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Backgrounder
Special> National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2009-2010)> Backgrounder
UPDATED: October 13, 2009 NO. 39 OCTOBER 1, 2009
Development and Progress in Xinjiang (I)
Information Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of Chin September 2009, Beijing
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Folk cultures and arts in Xinjiang have seen further development on the basis of inheriting the past legacy. Traditional cultural events, such as the Uygur's "Meshrep," the Kazak's "Aytes," the Kirgiz's "Kobuz Ballad Singing Fair," the Mongolian "Nadam Fair," the Xibe's "West Moving Festival" and the Han people's "Lantern Festival," have been widely held. A number of impressive dramas with rich ethnic and regional characteristics have been staged, such as the modern drama Ghunchem, the Uyghur play Gherip and Senem, the acrobatics show Darwaz, as well as the Kazak Aytes, Kirgiz Manaschi ballad drama Manas. In the 21st century, more than 20 folk song and dance performances, including The Good Place Called Xinjiang, Joyous Songs of Tianshan Mountain and Kashgar, have won national prizes.

To ensure minority languages keep pace with the development of our times, China has set up the "Work Committee of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Languages and Scripts of Ethnic Minorities" and research institutes of minority languages at varied levels, responsible for regulation, standardization and scientific research and administration of the languages of the ethnic minorities. With government support, software such as the "Bogda Uygur-Kazak-Kirgiz Languages Typesetting System," "Xibe and Manchu Languages Processing and Efficient Printing System," "Xinjiang 2000" and "Arabic and Multiple Languages Typesetting System," has been developed. They provide clues to the standards and software development methods for languages of other ethnic minorities in terms of software code, keyboard layout and input methods.

V. Upholding Ethnic Equality and Unity

The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is inhabited by people of many ethnic groups. According to the fifth national census in 2000, Xinjiang is home to people of 55 ethnic groups, including the Uygur, Han and Kazak. In 2008, Xinjiang's population totaled 21.308 million, of which people of ethnicities other than the Han was 12.945 million, or 60.8% of the total. In 2007, there are three ethnic groups each with a population over one million, namely, Uygur (9.651 million), Han (8.239 million), Kazak (1.484 million); three ethnic groups each with a population between 100,000 and one million: Hui (943,000), Kirgiz (182,000), and Mongolian (177,000); and six ethnic groups each with a population between 10,000 and 100,000: Tajik (45,000), Xibe (42,000), Manchu (26,000), Uzbek (16,000), Russian (12,000), and the Dongxiang. The population of all the other ethnic groups is less than 10,000.

Xinjiang has been inhabited by diverse peoples since ancient times. The inhabitants of Xinjiang all migrated from other areas historically. According to historical records, in 101 BC the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-

A.D. 220) began stationing garrison troops to open up land for crop cultivation in Luntai (Bügür), Quli and other areas. Later, it sent more troops to all other parts of Xinjiang for the same purpose. After the the Protectorate of the Western Regions was established in 60 BC by the Han central government, the inflow of Han people to Xinjiang, including officials, soldiers and merchants, never stopped. By the end of the dynasty, Han residents could be found in scattered settlements in Xinjiang, with garrison reclamation points forming compact communities. The Han thus became one of the earlier peoples who inhabited Xinjiang. After 1759, the government of the Qing Dynasty sent Manchu, Mongolian, Xibe, Daur (Suolun), Han and Hui troops to Xinjiang in order to strengthen the frontier defenses of the region, and encouraged Uygurs to move from southern Xinjiang to Ili in the north, as well as Han and Hui people from inland areas to migrate to Xinjiang to promote production. From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, a great number of Russian, Uzbek and Tatar people settled down in the region. When the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, Xinjiang was comprised of 13 ethnic groups, with Uygurs as the majority. Each ethnic group was characterized by living together or mixing with other groups, or in compact communities. The majority in southern Xinjiang were Uygurs, while northern Xinjiang was mainly inhabited by Han and Kazak peoples. The Kirgiz, Xibe, Tajik and Daur peoples mostly lived in compact communities, while most of the remaining ethnic groups reside scattered among other groups.

Since the founding of the PRC in 1949, an increasing number of people have moved to and from Xinjiang, making more prominent the phenomenon of a multiethnic population living together. Especially since reform and opening-up in 1978, many citizens, guided by market forces, have frequently moved simultaneously and on their own will between Xinjiang's rural and urban areas, between its northern and southern areas, and between Xinjiang and other inland areas, for the purposes of education, employment, business or job-seeking. In 2008, about 240,000 surplus laborers went from Xinjiang to work in the economically developed coastal areas. In addition, there are large seasonal flows of people moving within Xinjiang or between Xinjiang and other inland areas. Each year from late August to November, hundreds of thousands of people from other provinces and municipalities go to Xinjiang to pick cotton.

The socio-economic development of Xinjiang has given rise to a recurrent flow of labor, leading to a series of changes in the population and ethnic distribution in the region. First, the number of ethnic groups has increased. In 2000, except for the Jino people, Xinjiang was inhabited by people of 55 of China's 56 ethnic groups. Second, the population of almost every ethnic group in Xinjiang is increasing. From 1978 to 2007, the populations of the region's four largest groups—Uygur, Han, Kazak and Hui—have increased, respectively, 74%, 61%, 81% and 78%. Third, the percentage of the population of each minority in their traditional settlements has decreased. For example, the ratio of Uygurs in southern Xinjiang's three prefectures, namely, Kashi, Hotan and Aksu, to the total Uygur population in Xinjiang fell from 84.6% in 1944 to 71.5% in 2007. The percentage of Kazaks in the Kazak Autonomous Prefecture of Ili to the entire Kazak population in Xinjiang decreased from 83.4% in 1944 to 76.8% in 2007. Fourth, the multiethnic mixture in the cities and towns of Xinjiang has become more prominent, and the population of ethnic minorities has increased in the cities. Urumqi, the capital of the autonomous region, is inhabited by people from 52 ethnic groups, and the percentage of minority residents in the city's total population increased from 18% in 1978 to 27% in 2007.

The diverse peoples of Xinjiang have formed deep friendships while living together for generations. Over the last 60 years, they have established, developed and consolidated strong ties of mutual respect, trust, support and harmony. These make up the important contents and fundamental guarantees for the advancement of Xinjiang.

Recognizing the existence of each ethnic group and guaranteeing its equal rights in every aspect are the fundamental principle and policy of the Chinese Government to handle ethnic problems. It is also the foundation of all other policies concerning the ethnic issue. The Constitution of the PRC stipulates: "All ethnic groups in the People's Republic of China are equal. The state protects the lawful rights and interests of ethnic minorities, and upholds and develops the relationship of equality, unity and mutual assistance among all of China's peoples. Discrimination against and oppression of any ethnic group is prohibited; any acts that undermine national unity or instigate secession are prohibited." In Xinjiang, citizens of every ethnic group enjoy the rights prescribed by the Constitution and laws, including freedom of religious belief, and rights to vote and stand for election, to equally administer state affairs, to receive education, to use and develop their own spoken and written languages, and to preserve and advance the traditional culture of their own peoples.

(To be continued)

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