By Bay Fang
KASHGAR, CHINA–One by one, the
blue trucks roll by like a parade of
floats. Standing on each, displayed
beneath the blue desert sky, are
rows of dark-skinned men with Turkic
features, handcuffed and held by white-
gloved police. They stare dully through
bloodshot eyes, heads bowed, as the crowd
surges forward along Liberation Street to
get a better look.
These are condemned prisoners, on their way to the execution ground. Big placards in Arabic script hanging around their necks list their crimes vaguely as "disturbing public order." But the people in the crowd, told by the government to attend, know better. "This is all about the separatist movement," says one shopkeeper along the route. "The Beijing leaders want
to send a message to all of us that these are the consequences if you fight them."
America's war on terror has given China the opportunity to step up its own campaign against Islamic militants. Since September 11, Beijing has rounded up dozens of suspected separatists and poured thousands of troops into this primarily Muslim area of northwest China.
For decades, Beijing has battled Islamic extremists seeking to establish the
independent state of East Turkestan. Fighters rumored to have trained with the Taliban and other extremist groups in Central Asia are blamed for periodic
bombings and assassinations in the region. Beijing's heavy-handed responses
have drawn Western criticism in the past but will likely be tolerated in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the United States. "We wouldn't be surprised if China used this opportunity to intensify its crackdown on the separatist movement," says one Western diplomat based in Beijing.
In this ancient oasis town along the Silk Road, men in embroidered skullcaps haul cartloads of coal through the dusty streets, and women in head scarves peer out from shady courtyards. The vast majority of people in this gateway to Central Asia are Uighur, an Islamic minority that has much more in common with Turks than with Chinese. Many feel they are being colonized by the Chinese, who have overwhelmed the region and work to extract its natural resources. A group of old men with dark, suncreased faces sit outside a woodworking shop in the old city center, drinking bowls of tea in the shade. Their voices rise in indignation when asked about recent events. "The U.S. does not have the right to strike Afghanistan," one man with a flowing white beard insists loudly. "The Taliban are the true believers. Here, we have to follow Chinese laws, but they are guided by the Koran."
Terrorism fears. In recent weeks, Kashgar has begun to look like a city under siege. Rows of men in camouflage uniforms fill the grounds of the local sports stadium, practicing hand-to-hand combat techniques by throwing kicks and punches at each other. They are troops of para-military police, moved into the city the week after the terrorist attacks in the United States. "There are no soccer games here anymore," says a man selling drinks and cigarettes outside the stadium. "The military is training there now, because they are afraid of terrorists."
Troops have also moved farther west, along the border with Afghanistan and
Pakistan, in response to the September 11 attacks. Beijing fears both intrusions by Islamic militants who will incite the separatist movement and an influx of refugees over the border. China closed its border with Afghanistan and barred foreigners from the border areas. "China has a growing concern about the entire region," says Dru Gladney, a Central Asia specialist at the University of Hawaii. "While no government openly supports the Uighur separatist movement, since it would harm relations with China, the movement
gets a lot of public sympathy and tacit support from neighboring countries."
As the United States shores up allies for its international antiterror campaign, China's leaders face a dilemma. On the one hand, they see their support as a chance to improve relations with Washington while intensifying their own crackdown on separatists. But on the other, they fear that American troops across the border would throw off a delicate balance of power. China has been steadily expanding its influence in the region, exchanging aid to
Central Asian neighbors for help in fighting Muslim extremists. Beijing has also been improving relations with the Taliban, in the hope it will stop training Chinese separatists. In fact, Pakistani newspapers reported that on September 11, the very day of the U.S. attacks, a Chinese delegation in Kabul signed a trade and technical cooperation agreement with the Taliban.
All this could temper any expressions of goodwill between Washington and Beijing. Beijing has asked the United States to support China's own fight against separatists, saying, "We should not have double standards." But the United States does not want its terrorist problem lumped together with China's ethnic tensions. Beijing has the same issue with Islamic extremists as it does with the Dalai Lama and leaders of Taiwan: They are all considered to be "splittists." Because the Islamic movement is violent, unlike the others, Beijing has been especially brutal in response.
Executions. The border province of Xinjiang has thus become the death-penalty
capital of the world, according to human-rights groups. While more prisoners are executed in China than in the rest of the world put together, the largest percentage are in this restive region–and almost all of the executed are Uighurs.
One of China's largest statues of Chairman Mao Zedong can be found presiding
over Kashgar's People's Square, an arm raised above the masses. At the recent execution parade, the blue trucks carrying their human cargo stop at his feet for a public rally before heading to the execution ground. Local party officials sit on a raised stage in the middle of the square, surrounded by flags and banners. One by one, they stand up and deliver shrill speeches exhorting the masses to oppose unrest and follow the leadership of President Jiang Zemin.
The faces in the crowd are tense, and nervous eyes flicker over to the condemned men, whose expressions do not change. For the Muslim Uighurs in the audience, this is just the most recent act in an ongoing campaign of oppression by Beijing. For the Chinese leaders, on the other hand, this could be the beginning of a newfound freedom.
