Uighurs and Tibetans feel left out of China’s economic boom; ethnic discrimination is not helping
The Economist - Jan 17th 2015
BEIJING
CHINA is urbanising at a rapid pace. In 2000 nearly two-thirds of its
residents lived in the countryside. Today fewer than half do. But two
ethnic groups, whose members often chafe at Chinese rule, are bucking
this trend. Uighurs and Tibetans are staying on the farm, often because
discrimination against them makes it difficult to find work in cities.
As ethnic discontent grows, so too does the discrimination, creating a
vicious circle.
Breaking this circle is crucial to China’s efforts to defuse unrest
in Xinjiang, Tibet and Tibetan-inhabited areas of other provinces, which
collectively account for nearly one-third of China’s land area. In
Xinjiang, Uighur grievances have triggered numerous outbreaks of
violence. On January 12th, in what appeared to be the latest such
example, six people were shot dead after allegedly attacking police in
Shule, a town near China’s border with Central Asia. Uighurs are a
Turkic-speaking, mostly Muslim, minority who number about 10m in
Xinjiang. In 2000, 80% of them were farmers; ten years later 83% of them
were.
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