[Buddha-l] Xinjiang vs Tibet

[Weng-Fai Wong]

The topic came up during lunch with friends. One commented that Tibet is
mild compared to Xinjiang. He expects Tibetans to be eventually assimilated
completely. There are fewer Tibetans, their religion is familiar to
mainstream Chinese and despite appearances, the idea of a theocracy is not
supported outside Tibet - esp. by the U.S. The riot in Lhasa was therefore
easily put down. And in fact, the Chinese government has been playing hard
ball with the Tibetans so as to set an example to the Uighurs.

The Uighurs, on the other hand, is a completely different game. There is a
consistent history of rebellion and suppression by the power to be in China
(Mongol, Qing, Nationalist and then Communist governments) - see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xinjiang_Uyghur_Autonomous_Region. The Uighurs
also get the sympathy and perhaps support from the neighboring Turkic
countries and the greater Islamic brotherhood. Thus the difficulties the
current riots are presenting to the Chinese government.

Tibet, Qinghai and Xinjiang together accounts for nearly 1/3 of the land
area of China. The water resources of Tibet and the oil and gas resources of
Xinjiang mean that it impossible for any central Chinese government to
remain in power even at the slightest hint of "letting them go".

Any thoughts?

W.F. Wong