Of Sandstorms and Nuclear Tests

The Uyghurs in Kashgar are used to sandstorms. The city’s location in an oasis on the edge of a vast desert makes it a reality of life there. When the wind picks up far out to the north and east and arrives in Kashgar with a thump, Taklamakan sand squeezes through windows and scatters all over the homes of the city’s residents. As a young English language teacher at Kashgar Teachers College, sandstorms were as far as anyone could get from rain sodden England, where I grew up; however, in the time I had lived in the city, I got used to sweeping up small piles of sand in my apartment.

On one occasion, I woke in the morning to a particularly fierce sandstorm. I could hear the repeated slamming of unlocked doors and the whooshing sound made by the poplar trees when the wind surged through them. As I looked out of the window, the only sign of human life was the Kyrgyz yoghurt seller battling to stay upright as she was buffeted by strong blasts of air racing between the apartment blocks that housed the college’s staff. As the morning went on, and I prepared for my afternoon class, the wind never relented. The natural light became poorer and poorer to the extent that I had to put on a lamp to be able to see what I was doing.

Following Up and Digging Deeper

For photo credit see [1]

Xinhua went full out recently in a series of articles announcing an economic turnabout in the Uyghur region. The government affiliated news agency wanted to communicate two developments; one, a new job stimulation initiative in the region, and second, the growth of the regional economy. 

A February 2 article states that the regional government is aiming to create a staggering 400,000 jobs 'this year'. That is not only a remarkable amount, but also a significant intervention in the regional economy. The report does not specify whether the jobs will be in the state or SOE sectors, but does remark that industry and services in the region 'lagged far behind those of other Chinese regions'. The report is also not clear whether those jobs will be 'aggressively' targeted toward the disproportionately underemployed and unemployed Uyghur residents of the region. This article does reveal that the economy was at the root of unrest in Urumchi in 2009 despite the standard airing of blaming 'overseas separatists'. It also reveals the propensity of viewing Uyghurs marginalized from the mainstream economy as good candidates for 'turning to crime'. 

As part of the job creation push, authorities are aiming for 85% of college graduates being gainfully employed within the year. Another Xinhua article reveals that 10,000 'Xinjiang graduates' will be sent to eastern China to receive job training. Again, ethnicity is not mentioned, but it is heavily hinted that the 10,000 will come from the Uyghur population. Why these Uyghurs need to be sent outside of the region to receive the training is not stated. The article also links unemployment and unrest throughout, but never points the finger inward. 

Exercising caution is par for the course when it comes to such grand ambitions in the region. Western Development promised much, but failed to deliver. A key point is whether the regional government is willing to assess its performance with the new job creation program, or even more unlikely to have an independent monitoring mechanism. To regional observers, making a statement like this seems outlandish, but it is still standard practice in many emerging economies. 

Similar concerns over metrics surround two further articles from Xinhua. The announcement that the regional economy grew by a remarkable 12% during 2011 and the release of data detailing a consumption boom during the Chinese New Year all point to a robust economy. Regional GDP was calculated at 104 billion U.S. dollars by the Xinjiang Regional Bureau of Statistics. Disposable income for urban residents was up 13.7% year-on-year to 15,514 yuan, and may have fueled the reported consumption spike. Rural incomes reached 5,442 yuan, a reported rise of 17.2%. Details on the effect of state investment on the economy are forthcoming. The rural-urban divide here is interesting as this is the only breakdown the official media is willing to give. The much more sensitive ethnic breakdown seems much harder to get at, or even a prefectural analysis. Once more analysts are left with inference considering the large number of Uyghurs in the region that could be considered 'rural'. 

Following up and digging deeper on ethnically based poverty and poverty relief may not be as good a story as the announcement of a grandiose scheme or shining statistics on economic performance, but the long sought for regional stability may have their seeds in these rudimentary of processes.

This post was mentioned on China Hotline.

[1] 新疆城乡居民收入增幅“跑赢”GDP增速(组图)