China’s Xinjiang Problem: The 2009 Riots and its Aftermath

These riots represented the growing cracks in the portrait of domestic harmony that has been the catchphrase of the 4th generation of the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) leadership. [...] In addition, excessive damage was done during the years of Cultural Revolution when, in the name of ‘eliminating the old’, a lot of the cultural heritage of the minorities was destroyed. [...] For example, for the year 2007, China’s infrastructure investment in the region was to the tune of 1.3 trillion Yuan; in addition, a grant of 438 billion Yuan was allocated for their continuation and expansion in 2008-09.7 This has led to a vast improvement in the region’s infrastructure and a substantial enhancement in the region’s connectivity with the rest of China. [...] However, as the recurrence of violence in 2011 and 2012 shows, the leadership change at the provincial level has done little to restore the faith about the Party-State amongst the minds of the aggrieved Uighur populace. [...] Industry established in the less developed southern regions is set to get tax sops, with companies exempted from paying taxes for the first two years and having to pay only half the standard rates in the next three years.15 This economic largesse is intended to raise the GDP of the region, which would reflect in the income of the residents, rural as well as urban.