From the early 20th century to the late 1940s, the "East Turkistan" forces created many disturbances with the connivance and support of hostile foreign forces. In November 1933, Sabit Damolla and others founded the so-called "East Turkistan Islamic Republic" in Kashi, but it collapsed in less than three months thanks to the opposition of the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang. In 1944, the "Revolution of the Three Regions," which was part of Chinese people's democratic revolutionary movement, broke out against the Kuomintang rule (the three regions referred to Ili, Tacheng and Altay), but separatist Elihan Torae (an Uzbek from the former Soviet Union) usurped the leadership of the revolution in its early days, and founded the so-called "Republic of East Turkistan" in Yining, with himself as its "chairman." In June 1946, Ahmatjan Kasimi and Abdukerim Abbasov, leaders of the revolution, dismissed him from that post, and reorganized the "Republic of East Turkistan" as the Advisory Council of the Ili Subprovincial Administrative Region, dealing a fatal blow at the separatist forces.

Since the peaceful liberation of Xinjiang, the "East Turkistan" forces have never resigned themselves to their defeat. The tiny group of separatists who had fled abroad from Xinjiang collaborated with those at home, and looked for opportunities to carry out splittist and sabotage activities with the support of international anti-China forces. Especially in the 1990s, influenced by religious extremism, separatism and international terrorism, part of the "East Turkistan" forces both inside and outside China turned to splittist and sabotage activities with terrorist violence as their chief means. Some "East Turkistan" organizations openly stated that they would use terrorist and violent means to achieve their purpose of separation. The "East Turkistan" forces in China's Xinjiang and relevant countries plotted and organized a number of bloody incidents of terror and violence, including explosions, assassinations, arsons, poisonings and assaults, seriously jeopardizing the lives, property and security of the Chinese people of various ethnic groups, and social stability in Xinjiang, and posing a threat to the security and stability of the countries and regions concerned.

After the September 11 incident, the voices calling for an international anti-terrorist struggle and cooperation have become louder and louder. In order to get out of their predicament, the "East Turkistan" forces once again have raised the banner of "human rights," "freedom of religion" and "interests of ethnic minorities," and fabricated claims that "the Chinese Government is using every opportunity to oppress ethnic minorities," to mislead the public and deceive world opinion in order to escape blows dealt by the international struggle against terrorism.

V. The Economic Development of Xinjiang After the Founding of New China

Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, the economy of Xinjiang was a natural economy, with farming and livestock breeding as the mainstay. Industry was underdeveloped, and there were no railways or up-to-the-mark factories or mines. Famines were frequent in some areas, and the people were impoverished. Xinjiang was peacefully liberated on September 25, 1949. On October 1, 1955, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region was established, opening a new page for historic development in Xinjiang. In the past half century, Xinjiang's economy and social undertakings have advanced by leaps and bounds.

Regional economy has grown at fast pace. The GDP of Xinjiang was about 148.55 billion yuan in 2001. Taking price rises into account, this was 42.9 times that of 1952, and an annual growth rate of 8 percent. The per-capita GDP rose from 166 yuan in 1952 to 7,913 yuan in 2001. The autonomous region's revenues amounted to 17.81 billion yuan in 2001, or 102.9 times the 1955 figure of 173 million yuan. Xinjiang's industrial structure has been constantly adjusted and optimized. Primary, secondary and tertiary industries accounted for 19.4 percent, 42.4 percent and 38.2 percent of the GDP in 2001 respectively. Compared with 1955, the proportion of primary industry dropped by 35 percentage points, that of secondary industry rose by 16.3 percentage points, and that of tertiary industry rose by 18.7 percentage points.