Uyghurs are a tribe in the Turkish heritage, and they are Sunni Muslims living in the Xiangjian Autonomous Region in China. The Uyghur Turks are the fifth largest minority, and their population was around 8.4 million in 2000. When the nationalists and the communists were fighting to get on the power in the Han China, the Uyghur Turks stroke and they declared their independence. However, the communist regime has dominated the strike (Tang and He 8).
In the region where the Uyghur Turks live, there is a lot of natural resources, and the GDP per capita is comparatively higher in this region. Also, the education level of the population is relatively better than many other areas. Although the region is relatively richer than many other areas, this richness is not equally distributed. The Uyghur Turks have Islamic and Turkish cultural backgrounds, and because of their beliefs, they are discriminated in China.
The Xiangjian Autonomous region is led by an elite group. The Han Chinese administration of China prefers working with this elite group of people. The elite in the region is making the important development decisions of the region, and the discrimination against the minorities in the region is quite high.
The Uyghur Turks has started the East Turkistan Independence Movement. This movement leads activities and strikes against the Han Chinese government in the region including bombings. The Chinese government has announced the East Turkistan Independence Movement as a terrorist group, and the punishments for the member of this movement are very severe such as sentencing them to death penalties.
The Chinese Nationalism
The Chinese nationalism emphasizes three primary necessity: 1-The Japanese invasion of China before the World War II, 2- National Unity, and 3- Ultra-Imperialism. China has experienced many wars in its past, and after an imperialistic time, the country has been converted into a communistic state structure. These experiences are shaping the Chinese nationalism (Upton-McLaughlin 1).
Many of the Chinese nationalists are sensitive to the issues related to the Japanese invasion of the World War II, and the nationalist people spread the idea of how the Japanese soldiers murdered people and raped women in China. Therefore, there is a nationalist sensitivity among the people against the Japan in China. The Chinese young people are relatively more severe for the Japan sensitivity, and even it might create serious problems sometimes in China.
The Han Chinese ideology is trying to promote the national unity, and they believe that China has always been a power in the world arena. The Han Chinese government is attempting to encourage the idea of all the Chinese lands including all the sovereign state lands to stay united forever. We observe that the minority movements in China are creating a disturbance among the Han Chinese ideologist citizens in China. Even the members of the opponent movements in the country are punished severely when they are arrested by the Chinese armed forces. Many international human rights associations have filed many crime claims against the Chinese governments. The opponents are punished with death sentences easily in China.
The Ultra-imperialism is another essential sensitivity among the Chinese nationalists. They believe that the China government should support the Chinese businesses exporting products to the other countries, and China should stay as a world power always. An important evidence of the struggles of creating ultra-imperialism is that China is contradicting with the internationally accepted patent and copyright protection measures. Many Chinese companies are not hesitating to steal the ideas and the secrets from the international rivals. China has an important place with a large population and low-cost of labor in the world economy, and the Chinese government is trying to convert these into a political power in the international arena.
Works Cited
Tang, Wenfang, and Gaochao He. "Seperate But Loyal: Ethnicity And Nationalism In China". Hawaii University. 1-76, 2016. Web. 11 Feb. 2016.
Upton-McLaughlin, Sean. "Understanding Chinese Nationalism". China Culture Corner. N.p., 2016. Web. 11 Feb. 2016.
