Anti-Chinese Forces in the West Hope to Disrupt Xinjiang

As the one-year anniversary of the July 5 incident rolls in, there has been an increase in the number of reports on Xinjiang in the domestic and international media. Through them one can pinpoint the concerns and hopes for Xinjiang that are held by each media source and the political power behind it.

The figures that appear in the major Western media are still those few extremist separatist agitators like Rebiya Kadeer. They call upon the world to give them more support, exhorting them to not “capitulate to Beijing’s economic power.” American officials press China for even more transparency on the trials of the July 5 criminals, without even a sentence of denunciation for the July 5 crimes. There isn’t a single word of hope for peace and stability in Xinjiang. In the Western media, there are still many reports saying things such as “China is tightening up security in Xinjiang,” and “40,000 new security cameras have been installed in Xinjiang,” making one feel that these media outlets look forward to the emergence of tension and opposition in the province.

What China is really doing in Xinjiang however — both in the government and among the people — is another matter entirely. In order to develop governance and extend the peace for Xinjiang, the central government has recently launched the New Deal for Xinjiang Governance, on a scale unprecedented in history and with great determination. Over the next 10 years, the Ministry of Finance will use 2.1 trillion RMB [$310 billion] to develop and improve Xinjiang’s economy and living standards, and Kashgar will be recognized as a special economic development zone. In China, it is clearly felt that Xinjiang is not without its problems, but China sincerely hopes for the province to be stable from top to bottom and will expend all its effort to achieve this goal.

If something goes awry in Xinjiang, the West doesn’t stand to lose anything, but rather they would gain control over one more of China’s playing cards. Perhaps it is because of this that if someone wants to disrupt China, that person becomes very popular in the Western countries. Those few Xinjiang separatists who gain the sympathy of the West are very far from the millions of ordinary people in the province. There are some Western politicians and media that will still do everything they can to portray these separatist groups as dispossessed people who are the victims of oppression. Apparently, all you have to do is care about these people and you care about Xinjiang and China, as though these few people could really represent the existence, development and prosperity of the more than 20 million people of all ethnic groups in the province.

All of these exiled separatists think of nothing else but conspiring to disrupt Xinjiang. They already rely on support from the West, being isolated from the interests of the people of Xinjiang. Indeed, they simply make their decisions based on their own positions. Their interests are aligned with the West, because only if there is disorder in Xinjiang can they take advantage of the crisis for personal gain, only then can they receive more funding and popular support from the West, and only then can they realize their own political ambitions by taking the Chinese government hostage.

But the Chinese people who live in this land have different interests, and they feel otherwise. Xinjiang occupies one sixth of the land mass of China, so its stability and development is good news for all of China. If the province suffers some kind of harm, then the pain is felt in the heart of every Chinese person. China can only go far if Xinjiang is stable and developed. For this reason, the Chinese people themselves hope unconditionally and wholeheartedly for the stability and strengthening of Xinjiang.

It stands to reason, due to our completely different interests, that some Westerners might continue to “care for Xinjiang ” in their fashion, and Rebiya Kadeer and such people might continue to get support through this kind of “care” and to conspire and agitate for separatism. These all constitute destructive powers that threaten the stability of the province. They will not prevail again, however. Last year’s tragedy has already opened the eyes of the people of Xinjiang. The advancement of the pace of development in Xinjiang will also constrict their area of influence in the province.