East Turkestan (Xinjiang)
East Turkestan is an arid region in Central Asia. The Tian Shan Mountains run down its centre like a backbone, and the Altay and Kunlun Mountains enclose it to the north and south.
The region was developed by the trade routes known as the Silk Road, that linked the ancient Chinese and European civilisations. Today, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, which is now Chinese territory, coincides precisely with this area.
After its incorporation into the People's Republic of China, great numbers of Han Chinese immigrants settled in the region, and their relations with the region's original inhabitants do not, as one might expect, appear to be very good. Many towns are divided into modern-looking areas where the Han live, and Islamic-style areas which are the home of the Uyghurs and other indigenous inhabitants.
From 1990 to 2001 the Autonomous Region saw growing independence movements. Today, disturbances have calmed down within the region itself, but in 2004 an East Turkestan government in exile was established in Washington. Furthermore, reports occasionally emerge of suppression of the Uyghurs' human rights by the communist government, so it can hardly be denied that the region still faces a number of political problems.
I was stopped countless times in the streets of Xinjiang. Looking around me then, over the cup of tea I would be offered, it was hard to believe that this rugged, wholesome world I saw around me had anything to do with the petty concerns of politics. Nevertheless, this place too is caught up in the maelstrom of ethnic problems that breaks out recurrently throughout the world. This reflection, even for a wanderer just passing through, cannot but leave a little sadness in its wake.
