Since the late 1980s, international attention to the Turkic Muslim group known as
the Uyghurs has increased. Interest in Uyghurs has expanded primarily for two
reasons—reports of alleged human rights abuses against Uyghurs by the Chinese
government, and acts of violence and alleged terrorism by Uyghurs against the Chinese
government and Han citizens. The last decade has witnessed a significant increase of
Hans in the region of Xinjiang in the northwestern part of the People’s Republic of China
(PRC) and ethnic tensions have intensified as a direct result of this increase. It is
estimated that in the period of 1990 to 2000, between one to two million Han migrants
moved into the region, contributing to the total 7.49 million Hans living in Xinjiang (40.6
percent) in 2000.1 The Han population growth rate between 1990 and 2000 was 31.6
percent—twice that of the ethnic population.2 Uyghurs argue that the changing
demographics reveal the deliberate sinicization of Xinjiang by Chinese authorities.
The contentious relationship between the Uyghurs and the Chinese government
has been the focus of many works. The purpose of this thesis, however, is to answer the
question of how the Chinese government’s policies toward the Uyghurs in Xinjiang have
influenced the political consolidation of the Uyghurs. Have the policies served to
unintentionally unify the Uyghurs in opposition against a common adversary, or have
they served to divide and fractionalize the population? In examining the responses of
Uyghurs to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rule in Xinjiang, this thesis asks whether
or not the policies have increased or decreased Uyghur political consolidation.
Three inter-related aspects of political consolidation are examined: Uyghur
identity, interests, and Islamic mobilization. First, have Chinese policies......
