Uighur unrest highights China’s ethnic tensions

Deadly unrest in China’s Muslim-populated far northwest has highlighted deep tensions felt by dozens of ethnic groups across the vast nation that pose a growing problem for the government, analysts said.

China’s 55 minority groups make up nearly 10 percent of the population — roughly 130 million people — and many feel frustration at the economic dominance of the majority Han, as well as a loss of traditions and culture.

“The clashes are of real concern to the leadership, particularly for their potential to spark further unrest among other minority groups with similar grievances to the Uighurs,” said Sarah McDowall, political analyst for research group IHS Global Insight.

In Urumqi, the capital of China’s Xinjiang region, thousands of members of the mainly Muslim Uighur minority took to the streets on Sunday, triggering deadly unrest that the government said left at least 184 people dead.

The violence in Xinjiang, home to over eight million Uighurs who have long chafed under Chinese rule, echoed deadly unrest in neighbouring Tibet last year when Buddhists angrily protested against alleged government repression.

“The government really has serious problems,” said Jiang Wenran, associate professor of political science at Canada’s University of Alberta.“Beijing needs to squarely face the reality about how minorities are being treated by Hans, not only in Xinjiang, but in the rest of the country.”

- AFP