‘Old Bottle, New Wine’? Xinjiang Bingtuan and China’s ethnic frontier governance

Abstract

Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (Xinjiang Shengchan Jianshe Bingtuan—shortened form Bingtuan) is a distinctive military agricultural settlement and production institution in China’s western region, Xinjiang. It is also a modern form of China’s traditional ethnic frontier governing mechanism. This article discusses Bingtuan’s historical precedents, modern development and innovative change for Xinjiang governance. In an examination of Bingtuan’s main functions for China’s ethnic frontier governance, this article argues that in addition to economic sustainability and territorial security, Bingtuan played an important but multifaceted role in ethnic relations in Xinjiang, such as territorial fragmentation, ethnic separation and redefinition of regional identity; therefore Bingtuan not only makes its administrated area China’s ‘frontier of settlement’ but also acts as a key state agency for whatever future Xinjiang might have.