Silk Road Strife

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnV7ajebXwM&hl=en&fs=1&]

I am more exhausted than indignant about street violence that is going on in Xinjiang this week. The Uighurs have been on my radar for a long time, and I feel that I should have more to say about the situation than I do.

I was first exposed to the Uighur issue by the Japanese graphic novel Eden: It’s An Endless World. Volumes nine and ten deal with a recurring character fighting alongside Uighur separatist fighters who are lead by a charismatic young woman Marihan Ishak who lays out the situation the Uighur people face. Most of the important government institutions in Xinjiang are occupied by Han Chinese for the benefit of Han migrants,  correspondingly to the detriment of the native Uighur people. Uighur migrants in the metropolitan areas out East are discriminated against and most Han stereotype Uighurs as either criminals or terrorists. As is the case in Southeast Asia, Han Chinese dominate the economy in Xinjiang, a fact that adds class tension to the ethnic tension. The spark that set off the latest violence was brawl between Uighur and Han workers in a Shaoguan factory in Guangdong on June 26.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK_3kYDoNqI&w=425&h=344]

After I came to know of the ethnic tension between Uighurs and Han Chinese, I got my hands on some delightful Uighur pop music (mirror). I describe the music as a mix of dub and Turkic music. Uzbek-nationality Uighur pop stars Nadira and Sharizoda are highly recommended.

I sympathize with the Uighurs more than the other beseiged West China minority, the Tibetans, due to the cultural and geographic proximity to Pakistan and the fact that Uighurs don’t have a lot of well-meaning hippies on their side. In their minds Uighurs are scary Muslims while Tibetans are cuddly Buddhists.


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