State responses to Islamic terrorism in western China and their impact on South Asia

Abstract

The demand by some elements of the Uygur ethnic minority in China for a separate state of East Turkestan has a long history pre-dating 9/11. Since 11 September, however, the Chinese government has insisted that these separatists are no different from other Islamic terrorists that are the focus of the global ‘War against Terror’. An examination of official and non-official sources suggests, however, that Uygur terrorism in western China reached its height in the early and mid-1990s. Xinjiang, the homeland of the Uygurs, has no less than eight international borders including borders with Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. Given the cross-border character of modern terrorism, this geographical factor gives events in Xinjang regional significance. This paper focuses on the responses of the state to violence in Xinjiang. It argues that despite the porous nature of the international borders of Xinjiang, Uygur extremism in western China poses no immediate threat to South Asia. The main impact of the Uygur separatist movement on South Asia is that it has enabled the Chinese government to argue that it shares a common concern with the United States and India in the War against Terror. This has, in turn, served India well because it has expanded the legitimacy of its own clamp-down on Indian Muslims and given greater credibility to new draconian legislation introduced into India in the aftermath of 9/11.