Xinjiang Uyghur Research Articles

«Дивану луғәтит түрк» тоғрисида шуардики уйғур тилидики тәтқиқатлар

The article discusses the research of scientists of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the Uyghur language about the work of Mahmut Kashgari “Diwani Lugat-it-Turk”. This dictionary was translated into Uyghur language by a group of Uyghur scholars in the early 1980s. In 2008, on the 1000th anniversary of the scientist’s birth, the dictionary was republished with corrections, including a facsimile and an index. From 1978 to 2004 alone, 240 scientific and popular science articles were published in various publications. Considering these and more recent studies available to us, it was revealed that starting from the general content of the dictionary, different thematic groups of words (12 in total), grammatical features, poems in the dictionary, proverbs, a world map and other content were written.

Correlation analysis between myopia growth and physical development parameters of school-age children in Shihezi area, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region

Objective: To study the correlation between myopia growth and physical development of primary school student in Shihezi area of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region by measuring the ocular biometry and physical parameters of the eye, and to provide an objective basis for the development of myopia prevention and control. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used. The Grade 1-6 students from 33 schools in Shihezi area were randomly selected in October 2023. The children were classified according to age into the low age group (6-9 years) and the high age group (10-13 years).The children's height, weight, axial length (AL), maximum keratometry (steepest keratometry, K1), and minimum keratometry (flattest keratometry, K1) were measured. The body mass index (BMI), keratometric astigmatism (ΔK), mean keratometry (K), corneal radius (CR) and AL/CR were calculated. Correlation analyses were performed between ocular biometry and physical parameters. LASSO regression analysis was used to screen the best variables, and linear regression models were constructed after adjusting for confounding factors of age and sex. Results: A total of 3 986 children aged 6-13 years were included in this study, including 2 094 boys (52.53%) and 1 892 girls (47.47%); 2 162 in the lower age group and 1 824 in the upper age group. Girls had higher K, ΔK and AL/CR values than boys (43.38 D vs 42.7 D, t=-7.84,P<0.01; 1.1 D vs 1.01 D, t=-2.14,P=0.03; 2.97 vs 2.96, t=3.32,P=0.02). Boys had higher AL, height, weight and BMI than girls (23.47 mm vs 23.02 mm, t=13.77,P<0.01; 1.34 m vs 1.33 m, t=3.02,P=0.03; 32 kg vs 29.5 kg, t=7.82,P<0.01; 17.4 vs 16.52, t=10.36, P<0.01). LASSO regression was used to screen the 3 physical parameter variables (height, weight, and BMI) to determine that height was the best physical parameter variable for AL/CR. After adjusting for confounders, it was shown that in the low age group (6-9 years), there was a significant positive correlation between children's height and AL/CR (b=0.174, 95%CI: 0.106 to 0.241, P<0.001), whereas in the high age group (10-13 years), there was no correlation between children's height and AL/CR (b=0.086, 95%CI:-0.038 to 0.21, P=0.174). Conclusion: There was a positive correlation between height and myopia growth in the lower age group of children in Shihezi area, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; there was no correlation between height and myopia growth in the higher age group.

Raising and Lowering Awareness in the Digital Space

Abstract Since the wave of repressions targeting primarily Muslim minorities in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), minorities in danger resorted to various online platforms in order to increase awareness about the situation they face and to archive available evidence for future use. Thus, the narrative was created that portrays ill-treatment, forced assimilation, unlawful detention, and cultural erasure. Most Muslims and activists started using the online video platforms of Douyin, which is native to China, and TikTok, its international equivalent, to share videos aimed at domestic and international audiences. These videos vary in production quality and messages, but almost all of them are designed to mobilize viewers to learn more about the human rights crisis in the XUAR and take action. Similarly, Chinese officials started using Douyin and TikTok to create counternarratives via their own videos. Videos by Chinese authorities (e.g., local police departments in Xinjiang) or by China-sponsored content creators depict Muslims enjoying their culture, language, and religion, and the region is often shown as peaceful and rapidly developing, thanks to the efforts of the Chinese government. This article aims to look at examples of Douyin and TikTok videos by both Muslims and human rights activists and pro-CCP (Chinese Communist Party) content creators through the lenses of multimodal discourse analysis to identify potential trends and shared approaches. The theoretical framework includes digital activism, oppositional media resource mobilization, and surveillance studies, focusing on how digital activism emerges as a response to digital repression. The article concludes with findings of how video content by pro-Muslim minority and pro-CCP creators battle on the online spaces of Douyin and TikTok for a dominant narrative, which can be categorized as reactive and proactive measures against state (digital) repression.

The occurrence and genetic diversity of vegetable root-knot nematodes in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region

The occurrence and genetic diversity of vegetable root-knot nematodes in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region

Protecting fundamental values through the global human rights sanction regime: China's challenges to the EU's normative power

ABSTRACT In 2021, the European Council, implementing the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, imposed sanctions on four Chinese officials and one entity believed to be responsible for human rights violations in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. These sanctions marked the EU's resumption of a hard normative approach towards China, which responded with strong countermeasures. The exchange of sanctions and countersanctions, along with the ensuing debates, offered a valuable opportunity to observe the EU's normative power in international politics. A qualitative content analysis of documents from both China and the EU reveals that while the EU aims to uphold its moral objectives, it faces significant internal and external challenges. The EU's ability to effectively counter China is limited by institutional weaknesses, inconsistent policies, and diminished credibility. Furthermore, the EU is institutionally unprepared for the consequences of imposing sanctions on such a powerful partner and competitor. On the other hand, China has become increasingly assertive in defending its political system and values, responding to EU sanctions with strong countermeasures, thereby complicating the EU's efforts to maintain leverage in this diplomatic struggle..

Modeling of regional GNSS network using adaptive boosting algorithm: a case study in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region

Modeling of regional GNSS network using adaptive boosting algorithm: a case study in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region

Characteristics of the Spatial Structure of Traditional Villages in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in China and Their Influence Mechanisms

Traditional villages are one of the basic types of rural revitalisation and one of the important carriers of cultural inheritance. This research is based on the data of 53 traditional villages in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region with the aid of the ArcGIS10.8.1 spatial analysis platform. The study identifies the spatial evolution characteristics from the spatial distribution type, distribution direction, distribution density, distribution balance, etc., and explores their influence mechanisms. The study shows that 1. the spatial structure of traditional villages in Xinjiang was analysed as a cohesive structure type by using the nearest neighbour index method, which shows the evolutionary characteristics of the agglomerative tendency to increase gradually. Among them, Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture and Turpan City have the highest degree of concentration. 2. The establishment and development of traditional villages in Xinjiang is mainly influenced by natural factors such as geographical features and hydrography. Social factors such as population distribution, transport conditions and economic progression have very important implications for the preservation and continuation of traditional villages.

The role of geopolitics in Turkey’s diplomatic approach to the Second East Turkestan Republic (1939–1949)

ABSTRACT Using the Ankara-based Turkish Diplomatic Archives (thrown open to the public recently), this paper explores how Turkey’s diplomatic line on (what is currently called) the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) People's Republic of China unfolded through the decade following Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s death on 10 November 1938. The documents studied here are chiefly diplomatic correspondences from the Turkish outposts in China, Japan and Afghanistan dating from 1939–1949. The study outlines how Turkey readjusted itself vis-a-vis the Uyghurs in response to its evolving geo-strategic needs – to which its religious, linguistic, and cultural continuities with the Uyghurs were secondary.

Review of Asaphes Walker, 1834 (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea, Asaphesinae) from Xinjiang, China.

Four species of the cosmopolitan genus Asaphes Walker, 1834 (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Asaphesinae, family incerta sedis) are recorded from Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, bringing the number of known species in China to eight. In addition to Asaphessuspensus (Nees ab Esenbeck), 1834 and A.vulgaris Walker, 1834, A.fuyunis Li & Zhang, sp. nov. is newly described based on females and A.californicus Girault, 1917, previously known only from North and South America, is newly recorded from China. These four species are differentiated using an integrative taxonomic approach that includes COI barcode data and morphometrics, and are illustrated using macrophotography. Additionally, the 13 described world species of Asaphes are tabulated and females of the eight recognized Chinese species are keyed.

КЫТАЙ КЫРГЫЗ АКЫНДАРЫНЫН АЛГАЧКЫ ЫРЛАР ЖЫЙНАГЫ

The actuality of the article differs from the fact that it focuses on the creative workshop of 22 poets-writers included in the collection of poems "Kerme Too", which gave a message of Chinese Kyrgyz literature in Kyrgyzstan in the 60s, and reviews their issues, ideological- artistic features, and thematic directions in a consistent and chronological direction. The said collection was prepared for publication in the city of Urumqi by the Xinjiang People's Press in 1962 on behalf of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous District Branch of the Jungo Writers' Society. Before the establishment of the "Shinjan People's Press" in the late 1950s, local Kyrgyz published in Uyghur and Kazakh languages, and only in the early 1960s when publishing houses in their native language were established, it was first recognized by readers as a collection of poems, and during the 1960s, it informed the poetry of Kyrgyz literature. For the purpose of the study, we will focus on the life and creative pursuits of 22 poets and writers, observe the different characteristics of each of them, the artistic values that attract the readers in the lines corresponding to the poem, the shortcomings and successes encountered, and we will talk about the representatives who first contributed to Kyrgyz poetry as a collection. As a methodological guide, the creative ways of poets-writers, their poems of different content, and theoretical works were included in the collection of poems "Kerme Too". For this purpose, the results of the review will provide literary researchers in Kyrgyzstan with consistent information about the period of Kyrgyz literature in China in the 60s, including the period when poetry was first formed.

Understanding the failure of government debunking communication: insights from China

ABSTRACT This study uses qualitative methods to examine the challenges faced by authoritarian regimes in managing rumors during public crises, focusing on the Urumqi government’s (the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwestern China) response to COVID-19 lockdown rumors. The analysis identifies four factors contributing to the failure of government debunking communication: Rejection due to Negative Past Experiences, Discourse Reinterpretation by Mismatched Criteria, Disregard Toward Inflexible Statements, and Opposition Arising from Perceived Superficial Efforts. These factors culminate in a core mechanism termed ‘Emotional Resistance Anchored in Distrust,’ highlighting how negative past experiences shape public distrust and foster resistance to government communication. The findings challenge the assumption of automatic public trust in authoritarian contexts and underscore the importance of aligning government actions with public needs and expectations, particularly during crises.

Evaluating the coordinated development between digital technology and local safety management capability: evidence from 31 provinces in China

The enhancement of local safety management capabilities through digital technology represents a pivotal strategy for implementing Peaceful China Initiative. However, limited research exists on whether these capabilities can establish a coordinated development relationship with digital technologies and the factors influencing this relationship. This paper employs the concept of coordinated development to establish an analytical framework termed ‘Feasibility-Suitability-Sustainability,’ which is utilized to identify indicators for measuring the relationship between the two variables. Using panel data from China mainland, this study evaluates the relationship. The findings indicate that the overall level of coordinated development between digital technologies and local safety management capabilities in China mainland has been increasing during the period from 2018 to 2022. Nonetheless, certain provinces, particularly in the western regions, such as Tibet Autonomous Region, Qinghai province, and Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, encounter significant challenges in achieving high coordination between digital technologies and local safety management capabilities. Key factors contributing to these challenges include a lack of innovative potential in local safety management and insufficient trust in digital technologies among citizens. The research results contribute a novel explanatory framework to coordinated development theory and offer practical guidance for local government digitalization and public safety enhancement.

Identification and characterization of Leptosphaeria biglobosa ‘canadensis’ from wild mustard (Sinapis arvensis) in north‐western China

AbstractIn order to understand the epidemiological features of rapeseed blackleg in northern China, a 2‐year survey of blackleg on wild mustard (Sinapis arvensis) and rapeseed (Brassica napus) was done in Zhaosu County of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. Blackleg frequently occurs on both plants in this region, with mean values of disease incidence reaching up to 28% on wild mustard and 14% on rapeseed. A total of 556 pycnidia‐forming fungal isolates were obtained from wild mustard (69) and rapeseed (487). Morphological and molecular identification indicated that all of the 69 isolates from wild mustard and the majority of the isolates from rapeseed (477/487, 97.9%) belonged to Leptosphaeria biglobosa ‘canadensis’ (Lb‐c); the remaining 10 isolates from rapeseed (10/487, 2.1%) belonged to L. biglobosa ‘brassicae’ (Lb‐b). Among 239 isolates of Lb‐c (62 from wild mustard and 177 from rapeseed), two mating‐type idiomorphs (MAT1‐1 and MAT1‐2) were detected. Chi‐square test showed that the ratio of MAT1‐1 to MAT1‐2 of isolates was 1:1, implying that the individuals of Lb‐c can frequently conduct sexual reproduction to produce ascospores as the primary airborne infection source. The virulence of 10 Lb‐c isolates from wild mustard and rapeseed and five Lb‐b isolates from rapeseed was determined on both plants. The results showed that the Lb‐c isolates from wild mustard were as virulent as isolates of Lb‐c and Lb‐b from rapeseed. Thus, Lb‐c can act as inoculum of rapeseed blackleg, and eliminating plants of wild mustard may improve efficacy of crop rotation in suppression of rapeseed blackleg.

“We Are Living in Fear”: Transnational Repression, Regime Type, and Double Precarity in the Uyghur Diaspora

Since 1997, the Chinese Party-state has engaged in a campaign of transnational repression against the Uyghur diaspora. This campaign has grown in severity since the 2014 declaration of the People's War on Terror and Strike Hard campaigns, which, taken together, involved a program of mass incarceration for the Turkic peoples of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). This article examines the everyday impacts of extraterritorial persecution on the Uyghur diaspora and their ability to successfully integrate into their new host societies and exercise their political and cultural agency. The article draws from nineteen in-depth interviews with Uyghurs living around the world and a dataset of over 7,000 incidents of China's targeting of Uyghurs globally since 1997. We examine how Chinese practices and the everyday effects of transnational repression vary between different regime types. We argue that Uyghurs experience both marginalization in their host country and the threat of transnational repression from China, a particularly precarious situation that we term double precarity. This double precarity is felt most acutely in more authoritarian contexts.

The aesthetics and imaginaries of Uyghur heritage, Chinese Tourism, and the Xinjiang dance craze

ABSTRACT In parks and town squares across China in 2023, amateur dance enthusiasts engaged in a nationwide ‘Xinjiang dance’ craze, a phenomenon reflected and amplified on social media. For outside observers this might seem a bizarre development following the Chinese media discourses of terrorism, and the intense securitisation of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region which so recently preceded it, but it aligned neatly with new initiatives across Chinese government, media and heritage to promote the region’s burgeoning tourism industry, to fundamentally shift perceptions of the region in the national imagination, and to counter revelations of mass incarceration and cultural erasure in international media. This article highlights the ways that Uyghur heritage, music and dance have been harnessed in government projects to remodel the region’s history and situate its peoples more firmly within the sphere of the Chinese nation, thinking through the ways in which the aesthetic formations and imaginaries of Uyghur heritage articulate the links between tourism and territory, colonialism and desire.

Study on the Development Status, Inheritance, and Protection of Twelve Muqam in Shache County, Xinjiang

The Twelve Muqam is one of the world’s intangible cultural heritages and a cultural treasure inherited by the Uyghurs. Setting the field site in the inheritance center of Twelve Muqam - Shache County, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, this article carries out an in-depth investigation and observation of the inheritors of Twelve Muqam, folk artists and ordinary people in Shache County through independent personal channels. This study found that the Twelve Muqam is well popularized among the Uyghurs in Shache County. However, the difficulty in cultivating Twelve Muqam artists makes it challenging to pass down Twelve Muqam. In addition, the inheritors of Twelve Muqam and folk artists take it as a personal belief rather than just a form of art, making them advocate strict preservation of the original state of this intangible cultural heritage. To some extent, this study engages in dialog and comparison with previous research conducted from the perspective of “the others”. It provides some enlightening insights for the subsequent inheritance and protection of Twelve Muqam.

Establishment and application of TaqMan real-time PCR method for detection of Theileria annulata resistant to buparvaquone

Tropical theileriosis is a tick-borne disease that caused by Theileria annulata, and leads to substantial economic impact in endemic area. Distinguishes to other piroplasms, Theileria is the only eukaryotic parasite could transform mammalian leukocytes. At present, buparvaquone is the most effective drug used for treatment of Theileria infection. However, frequently reported of failure treatment with buparvaquone for some T. annulata isolates. Mutation of TaPIN1 was reported to be the direct reason for failure of buparvaquone treatment. Through in vitro culture, a T. annulata isolate with a TaPIN1 mutation that is similar to the reported strain was recently identified in China. In order to understand the distribution of Theileria with mutation of TaPIN1 in China, here we developed a TaqMan probe-based real-time PCR technology to detect the mutated TaPIN1 gene. The specificity, sensitivity and reproducibility of the established TaqMan Real-time PCR method were evaluated, and field cattle blood samples collected from Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region were used to test its application. Among 1683 samples, 335 samples were confirmed positive for T. annulata by traditional PCR method and 34 samples were positive for buparvaquone-resistant. The TaPIN1 gene of those 34 samples was sequenced and analyzed with the published gene sequences from NCBI database. The results showed that the sequence obtained from the present study has good consistency with those published sequences. In conclusion, the TaqMan probe-based real-time PCR targeting T. annulata mutated TaPIN1 gene was successfully established and can be used to detect clinical samples to investigation of buparvaquone-resistant parasites in Xinjiang region quickly and accurately, which will be useful for guiding clinical medicine application.

A study with sensory evaluation and GC-MS/HPLC analysis on changes of flavor compounds in mutton during storage

ABSTRACT Mutton is a popular food with a long history of consumption and high nutritional value for the minorities such as Uyghur people in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. This study aims to investigate the changes in aroma compounds, amino acids, and nucleotides in lean, fat, and mixed samples of mutton during different storage periods. In this study, gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) were employed to detect the volatile and nonvolatile compounds. Systematic approaches were used to analyze the sensory property variations. The results showed that there are a number of compounds and chemicals which affect the flavor of different tissues during the different storage time. For instance from the lean samples: for day 1, day 14 and day 28, the Glu has the effect on the umami taste and with the changing concentration of 1375 ± 135 ng/ml, 855 ± 324 ng/ml and 2347 ± 194 ng/ml, respectively. Besides, aldehydes, alcohols, and ketones were the most abundant, while esters and thiazoles were less abundant during the different storage. Results of sensory evaluation showed that when the storage time increased, the sour and sulfur aromas of mutton were strong, while the fatty aroma was significantly increased and decreased in fat and lean meat. The taste of mutton became worse as the storage time increased. The best storage period was 14 days, and the flavor of all mutton sample groups was better when using a 14 day storage period.

Innovating Repression: Policy Experimentation and the Evolution of Beijing’s Re-Education Campaign in Xinjiang

ABSTRACT This article argues that Beijing’s campaign of mass internment in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region evolved through a creative local policy experimentation process. This resulted in an ‘innovative repression’ solution to widespread ethnic discontent in the region, which the party-state has framed as ‘religious extremism’ and portrayed as a major national security threat. Amid significant top-level steering by the central government and despite extreme political sensitivities surrounding Xinjiang, Beijing used a form of ‘policy experimentation under hierarchy’ to catalyze localized development of mass ‘de-extremification’ in dedicated re-education internment camps. While scholars disagree to what extent policy experimentation continues under Xi Jinping’s more centralized approach to governance, the state’s atrocities in Xinjiang indicate how policy experimentation continues to facilitate the development of next-generation repressive securitization strategies.

Detection of Sarcocystis albifronsi, Eimeria alpacae, and Cystoisospora felis in Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in northwestern China

Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) is widely distributed in various habitats in Asia and Europe, and it may harbor multiple pathogens. Currently, the information on protozoan infection in Eurasian lynx is scarce. In this study, we performed nested polymerase chain reaction (nPCR) analysis to detect intestinal protozoan infection in three dead Eurasian lynxes, in northwestern China. Three dead Eurasian lynxes, an adult female (#1), an adult male (#2), and a cub male (#3), were sampled in West Junggar Mountain, the northwestern region of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The intestine samples were analyzed using nPCR. We used primers targeting the cytochrome C oxidase subunit I gene (COI) for detection of Sarcocystis and Eimeria species and targeting the small subunit 18 S ribosomal RNA gene (18S rRNA) for detection of Cystoisospora species. The nPCR-positive products were sequenced, aligned, and phylogenetically analyzed. Three intestinal protozoa, Sarcocystis albifronsi, Eimeria alpacae, and Cystoisospora felis, were found in three Eurasian lynxes. The intestine sample of Eurasian lynx #2 was detected with S. albifronsi and E. alpacae. In addition, C. felis was only found in the intestine sample of Eurasian lynx #3. To the best of our knowledge, S. albifronsi and E. alpacae were detected in Eurasian lynx for the first time. In addition, C. felis was firstly found in Eurasian lynx in China. These findings extend our knowledge of the geographical distribution and host range of intestinal protozoa.