Eastern Turkestan Information Bulletin Vol. 4 No. 2
Published by Eastern Turkestan Union in Europe
Eastern Turkestan Information Bulletin Vol. 4 No. 2 (June 1994)
WHY NON-VIOLENCE ?
In 1759 independent Eastern Turkestan was invaded by the Manchu rulers of China, but this and subsequent invasions achieved no permanent success until 1876. On November 18, 1884 the Manchu invaders annexed the territory under the name 'Xinjiang," meaning "New Territory."
In 1911 Manchu rule in China was overthrown by the Nationalist Chinese movement which then set up a republic in China. In 1949 the Nationalist Chinese government was, in turn, overthrown by the Communist Chinese revolution. After that Eastern Turkestan fell under Chinese Communist rule.
Since occupying the country in 1949, Chinese authorities have pursued a policy aimed at the assimilation of the peoples of Eastern Turkestan, eliminating their culture and exterminating their belief.
Today the peoples of Eastern Turkestan are waging a life and death struggle for survival. Fundamental individual human rights and freedoms, including civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights continue to be violated by the Chinese authorities. Eastern Turkestani people seeking only to live with dignity continue to be killed, tortured and imprisoned. This fact has been documented by international organizations such as Amnesty International, Asia Watch and the Geselschaft fur bedrohte Volker.
Despite policies of political oppression, the cultural genocide and economic exploitation the peoples of Eastern Turkestan, with the support of the international community, are determined to continue their struggle for democracy, respect for human rights and self-determination through non-violent methods.
Eastern Turkestan, situated astride the historic Silk Road linking East and West, has become the home of ethnic, religious and linguistic groups including the Turkic Uighurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, and Tartars and the lndo-European Tajiks, all of whom are traditionally Muslim peoples, Yellow Uighurs, Tibetans, Mongols and Manchus who are Buddhists, Orthodox Christian Russians, the Manichian Christian Uighurs of Lop Nor and others. For centuries these peoples have lived together peacefully accepting Eastern Turkestan as their motherland and they all share a longing for democracy, respect for human rights and self-determination. In this atmosphere they have for centuries contributed to the enrichment of world civilization. Reminders of these contributions can be seen today in the museums of Berlin, London, Paris, Tokyo, St. Petersburg and New Delhi.
At a time when human beings around the world are being killed, tortured and burned alive because of their ethnic, cultural and religious identities the peoples of Eastern Turkestan would like to demonstrate that peoples with very different backgrounds are still able to live in peace with one another, even under the pressure of a systematic Chinese policy of setting one against the other. They believe that without peace at home they cannot contribute to peace in the world. Today the historically close relationship of Turks, Mongols and Tibetans, Muslims Buddhists and Christians continues to provide mutual support and protection at home and abroad. The Allied Committee of the Peoples of Eastern Turkestan, Inner Mongolia and Tibet was established in 1984 to further this cause through non-violent methods.
There have, indeed, been times when the peoples of Eastern Turkestan were driven to rise up against provocations by the Chinese authorities. Such reaction has, however, resulted in the massacre of more than two million Eastern Turkestanis, the night of 600 thousand to neighboring countries, the banishment of 200 thousand to interior parts of China and the imprisonment of 500 thousand.
Thus, the leaders of Eastern Turkestan have come to the conclusion that democracy, respect for human rights, and self determination cannot be achieved through violent means, but only through peaceful methods. Armed resistance leads only to the destruction of the peoples who would be helped. Non-violence is the only way for the peoples of Eastern Turkestan to carry on their struggle without providing the Chinese authorities a pretext for the slaughter and increased repression that already burden these peoples.
The peoples of Eastern Turkestan adhere to internationally accepted agreements on self-determination, human rights and the principles of democracy. They reject totalitarianism, religious intolerance and destruction of the natural environment .They understand that the pursuit of their legal rights cannot be used to justify terrorism. It was in this spirit that Eastern Turkestanis were among the founding members of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), which seeks to provide a voice for all such peoples and nations who deplore violence and terrorism.
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ISA YUSUF ALPTEKIN HONORS OZAL
Eastern Turkestani leader Isa Yusuf Alptekin was invited to participate in ceremonies commemorating the first anniversary of the death of the late President of Turkey, Turgut Ozal.
AIptekin, who has resided in Istanbul for many years, told the gathering that Turgut Ozal had been not only a personal friend, but also a friend of the peoples of Eastern Turkestan and an active supporter of their cause. AIptekin told the gathering of his last meeting with Ozal. At that time the Eastern Turkestani leader had explained that after a lifetime of more than 90 years dedication to the struggle for self-determination of the peoples of Eastern Turkestan he was entrusting the Eastern Turkestani cause to Ozal. According to AIptekin, The late Turkish President had replied, I declare that I have taken delivery of the Eastern Turkestani cause. The Turkic republics formerly under Soviet rule have all declared independence. Now it is the turn of Eastern Turkestan. It is our desire to seen the ancient homeland of the Turkic peoples a free country.
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A CASSETTE FROM EASTERN TURKESTAN
A group calling themselves "Lawyers for Justice' has sent a recorded cassette to the Eastern Turkestani Union in Europe describing the present situation in the country.
We have briefly summarized the contents of the cassette as follows:
"We are a group of lawyers struggling for justice in Eastern Turkestan. At present the peoples of Eastern Turkestan, Uighurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tartars, Uzbeks, Tajiks, and others, have no rights whatsoever. They are strangers in their own country. The Chinese constitution promises self-rule to the peoples of Eastern Turkestan, but in reality virtually all important posts are occupied by Chinese. For statistical reasons some important posts have been given to the peoples of Eastern Turkestan, but these are in fact used to protect Chinese interests.
"Self-rule aside, the equality between the Chinese and the peoples of Eastern Turkestan long promised by the Chinese constitution has not been realized. The peoples of Eastern Turkestan have no right in the decision-making process concerning their own affairs. They do not have the right to elect their own leadership, but are obliged to elect those who can serve only the Chinese interests. The Chinese constitution says that national minorities have the right to use their own languages in written and spoken form. In Eastern Turkestan, however, the official language is not Turkic but Chinese. Correspondence in one of the Turkic languages has no legal validity.
The Economic system in Eastern Turkestan is geared to favor the Chinese. Despite the country's national wealth, the peoples of Eastern Turkestan live at a bare subsistence level. Ninety percent of jobs in all walks of life are occupied by Chinese. The same is true in the educational field. It is estimated that almost 60 percent of the adult population in Eastern Turkestan are illiterate. Ninety-seven percent of the students graduated from middle schools are not able to enter institutions of higher education. Every year thousands of Chinese students are sent to study abroad, but very few students from Eastern Turkestan are given permission to study in foreign countries. There are officially 7.5 million Uighurs, but only six Uighur academicians. On the eve of the twenty-first century the peoples of Eastern Turkestan do not even have a modern encyclopedia, contemporary dictionaries or scientific books in their mother tongues. The fear of persecution makes Uighur, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and other national minority scholars hesitant to write on any topic that is not in the interest of the Chinese with the result that most scholars doing research in scientific fields are Chinese.
"Almost all doctors working in hospitals are Chinese. They do not speak the language of the peoples of Eastern Turkestan, and without this communication patients have difficulty explaining their problems. In many cases an illness has become incurable by the time patient and doctor have found a way to understand each other. The lack of proper medical treatment means that as many as 70 percent of the sick are actually dying.
"Coercive birth control policies, population transfers and continued nuclear testing have created other problems among the peoples of Eastern Turkestan. The injustices suffered by the peoples of Eastern Turkestan cannot be enumerated on a single cassette. We are sending you only a brief summary of our concerns. Several time we have appealed to the Chinese authorities to correct these injustices, which are in defiance of the Chinese constitution. Instead of acting to rectify the injustices authorities have accused us of inciting 'nationalism, separatism,' and 'feelings of hatred amongst the peoples of China.' What should we do now?"
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LI PENG TRIP AROUSES PROTEST
Chinese Prime Minister Li Peng has completed a 12-day trip to the Central Asian republics of Western Turkestan during which he met with President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan, President Sapar Murat Niyazov of Turkmenistan, President Askar Alcayev of Kyrgyzstan and President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan. During the trip the Chinese Prime Minister signed economic, cultural and trade agreements with all of these republics. In Turkmenistan Li Peng signed a memorandum to study the construction of a gas pipeline to China across Turkmenistan, Iran and Eastern Turkestan. Two "historic" border agreements were concluded with Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
At the conclusion of his visit Li Peng called the trip a great success. Despite pressuring the Central Asian republics to back Beijing's policies, particularly regarding Taiwan, Tibet and Eastern Turkestan, Li Peng denied that China was trying to dominate the newly independent states. The Chinese leader's assertion that these policies were supported by the Central Asian republics could not be confirmed through the offices of the presidents of those countries. Li Peng also claimed that he had received assurances of support from regional leaders for China's struggle against "separatists" in Eastern Turkestan, but there was no immediate comment from regional leaders themselves.
According to Tevfik Yalvac, a Turkish journalist stationed in Almaty, hundreds of Eastern Turkestani Uighurs, Kazakhs and Kyrgyz had defied an official ban and staged demonstrations in Almaty, the Kazakh capital, protesting Li Peng's visit and calling on Chinese authorities to allow democracy, respect for human rights and self-determination in Eastern Turkestan. Opposition leaders in Central Asia have accused the Chinese government of trying to establish good relations with the Turkic republics of Central Asia while oppressing the same peoples living in Eastern Turkestan. According to Yalvac, Amantay Asilbek, chairman of Kazahkstan's Azat (Independent) Party, called on Li Peng to respect the human rights of Kazakhs, Uighurs and other non-Chinese peoples in Eastern Turkestan, immediately to halt nuclear testing at Lop Nor and to stop actively promoting the settlement of Chinese families in Eastern Turkestan.
Opposition newspapers such as Erk of Uzbekistan, Atamekan of Kazakhstan and Asaba of Kyrgyzstan published articles calling on China to stop its deliberate attempt to flood the Central Asian Turkic republics with Chinese settlers. They claimed that since the independence of the Central Asian republics more than 300,000 chinese had settled in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The Chinese were accused of trying to dominate the Central Asian republics, just as in Eastern Turkestan, through the planned influx of Chinese settlers. The papers also complained of the poor quality of Chinese goods exported to the Central Asian republics.
Azat Akimbek, Vice-Chairman of Semy-Nevada, Lop Nor Anti-Nuclear Movement. said that ecologists and environmentalists had voted in a closed conference in Almaty to send an open letter to Li Peng saying that China's nuclear tests in Lop Nor were not only detrimental to Eastern Turkestan, but were also having a direct negative effect on people in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan and the world in general. Olcas Suleymanov, Chairman of the Semy-Nevada, Lop Nor Anti-Nuclear Movement, presided at the meeting. Suleymanov an ethnic Kazakh parliamentarian, is also Chairman of the Congress Party, the second largest party in Kazakhstan.
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CHINA PREPARING ANOTHER NUCLEAR TEST
China is likely to carry out two underground nuclear tests at Lop Nor, Eastern Turkestan this year according to Patricia Lewis. Director of the Verification Technology Information Centre (VERTlC). China is the only nuclear power still conducting tests. The United States, Russia, France, and Britain have all suspended testing for the time being. Since October 16,1964 there have been 39 nuclear tests at Lop Nor. The most recent test was conducted on October 5, 1993.
There are no official figures on the number of nuclear victims in Eastern Turkestan, but it has been reported by residents in various parts of the country that more than 200,000 deaths have been caused by radioactive fallout. It has been reported that ten percent of the population around Lop Nor suffer from cancer, and many babies have been born with horrible deformities. The tragedy is compounded by the pollution of drinking water, animals and food stuffs, and polluted districts bordering the nuclear test site do not even receive elementary medical aid.
In March 1993 hundreds of Eastern Turkestanis attacked the Chinese nuclear test site at Lop Nor and caused severe damage to the complex. Despite international protests Chinese Communists are determined to pursue their nuclear ambitions which threaten not only the peoples of Eastern Turkestan but world peace as a whole.
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BAREN VICTIMS REMEMBERED
Eastern Turkestanis living in the five Central Asian republics of Western Turkestan, in Turkey and in Europe commemorated the fourth anniversary of the Baren uprising with special meetings, gatherings and press conferences.
In this connection Kehriman Gojamberdi, Chairman of the Inter-Republic Eastern Turkestan Association, organized a large meeting in Almaty on April 9. In addition to Eastern Turkestanis living in Almaty, the meeting was attended by representatives of the Kazakh political parties Jeltoksan and Ayat and representatives of the Tartars, Mongols and other minority groups.
On April 5, 1990 an armed uprising provoked by Chinese Communists broke out in Baren township in Aktu county in Eastern Turkestan. Armed police forces, militiamen and units of the People's Liberation Army were dispatched to Baren. An additional 200,000 special anti-riot forces were sent to Eastern Turkestan from Lanzhou Military District. Witnesses reported that tanks and fighters were used to bomb townships in the area. Nine townships were bombed and almost 1.000 Eastern Turkestanis and 600 Chinese soldiers and policemen died during the clashes.
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ZIYA SAMEDI TURNS 80
The eminent Uighur scholar, writer and statesman Ziya Samedi celebrated his 80th birthday in Almaty. Samedi was born in Honihey county, Panfilov province of Kazakhstan in 1914.
Samedi, who in 1939 was obliged to emigrate to Eastern Turkestan, took an active pan in the Iii Revolution against the role of Chinese warlords in Eastern Turkestan. This revolution resulted in the establishment of the second independent Republic of Eastern Turkestan in 1944. After the Chinese Communist occupation of Eastern Turkestan in 1949 Samedi served as Minister of Culture, Chairman of the Writers' Union and Chairman of the Journalists' Union until his forced immigration to Kazakhstan 1961.
Ziya Samedi has written several novels, research papers and articles on Uigur history, culture and civilization. Among his novels translated into other Turkic languages. Russian and Ukrainian Mayimhan dealt with the Uighur independence struggle against Manchu rule in the 19th century, Yillar Sirri (Secret of Years) with the struggle for independence against the Chinese between 1931 and 1933, and Illi Deryasi Boyida (On the Banks of the Ili River) with the Uighur independence struggle of 1949. Mayimhan was turned into a film in Kazakhstan in 1981.
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UIGHUR COMPOSER PASSES AWAY
The well-known Uighur composer Professor Dr. Quddus Gojamyarov died in April in Almaty. Prof. Gojamyarov was 76 years old. He was born in the village of Emgekchikazak near the Eastern Turkestan-Kazakhstan border on May
21, 1918, the son of an Uighur farmer who moved to Kazakh territory in the 19th century. After completing his studies Gojamyarov devoted his life to composing Uighur symphonic music, ballet and opera. Among his best-known works are his symphony Abdullah Rozibakiev, dedicated to the founder of Soviet Uighur literature, and his operas Nazugum and Sadir Pehilvan based on Uighur folk heroes. Taklamakan, about Eastern Turkestan's great desert, and Ching Tomur Batur, about another Uighur hero.
Prof. Gojamyarov, who spent most of his life in Almaty, worked not only with Uighur music, but also helped improve the quality of Kazakh music and that of other minorities in Kazakhstan and helped establish the Kazakh Symphony orchestra. Prof. Gojamyarov, whose work was acknowledged throughout the USSR, was given the title "USSR and Kazakhstan People's Artist."
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UIGHUR LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER IN KYRGYZSTAN
The first issue of the Arabic script Uighur language newspaper Ittifak (Unity) has been published in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek. Appearing on April 1, 1994 the first issue included notes of congratulation from Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev, Chairman of the Constitutional Court Cholpan Baekova and Chairman of the Kyrgyz Parliament Sopuk Begaliev.
The eight-page newspaper is intended to enhance the patriotic aspirations of Uighurs living in Kyrgyzstan as well as inform them about happenings at home and abroad. The editor-in-chief of the paper is Kuran Abdullah, an Uighur journalist who immigrated to Kyrgyzstan after the 1949 Chinese occupation of Eastern Turkestan. At present there are almost 40,000 Uighurs living in Kyrgyzstan.
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MUNICH MAYOR SUPPORTS UIGHURS
Christian Ude, Mayor of Munich. capital of the German state of Bavaria. in a letter to Erkin AIptekin, Chairman of the Eastern Turkestani Union in Europe. promised that he would do everything possible to prevent Uighur asylum seekers being deported to China. Ude's letter was in response to Alptekin's appeal after Bavarian authorities had rejected the application of four Uighurs for political asylum in Germany. The four had been forced to leave Eastern Turkestan after participating in peaceful demonstrations against repressive Chinese policies. There have been fears that Bavarian authorities might reject the requests of another five Uighur asylum seekers.
The Tibet Support Group in Germany, the Society for Threatened Peoples and various Uighur friends have voiced their support for Uighurs faced with the danger of deportation.
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DALAI LAMA URGES PRESSURE ON CHINA
His Holiness the Dalai Lama, spiritual and political leader of Tibet, told reporters in Washington that the United States ought to maintain pressure on China's human rights practices by threatening to withhold trade privileges. The remarks were made on April 28 before a meeting with U.S. President Bill Clinton.
During the meeting the Dalai Lama told the U.S. president of Chinese human rights abuses in Tibet, Inner Mongolia and Eastern Turkestan. China meanwhile, has sharply protested calling the meeting a serious interference in China's internal affairs.
During a visit to Bonn the Dalai Lama, who is also the common spokesman of the Allied Committee of the Peoples of Eastern Turkestan, Tibet and Inner Mongolia, urged German leaders not to sacrifice their human rights concerns for closer ties with China The Dalai Lama's visit to Germany was sponsored by a foundation linked to the Free Democrats, junior partners in Germany's coalition government. In Bonn His Holiness met with several senior politicians, including Speaker of Parliament Rita Suessmuth.
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GROUP SAYS SITUATION IN CHINA WORSE
The New York based human rights group Asia Watch and the U S section of Amnesty International in two separate recent reports accused the Chinese authorities with' widespread human rights abuses, torture and degrading treatment of political prisoners.
According to Asia Watch, arrests, trials and torture have reached their highest level since the 1990 crackdown on the democracy movement at Tiananmen. The report said the Chinese leaders are confident that economic interests will outweigh human rights concerns.
"As a result, Beijing appears to have opted for a policy of conscious crackdown mixed with minimal, superficial concessions while at the same time intensifying and extending overall repression of dissent," the report said. In a press conference, William Schultze, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, said that the Chinese authorities' use of thumbscrews and electric prods against political prisoners was widespread in mainland China in general and in Tibet, Inner Mongolia and Eastern Turkestan in particular.
Both Asia Watch and Amnesty International reports cane as Washington was debating the renewal of China's Most Favored Nation trading status, which allows lower duties on imports and is granted to virtually all major U.S. trading partners.
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CHINA ADMITS LAWLESSNESS IN COUNTRYSIDE
China has admitted to a serious breakdown of law and order in parts of its countryside, where 90 percent of China's population lives, with warlords, bandits and feuding clans running rampant as peasants try to get rich.
The Chinese official Legal Daily has advocated a harsh crackdown to restore order by saying We must tenaciously punish offenders. Our hands must not be soft. It must not be done badly...
In some areas, the article said, Village social order is out of control. Local officials are weak and lax and some already paralyzed. The paper placed much of the blame on China's bold economic reforms which have created a new class of wealthy city entrepreneurs, but left much of the countryside poor .The intense contrast between a rapid expansion of consumer consciousness and comparatively low economic incomes has caused some of the peasantry to lose their psychological balance and slide into crime, the paper said.
The countryside now has problems of theft, murder, explosions, rape, prostitution, and kidnapping of women and children, the daily added. Local strongmen take advantage of the breakdown in authority to become village warlords, landlords, waterlords and grain warlords monopolizing resources to the extent that they become Mafia-like black societies.
if this is the situation in mainland China, one can imagine how Chinese warlords are running occupied territories like Eastern Turkestan, Inner Mongolia and Tibet. It has also been reported that opposition against the Chinese leadership among dissidents, workers and the army is gradually growing.
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SALINAS RESPONDS TO ALPTEKIN'S LETTER
In a letter Carlos Salinas de Gotari, President of Mexico, thanked Erkin Alptekin, chairman of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), for the offer of UNPO's assistance in mediation between the Mexican government and the Zapatistas to stop bloodshed and resolve the conflict through peaceful means. The offer was, however, declined by the Mexican President.
When conflict erupted between the Zapatistas and security forces in Chiapas, AIptekin wrote to President Salinas offering UNPO's good offices, experts and other appropriate services to all parties in the conflict to promote just, fair and lasting solutions, despite the fact that UNPO has no member nations or peoples in Mexico.
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UNPO CONFERENCE ON "CONFLICT PREVENTION"
The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization General Secretariat organized a special round table conference on "Conflict Prevention" in The Hague on April 18. Besides the Ambassadors of Italy, The United States, Switzerland, Austria, Mexico, Sweden, Russia, Algeria and India, the Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister, CSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, and UN Under Secretary for Political Affairs, representatives of various international human rights and conflict resolution organizations participated in the conference. Eastern Turkestan, a member of UNPO, was represented by Kamil Abbas, of the Eastern Turkestani Union in Europe.
The aim of the conference was to review and explore present policies and activities in the field of conflict prevention and to seek ways to improve their effectiveness, particularly with respect to tensions and conflicts between states and population groups within those states.
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PRESS NOTES
Li Peng's visit to Central Asia evoked many articles in the Western press several of which included special reference to Eastern Turkestan. The U.S. publication Newsweek on May 2 reported on the Chinese Prime Minister's trip in an article entitled Reopening the Old Silk Road. Analyzing Beijing's efforts to woo neighboring Kazakhstan the weekly wrote: "But Kazakhstan's cooperation is far from certain. It is reluctant to antagonize its Uighur cousins - long feared in the region for their militancy - and doesn't want to alienate the 1 million Kazakhs living in China."
Aramco World, March-April, published a lengthy and well illustrated article entitles The Cradle Of the Turks much of which was devoted to the ancient Uighur's history, culture and civilization. The author, John Lawton, traveled through the newly independent republics of Western Turkestan as well as Mongolia and Eastern Turkestan where he visited ancient remnants of Turkic culture.
GEO, a German monthly magazine included a long and well photographed article, Through Wild Turkestan, in its February issue. The article by Andreas Altman explored the ancient trading routes crossing Eastern Turkestan.
EASTERN TURKESTAN in the international press
Reopening the Old Silk Road
China:
Li travels an ancient route with a new goal
Newsweek May 2, 1994
I N A RUSTIC INN AT THE FOOT OF A
mountain road, Stephano Vayersky is downing shots of vodka with two friends. It's a typically Russian way to pass an evening-except the drink is Chinese-brewed and the tavern marks the entrance on the Chinese side to the hairpin Turogart Pass, connecting China's Xinjiang province with the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan. Vayersky and his friends are truck drivers, plying the same routes that marked the ancient Silk Road used by camel caravans carrying goods between East and West, With the breakup of the Soviet Union. Central Asia's cross-border traffic is again picking up speed, forging a new Silk Road. But this time, the traders' commodities of choice are TVs, VCRs and vodka. The new border trade works rather like it did in the old days. Transactions are mostly barter. Road conditions in the mountains are extremely hazardous. The black market and official graft are rice. Commerce is flourishing nevertheless. According to Chinese government figures, the country's Central Asian barter trade topped $3.9 billion last year, and this may be greatly underestimated. Beijing is eager to encourage this trade, in hopes that rising affluence will make its restive Muslim population in the northwest more docile. To enlist the Central Asian republics' support in the effort, Prime Minister Li Peng last week embarked on a 12 day, five-nation visit. In Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, which share no border with China, he won quick backing for expanded economic ties. Saying, We want to build a new Silk Road, Li even trumpeted a transcontinental rail line stretching from Beijing to Istanbul.
Roving entrepreneurs:
The new trade is already booming in the Chinese city of Kashgar, which was also a major stop on the ancient Silk Road. In the loading area outside the Qinibat Hotel - strategically situated next to a customs post - traders from Kyrgyzstan busily fill trucks with Chinese vodka, VCRs. bicycles and clothes. The seedy hotel was once the site of the British Consulate but has now become a crowded crash pad for roving entrepreneurs. Many of them arrive from the west bearing truckloads of suitcases packed with old military watches, telescopes, cameras and coins from Imperial Russian times. The objects are either sold in the streets for local currency or brought to black-market money-changers to be traded for consumer goods that they stock like middlemen.
The trip back to the west takes trucks through terrain as daunting as it is beautiful. The 3,700 meter-high Turugart Pass, a few hours' drive north from Kashgar, snakes through the Tien Shan (Heavenly Mountain) chain:
it's usually covered with snow and ice from October to April. On a typical day three or four overturned trucks can be seen in the deep gullies along the 13 kilometers of no man's land between China and Kyrgyzstan-which is not surprising, given the number of vodka-soaked drivers on the road.
At the border, all vehicles must transfer their contents to trucks licensed on the other side and the goods must clear customs. This involves a long negotiation over duties and other "fees" with Kyrgyz customs officials, who often succeed in poaching some of the traders' profits. Unloading and reloading in the freezing cold isn't easy. It can take up to eight hours, and as a result there is a perpetual traffic jam at the border crossing. Eventually the goods wind up in markets as hr away as Ashgabat.
Commerce along the new Silk Road isn't necessarily dampening ethnic passions, as the Chinese government had hoped. Greater trade also opens new outlets for nationalistic fervor. Roughly half of Xinjiang province's population of 15 million is made up of Uighurs, a Turkic people who are ethnically and culturally distinct from the Han Chinese. Another half-million Uighurs live in Kazakhstan. Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Although Xinjiang has been designated an autonomous region for the Uighur, the provincial government is dominated by Han Chinese who regard the minorities as inferiors. Many Uighurs, in turn, hate the Chinese and would like to drive them out.
That's a favorite topic of conversation among some Kashgar money-changers. One 26-year-old man who calls himself Abdullah explains in his self taught English that he'd like to see China on the brink of war with the United States because it would allow the Uighur to secede and resurrect the independent nation that was overthrown by the Mongols in the 13th century.
Such visions aren't entirely fantasy. A radical Uighur group based in Kazakhstan, which calls itself the Committee for Eastern Turkestan, is believed to be behind a wave of bombings in Xinjiang cities last year "We have decided to stop wasting time and switch to a real struggle," its cochairman 'Taynutdin Basakov recently declared. To counter such sentiments, China has reportedly increased its troop deployment in the province and pressured Kazakhstan into signing an antiterrorism accord. In return, Beijing conceded some territorial claims along the border and vowed not to use nuclear weapons first.
But Kazakhstan's cooperation is far from certain. It is reluctant to antagonize its Uigur cousins -long feared in the region for their militancy - and doesn't want to alienate the 1 million Kazakhs living in China. Kazakhstan also wants the Chinese to stop nuclear testing near Lop Nor Lake, which is only 290 kilometers from Alma-Ata, its capital. Beijing so far hasn't obliged, but Li Peng's trip is partly designed to placate Kazakh leaders with promises of commercial prosperity. In a gesture more typical of American political leaders than of a communist ruler, Li brought along with him a group of private businessmen.
China's rulers have always believed that the best way to manage their barbarian neighbors is to co-opt them with the splendor of the Middle Kingdom's wealth and culture. That was the political purpose of the old Silk Road, and it's the goal of the new one. Central Asian nations eventually might play along with the scheme. For none of their leaders want militant Islam taking root on their soil. And they may conclude that the most threatening barbarians along the new Silk Road for the Chinese are their greatest enemies, too: the Russians.
CHARLES S. Lee with JAN ALEXANDER in Xinjiang, STEVE LEVINE in Alma-Ata and MATT FORNEY in Beijing.
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The aim of the Eastern Turkestan Information Bulletin is to disseminate objective current information on the people, culture and civilization of Eastern Turkestan and to provide a forum for discussion on a wide range of topics and complex issues. ETIB is published bi-monthly by the Eastern Turkestani Union in Europe(ETUE), established January 11, 1991 in Munich, Germany. Neither ETIB nor ETUE claim or accept responsibility for views otherwise identified within our pages. We hope that those using information from our publication in published works will be courteous enough to cite its source. All inquiries and contributions should be addressed to Eastern Turkestan Information Bulletin, Asgar Can, Editor, St. Blasien Str. 2, D-80809 Munich, Germany.
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Last updated 06/29/98