Issues in China in Connection with Muslim Minority Groups - Essay Example

Issues in China In Connection With Muslim Minority Groups Many countries have groups, which they regard as ethnic minor groups. In many countries, the groups are not given the same priorities as other groups of people. The groups are termed as minor because of various factors. For example, according to their low population in relation to other groups or because of their culture, this is viewed as inferior in relation to other cultures in that country. The minority groups are denied their rights or their needs are not catered for well by the government. This is because they may not have the power to fight for their rights because of being inferior. Most times the groups form to be government critics or always struggle to fight for their autonomy. This paper looks at the issues that China is facing in connection with the minority Muslim groups. The paper will also look at the way the Chinese authority can address those issues to bring then into Chinese fold as it braces the twenty first century. China faces with an array of serious issues as it tries to sustain a fast-paced economic growth. One of the major issues that the country is facing is Mass rural unemployment, which side causing tension in Xingjian and Tibet. According to Sidney Rittberg, a china scholar, the gap between the rich and the poor is also widening. This requires appropriate strategies to handle due to the high population in the country. There is a need to redistribute income to bring fairness to the people. There is also a need for the country to fight corruption and advance in democracy. Most of the issues that china is facing with the Muslim group are of its own making. This has been caused by deliberate oppressive actions that the government has taken over Xingjian region. One of the minority Muslim groups in China is the Uighur, which is a nomadic Muslim minority group in the oil rich region of Xingjian province. The other minority Muslim group in china includes the Dongxiang who live in Gansu province and some other in Xinjiang. The Hui is also another minority group in China. They are not repressed like the Uighur as they are allowed to practice their religion. Despite the freedom that they have, they are also regarded with some suspicion by the non Muslim Chinese. The group fought against the communist and was the first group to surrender to the communist before 1949. Their population is growing fast, which is related to high birth rates, and their culture where Hui women are not allowed to marry Han or men who do not belong to their group. The culture also does not allow Hui men to marry Han or non-Hui women. The Uighur nationalists had attempted to declare their independence in 1933 and 1944 without success. The fight for the region to have autonomy became impossible after the communist emerged victorious during Chinese revolution in 1949 (Atkins 2004, p.327). Since the trade liberalization in 1979, the group has faced high unemployment rate, lower life expectancies and they do not access school like the Han Chinese in the region. The group cultural survival has also been affected by the immigration of the Han and other Chinese settlers in the Xinjiang region. In the 1990’s the urge for independence of Xinjiang by the Muslim group turned more military leading to protests, killings and kidnappings. The Muslim group is a threat to peace in china because the East Turkestan youth known as the Xingjian’s Hamas have more that two thousand military fighters who are said to have military experience (Shen 2007, p.2003). The regions suffer from a major environmental degradation. This results from the exploitation of the mineral resources by the Han and Chinese government (Commonwealth Bureau of Agricultural Economics, Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux 2006, p.331). One issue in China is discrimination of the Muslim religious groups in the country. According to a report by human rights watch (HRW) and Human rights in China, the Chinese government has been employing terrorist and separatist labels in justifying the religious repression of Uighur. The report shows the discriminatory and repressive laws, policies and regulations that the country has used since the September 11 attack in the USA. The government alleges that the group has relation with alQaeda network and other terrorist groups. Brand Adams who is the group director in Asia, holds that the Chinese government is using religious suppression as a punishment to the Uighur for their challenge on Chinese rule of Xingjian. In other parts of the country, other people have more freedom of worship but the Uighur Muslims face religious discriminations, which are ordered by the state government. According to Brand Adams, this situation is the same in Tibet where the Chinese state is trying to refashion a religion in order to control, the Muslim minority in the region (Human Rights Watch 2005). The human rights watch challenges the government policy and the law enforcement agencies in Xingjian for denying the Uighur freedom of religion, association and expression. The Chinese state does this by requiring individuals who belong to the group to shave beards and eliminating Muslim teachers from the schools. Uighur Muslim activists who try to advocate for the rights of the group are arrested and tortured. Sharon Hom the executive director of Human Rights in China states that Uighur are seen by Beijing as a threat to the entire Chinese state. The state has taken brutal steps to smother Islam which is a strategy used to subordinate Uighur nationalist sentiments. The religious regulations in the region are so rampant that it has created a net that it can arrest anyone who is on the state targets. The Chinese authorities have the right to intervene in religious practices that do not hold the Marxist views about religion or which are viewed as a threat to the order of the entire society. According to a report released by Human Rights Watch in China, there are increased numbers of Uighur in detentions. The information on their arrests is treated like state secrets. China has been hiding this issue from the international limelight. The fight against terrorism in china is directed to the radicals in the Xingjian. They are seen as the primary threat to Beijing (Human Rights Watch 2005). According to a report by Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF) the main reason, why China supports the US on war on terror was in order for it to have the legitimacy to repress the Uighur Muslim minority group. Since the September 11 attack of the USA, the fight for independence of Xingjian has taken a new direction. The strategies for the quest of independence have changed from the use of violence towards more on ideological war with china. Despite this, it may be difficult for China state to grant the region independence as this may make other minority groups to start fighting for their own autonomy. China has been able to repress Muslim groups because of lack of regional pressure. The pressure lacks because in June 2001 the country formed a strategic regional alliance with Russia, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, which requires western interests be excluded from power struggles in Central Asia (Notholt 2008, p.5-7). The human rights watch and human rights in china have been in the forefront urging the international community to force China to change the policies and laws, which oppress the Muslim minority groups. They hold that China needs to be challenged because of its believe that all separatists are criminals connected to international terror groups or networks. Removing some of the repressive laws and policies against the religious practices can make the groups more peaceful. This is because china has always used harsh repression to control their freedom. There has been killing and imprisoning of the Uighur nationalists. Other Chinese groups of people hold that the Muslim groups are not grateful for the work that the government has done to make the region more modernized. Most of the employers do not like hiring them and rather prefer to hire Han Chinese in the region. According to Wang who is a businessman in the region, he states that their religion is not good as it fill their heads with nonsense (Amnesty International 2007, p.85). The situation that china faces with the Muslims minority groups is complicated due to the labeling of the groups as terrorists. This is seen by many human rights groups as an excuse for the china state to continue its oppression on the group. The issue of security in relation to the Muslim minority groups is also of great concern to the Chinese state. This is due to its mission to expand its economic power control in the world. Security is one of the factors that investors consider before establishing investment in a place. Therefore, the government worries about the influence the violence that occurs in place may have to its economic expansion plans. The biggest worry in china is that the Muslim movement in Xinjiang would hook up with other Muslim movements throughout Asia and the Middle East. This may bring an influx of Islamic extremists with a desire to challenge the Chinese central government. While the Chinese state has succeeded in managing the threat offered by the minority Muslim group there is still some threats of increased difficulty on elements outside the Chinese control. Losing Xingjian would be a major blow to china in terms of security and economic development. This brings a need to put the Uighur into Han fold. This will act as a way of stabilizing the security of the region. Since the 1990s, there has been increased violence in the Xinjiang region carried out by the disgruntled Uighur. The arrest of some of the Uighur fighting against the coalition forces in Afghanistan, and the presence of the group members at the American prison facility at Guantanamo bay, show the threat that china is faced with concerning its security both inside and outside its territory. Beijing has also been in the forefront to encourage immigration of Han to the region. This has caused a change in the ethnic balance, which existed in the region. The Uighur culture and Muslim religion have faced restrictions. Most of the economic growth that realized in the region has been accrues to the state owned enterprises, Han entrepreneurs or to the government. The Muslim groups have nothing to be proud of in the region. This has caused income enqualities to expand significantly in recent years (Dillon 2004, p.35). The Chinese state has for many years marginalized the groups in their own territories. It has fostered economic growth that favors the Han who are the majority in Eastern China. It has also encouraged the exploitation of the resources in the region by the Han (The Economist Newspaper Ltd 1996). The poor relation that exists between China and the Muslim groups has also affected its relation with Central Asian states. This is brought about by the fact that most of those countries have anti China separatist organizations. This also makes china fear any revolution that may be brought by the groups to destabilize its control over Xinjiang. The Muslim minority group oppression in the country has also complicated the relation between China and Turkey. Turkey has been very critical on the way china has treated the ethnically related Uighur. As china embraces to attain its strategies in the 21st century, there is a need to bring the minority groups into the Han fold. This is necessary, as the country cannot make progress if the two groups of people continue to have conflict. The other reason why the harmony between the Han and the Muslim group is necessary is the fact that they occupy an area that has ample natural resources that would enhance the country economic expansion strategies. One way that the Chinese authority can bring the group into Han fold is by use of equity as a strategy. It is important that the government stop favoring the Han in the provision of its services. The security authorities should also reduce the oppression and massive arrest to the group members. This will act as one way of making the minority group have a feeling of acceptance in the region. By this, they will reduce their violence acts, which are enhanced by the kind of discrimination that exist against them. It is important that the Chinese authority will be as perceived as fair by the groups. To reduce the high tension that exist between the Han and the Muslim minority group there is a need to charge or release those arrested for violence quickly. This will act as a way of showing the Uighur that justice is being done to them (Brown & Tsai 2003, p.39-40). The Chinese government should make education accessible to all people. The schools should have a curriculum that does not have any religious bias. This will make the education system act as a unifying factor among the groups. This will also make the groups embrace each other culture (Xihua publication limited 1988). It is good for the Uighur to be encouraged to learn Chinese, which is the official language in china. Language will act as a bridge of bringing mutual understanding between the two groups. Bringing a greater cultural and religious autonomy is another option of bringing the two groups together. The Chinese authority need to lift some of the oppressive laws against the Muslim religious practices. The authority should also promote more people from the minority groups to real government positions. Involving more people from the groups in the administration of the state would act as away of making the group change its perception of the Chinese state. This would make it easier for them to integrate with the Han. The US criticism to Beijing over the handling of the Xinjiang region has given the minority Muslim groups some hopes. This has also made them have a positive look towards America, which is a contrast to anti American protest that many Muslims have. Following the various issues that arise out of the relation that exist between Chinese state and the Muslim groups, there is a need for a sustainable solution. This will be of benefit both to the country and to the Muslim minority group. There is a need for the government to come up with ways to accommodate the group in the running of the country. The oppressive laws that the government has put in dealing with the groups should be eliminated. Despite the fact that the groups are the minority, they should enjoy being part of the country just like other Chinese groups. The Muslims groups on their side should embrace dialogue with the Chinese sate to find sustainable and peaceful solutions to their grievances. This is the only way that China will be able to embrace the 21st century and succeed in its economic expansion programme. The conflicting groups should come up with accommodative solutions so that they can enhance development of a united republic of China. Unity will make the country reach where other developed countries kike USA have reached in their social, political and economic development. References Amnesty International ,2007, The Amnesty International report, University of California, USA. Atkins, S 2004, Encyclopedia of modern worldwide extremists and extremist groups, Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport USA Brown, W. & Tsai, R 2003, Ethnic minority groups in China, 1st edition, Stanford University press. Beijing. China. Commonwealth Bureau of Agricultural Economics, Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux 2006, rural development abstracts, Volume 29, The Bureau publication, London, UK. Dillon, M 2004, Xinjiang: China's Muslim far northwest, 1st edition, Routledge publishers, London. Human Rights Watch (Organization) 2005, China, devastating blows; religious repression of Uighurs in Xinjiang, Vol 17, Human Rights Watch publication. Shen, S 2007, China and antiterrorism, 1st edition, Nova Publishers, New York, USA. 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