010). Millward, James A.; Shinmen, Yasushi; Sugawara, Jun (eds.). Uyghur Memoir literature in Central Asia on Eastern Turkistan Republic (1944-49). Studies on Xinjiang Historical Sources in 17-20th Centuries. Tokyo: The Toyo Bunko. p. 260.
  27. Ondřej Klimeš (8 January 2015). Struggle by the Pen: The Uyghur Discourse of Nation and National Interest, c.1900-1949. BRILL. pp. 197–. ISBN 978-90-04-28809-6.
  28. Page 52, Ismail, Mohammed Sa'id, and Mohammed Aziz Ismail. Moslems in the Soviet Union and China. Translated by U.S. Government, Joint Publications Service. Tehran, Iran: Privately printed pamphlet, published as vol. 1, 1960 (Hejira 1380); translation printed in Washington: JPRS 3936, 19 September 1960.
  29. "China Protests Establishment of Uighur Government-in-Exile in Washington – 2004-09-21". Voice of America. 29 October 2009.
  30. Lipes, Joshua (5 November 2020). "US Drops ETIM From Terror List, Weakening China's Pretext For Xinjiang Crackdown". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  31. Cody, Edward (10 May 2006). "China demands that Albania return ex-U.S. detainees". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 27 February 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  32. "Country Reports". United States Department of State. 27 April 2004. Archived from the original on 2 October 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  33. Dillon 2003, p. 57.
  34. Clarke 2011, p. 69.
  35. Nathan, Andrew James; Scobell, Andrew (2013). China's Search for Security (illustrated ed.). Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-51164-3.
  36. Eastern Turkistan Liberation Organization Archived 27 January 2006 at the Wayback Machine MIPT Terror Knowledge Base
  37. Kadeer 2009, p. 9.
  38. Kadeer 2009, p. 13.
  39. Forbes 1986, p. 173.
  40. Forbes 1986, p. 174.
  41. Starr 2004, p. 138.
  42. Bellér-Hann 2007, p. 37.
  43. Dillon (2003), p. 57.
  44. Clarke (2011), p. 69.
  45. Nathan & Scobell (2012), p. 278.
  46. Reed & Raschke (2010), p. 37.

Sources
  •  This article incorporates text from Accounts and papers of the House of Commons, a publication from 1871, now in the public domain in the United States.

Further reading
  • Burhan Shahidi, Xinjiang wushi nian [Fifty Years in Xinjiang], (Beijing, Wenshi ziliao, 1984).
  • Clubb, O. E., China and Russia: The 'Great Game'. (NY, Columbia, 1971).
  • Forbes, A. D. W. Warlords and Muslims in Chinese Central Asia: A Political History of Republic Sinkiang, 1911–1949 (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1986).
  • Gladney, Dru C. (2013). Separatism in China: The case of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Secessionism and Separatism in Europe and Asia: To have a state of one's own. Routledge. pp. 220–236.
  • Hasiotis, A. C. Jr. Soviet Political, Economic and Military Involvement in Sinkiang from 1928 to 1949 (NY, Garland, 1987).
  • Hierman, Brent (2007). "The Pacification of Xinjiang: Uighur Protest and the Chinese State, 1988–2002". Problems of Post-Communism 54 (3): 48–62.
  • Khakimbaev A. A., 'Nekotorye Osobennosti Natsional'no-Osvoboditel'nogo Dvizheniya Narodov Sin'tszyana v 30-kh i 40-kh godakh XX veka' [Some Characters of the National-Liberation Movement of the Xinjiang Peoples in 1930s and 1940s], in Materially Mezhdunarodnoi Konferentsii po Problemam Istorii Kitaya v Noveishchee Vremya, Aprel' 1977, Problemy Kitaya (Moscow, 1978) pp. 113–118.
  • Lattimore, O., Pivot of Asia: Sinkiang and the Inner Asian Frontiers of China (Boston, Little, Brown & Co., 1950).
  • Rakhimov, T. R. 'Mesto Bostochno-Turkestanskoi Respubliki (VTR) v Natsional'no-Osvoboditel'noi Bor'be Narodov Kitaya' [Role of the Eastern Turkestan Republic (ETR) in the National Liberation Struggle of the Peoples in China], A paper presented at 2-ya Nauchnaya Konferentsiya po Problemam Istorii Kitaya v Noveishchee Vremya, (Moscow, 1977), pp. 68–70.
  • Shichor, Yitzhak. (2005). Blow Up: Internal and External Challenges of Uyghur Separatism and Islamic Radicalism to Chinese Rule in Xinjiang. Asian Affairs: An American Review. 32(2), 119–136.
  • Taipov, Z. T., V Bor'be za Svobodu [In the Struggle for Freedom], (Moscow, Glavnaya Redaktsiya Vostochnoi Literaturi Izdatel'stvo Nauka, 1974).
  • Wang, D., 'The Xinjiang Question of the 1940s: the Story behind the Sino-Soviet Treaty of August 1945', Asian Studies Review, vol. 21, no.1 (1997) pp. 83–105.
  • Wang, D., 'The USSR and the Establishment of the Eastern Turkestan Republic in Xinjiang', Journal of Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica, vol.25 (1996) pp. 337–378.
  • Yakovlev, A. G., 'K Voprosy o Natsional'no-Osvoboditel'nom Dvizhenii Norodov Sin'tzyana v 1944–1949', [Question on the National Liberation Movement of the Peoples in Xinjiang in 1944–1945], in Uchenie Zapiski Instituta Voctokovedeniia Kitaiskii Spornik vol.xi, (1955) pp. 155–188.
  • Wang, D., Clouds over Tianshan: essays on social disturbance in Xinjiang in the 1940s, Copenhagen, NIAS, 1999
  • Wang, D., Under the Soviet shadow: the Yining Incident: ethnic conflicts and international rivalry in Xinjiang, 1944–1949, Hong Kong, The Chinese University Press, 1999.
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