Xinjiang Violence
The recent arrests and trial of the eight terrorist culprits of the October 28, 2013 flaming-vehicle attack on Tiananmen Square has brought the topic of counterterrorism to the forefront of Chinese domestic security. State media Xinhua has reported that three of the eight suspects that were captured and tried in Urumqi, Xinjiang have been sentenced to death while the remaining five were sentenced to long term imprisonment. In addition, the PRC government has also broadcasted the capture and legal prosecution of more than a dozen terrorist suspects in the Xinjiang province.[1]
While this assault on the heart of Beijing has gained international attention, China’s struggle against terrorism has been an ongoing and perhaps growing concern throughout the past years. The Central Government has condemned the Uyghur terrorist organizations from Xinjiang, China’s northwest autonomous region, as culpable for disrupting social peace and harmony.
One of the 56 officially recognized ethnic groups in the PRC, the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang is entertaining ethnic and political tension with the Han majority. Speaking their own language (Uighur) and practicing Islam, the native Uyghur of Xinjiang lived in nomadic largely autonomous tribes until the arrival of communist Chinese influence in the 1940s. In the seven decades that followed, Xinjiang has become a railway and fossil fuel hub under PRC governance while the Uyghur-Han ratio is maintained around 4:6 ratio.[2] The Uyghur terrorist groups, which Beijing has partially labeled as the “Dongtu”, seek to protest against government corruption and Uyghur oppression under Han rule.
According to the Chinese Public Security Bureau, the terrorists’ operational capacities are limited and thus do not pose any serious threat to social order. However, the terrorists don’t need much to create public fear. The Tiananmen attack is in fact only one of the many acts of terrorism that has plagued Chinese society. Similar incidents like the knifing massacre at the Kunming railway station that claimed 29 innocent lives and bus bombings in downtown Urumqi has prompted the law enforcement to tighten their grasp on public security.
From an international perspective, this Uyghur terrorist dynamic seems to be the biggest non-state actor challenge against the Chinese government since 1949. While the local law enforcement has always faced challenges in outer regions such as Dongbei (northeast), Inner Mongolia, and Tibet, this is the first time that a terrorist group of ethnic minority has successfully created upheaval in the center of Beijing.
Amidst President Xi’s push for anti-corruption, political reform, and a transition to emphasis on domestic development, the Dongtu challenge has pulled the Central Government to focus heavily on domestic affairs. This focus transition towards internal affairs may have serious implications and explanations on the current geopolitical dynamics in East Asia. The combination of domestic terrorism, political reform, and overseas disputes with neighboring countries like Vietnam and Japan over maritime sovereignty puts pressure on the Xi administration. As the powerhouse in the Far East, the possibility of domestic instability created by terrorist attacks may very well affect China’s ability and willingness to assert its role beyond its borders.
[1] http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1533875/three-sentenced-death-tiananmen-square-attack