Thousands have been injured and hundreds killed in violent clashes between ethnic Uighurs (Uyghurs) and Chinese Hans as the conflict in the ancient Silk Road city of Kashgar escalates still further today. Ever since the Uighurs settled in the region, around 300BC, tension between the Turkic-speaking settlers and the governing Han Chinese have existed, and an incident at a factory has been blamed as the trigger for recent events. But could recent Chinese plans to evict the Uighurs and raze the ancient Silk Road city also be behind the unrest?
Tension between the Uighurs and native Chinese Hans has intensified over the past few decades. The Uighurs, who speak a Turkic language and practice Sufi Islam, settled in the region around 300BC. Kashgar, which is located at the point where the North and South routes of the ancient Silk Road meet, is considered their capital. The Uighars have long campaigned for independence from Chinese rule, and their separatist demands have led to bloodshed over recent years, but never on this scale.
Less than two months ago, Chinese officials announced plans to demolish 85% of the ancient Uighur city Kashgar, supposedly as a preventative measure against earthquakes. The old parts of the city are susceptible to quake damage, although many Uighur, and indeed critics around the world, feel that this is not the only reason behind the plans.
13,000 Uighur families are set to lose their millennia-old, traditional mud-brick homes as part of the project, and will be moved to areas miles outside the city. Although some buildings will be recreated supposedly in the old Uighur style, whole areas of the city will be razed to the ground and replaced with modern apartments and plazas. This is Xingjiang publishes the city plans, which are peculiarly grid-life compared to the romantic, winding layout of the ancient city. Archaeologists will not be involved in the process, supposedly because, according to Chinese officials, the government already knows all there is to know about Kashgar.
Although the Chinese government claim to be acting to preserve the city, it has been accused of adopting a policy of purposefully diluting the Uighur population of the city by moving increasing numbers of Han into the area. The plan to demolish traditional structures is seen as a further attack on Uighur culture.
According to an article in the Guardian, ‘Kashgar was deliberately omitted from Beijing’s list of candidates for world heritage status’. An online petition in favour of its inclusion, which should safeguard it against demolition, currently has 6460 signatures.
Video in Support of the Petition to Grant Kashgar UNESCO World Heritage Site Status:
Image of Kashgar Old Town by fred chiang. All rights reserved.
