Xinjiang has a long history. Today, the northwestern region of China is making headlines mainly because of the human rights violations against the ethnic minorities living there.

Ürümqi – This is the capital of the Autonomous Region – AR – Xinjiang in short in the People’s Republic China. Xinjiang is also known as East Turkestan. For some time now, the area has been making headlines due to the human rights abuses committed by the Chinese Communist Party there.

Xinjiang: geography of the region in China

Xinjiang is located in the far northwest of China. Although there are several historic cities in Xinjiang, such as Kashgar or Gaochang, the capital city of Ürümqi is still relatively young. Domestically, the autonomous region borders the provinces of Qinghai, Gansu, and the Tibetan autonomous region. Outside of China, Xinjiang is connected to the following countries:

• Pakistan
• India
• Afghanistan
• Kyrgyzstan
• Tajikistan
• Russia
• Kazakhstan
• Mongolia

The borders with India and Pakistan lie in the disputed Kashmir region. Overall, the border line of Xinjiang is 5,600 kilometers long, accounting for a quarter of China’s entire border line.

To the southwest, Xinjiang holds the Pamir, Himalayas, and Karakoram mountains. While the northern part of the earthquake-prone area is formed by Dzungaria, the Tarim Basin dominates most of the rest of the region. There is also the Taklamakan Desert.

Taklamakan Desert

Taklamakan is the second largest desert in the world. The dunes are over 100 meters high – some reports say they are as high as 300 meters. There are also several salt lakes in the desert. The climate is very dry with less than 30 millimeters of rainfall per year. Temperatures fluctuate greatly throughout the day: it can be over 60 degrees during the day and cool down to minus twelve degrees at night.

The Taklamakan Desert is famous for Kara Buran, the “black sandstorm”. Between February and June, it regularly spews tons of sand, often darkening the sky. Kara Buran sometimes lasts for days or weeks. The resulting dust haze often greatly reduces solar radiation. The storm buried many caravans and even cities. In addition, as part of Xinjiang, Taklamakan is prone to earthquakes, which also causes it to be considered very dangerous to life.

Xinjiang in China: History of the Ancient Territory and the Middle Ages

Xinjiang has a long history. In the 1st millennium BC. BC many nomadic and settled ethnic groups inhabited the area. The Chinese emperor Han Wudi (156 to 87 BC) first conquered the Tarim Basin for China and opened up the Silk Road long-distance trading network. As a result, cities in Xinjiang and in the Tarim Basin developed into trading centers where Chinese, Persian, Sogdian, Syrian-Aramaic, and Jewish traders also settled.

In the 2nd-3rd centuries BC. The area then came under the rule of the Xiongnu. 104 BC China reconquers the area during the Han Dynasty. However, in 25, China had to surrender the Xinjiang Empire back to the Xiongnu and reconquered it only in 73. In the 9th century, most of the Uyghur nomads migrated from Baikal to Xinjiang. The reason for this was the destruction of the great Kyrgyz empire in Mongolia. In the Turfan Basin in Xinjiang, the Uyghurs built their own state. He became a follower of the Kara-Kitan in the 12th century. Later, the Mongols conquered the area and incorporated it into the Chagatai Khanate. Chagataic became the most respected and dominant language in Xinjiang and the Tarim Basin in the Middle Ages. It even displaces older languages ​​and thereby assimilates its speakers.

China’s Xinjiang Region: Modern Age and Modernity

In 1757, the Qing Empire of China under Emperor Qianlong finally conquered the area. During the Qing dynasty, Djungaria and the Tarim Basin merged to form the Xinjiang Province. The name Xinjiang means “New Frontier”. In 1876 Russia conquered parts of China and Xinjiang was also considered a zone of influence of the Russian Empire. Up until the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the Soviet Union exerted a great influence on today’s AR. The Soviet Union maintained military bases in Xinjiang and dominated the economy.

First Chinese President Yuan Shikai and Governor Yang Zengxin eventually established a military dictatorship in Xinjiang. In 1933, Sheng Shicai came to power. He accepted Soviet influence and built up the economy in Xinjiang with the help of the Soviet Union. In the 1940s, in search of allies, Sheng turned to the Guomindang and became an extreme anti-communist. His rule ended on January 5, 1945 with the “Triple Region Revolution”. The revolutionaries proclaimed the Republic of East Turkestan, but this was not recognized anywhere in the world. A year later, the nationalist and revolutionary-democratic forces in Xinjiang reached an agreement and thus formed a coalition government. In 1949, Xinjiang was incorporated into the People’s Republic of China. In 1955, Xinjiang was declared the Uyghur Autonomous Region.

Xinjiang: Flag Conflict

From 1933 to 1934, the first East Turkistan Islamic Republic was established in parts of Xinjiang. Their flag, based on the Turkish model, is light blue with a white crescent and star above it. The character stands for Islam; Blue represents the Turkish community. This includes Uighurs. The Second Republic of East Turkestan, founded after World War II and supporting the Soviet Union, also flew a similar flag among others. The crescent moon and star point to the upper left, and in addition to a blue background, the motif is shown on a red background. When the People’s Republic of China was founded on October 1, 1949, all parts of Xinjiang were included. Currently, flag-raising is prohibited throughout China. The government rejects separatist currents in Xinjiang.

Xinjiang in China: Population and current situation of the region

Uighurs, Han and Mongolians now make up the largest proportion of the approximately 25.2 million people in Xinjiang, with the Uighur population most frequently represented. The majority of Uyghurs are Muslims. They continued a tradition whose origins go back to Central Asian Turko-Persians.

The Muslim minority has come under power Xi Jinping persecuted, monitored, imprisoned and tortured. Because these human rights violations occurred in a police state, an on-site independent investigation would be nearly impossible. These sources are based largely on satellite imagery and testimony from those affected who were successfully exiled. UN estimates indicate that up to one million people were arbitrarily taken to detention camps and held there, as well as being politically and culturally indoctrinated. Additionally, alleged contraceptive interventions such as sterilization were mentioned. The Chinese government officially confirmed in 2018 that such camps existed. However, he denied the harassment and spoke of the training center he visited voluntarily.

China’s Xinjiang Region: Politics

The Xinjiang region has its own local government and is divided into four prefecture-level cities, five autonomous prefectures, and five governorates. Ten of the 26 district-level cities are directly under the autonomous regional government. It manages the cities together with the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. As an autonomous region, the administrative unit is at the provincial level and is inhabited by ethnic minorities. They have special legislative rights. They enjoy constitutional independence in the following areas:

• Culture
• art
• Science
• Other tax, social and financial matters
• Local police organization
• economic planning
• Use of own language

But in practice, China does not respect these rights.