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Xi Jinping, the top leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC), conducted a four-day 'investigative tour' of eastern Xinjiang in mid-July, marking his first trip to the Uyghur Region since 2014. At first glance, the visit and its public communications seem similar to those of past general secretaries of the Communist Party of China (CPC) when visiting Xinjiang. Accompanied by Ma Xingrui, the party secretary of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, governor Erkin Tuniyaz, and other officials, Xi explored cultural, economic, and touristic sites, visited a village, inspected the military, and was a guest in a Uyghur household. He engaged in 'informal conversations' with locals, including a farmer from the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (Bingtuan) who was working in a cotton field during Xi's visit. Xi highlighted Xinjiang's impressive growth, stability, progress, and prosperity, emphasizing its significance along the Silk Road Economic Belt. He reiterated the statement that “since ancient times, Xinjiang has been an inseparable part of our country.”
In this manner, the official images and reports from Xinhua present a facade of normalcy. However, the situation is far from normal. Since 2017, directives from the central CPC have resulted in the extra-legal detention of one to two million people under dubious claims of 'extremism'. A vast segment of the Uyghur academic, cultural, and political elite has vanished, and cities have become heavily securitized utilizing various technologies. Thousands of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other non-Han individuals from Xinjiang living abroad have faced threats and were compelled to seek asylum in democratic nations. Countries and international entities like the United States, Canada, the European Union, and the United Kingdom have condemned these policies and labeled them as genocide, imposing economic sanctions and import bans on Xinjiang-related individuals and organizations, including the Bingtuan, which plays a significant role in enforcing colonial measures and serves as a major mechanism of control in Xinjiang alongside the party and regional government. While Xi's policies in Xinjiang are not the sole reason for the deterioration of Sino-US and Sino-European relations during his leadership, they significantly contribute to that crisis and the overall decline in China's international standing.
The portrayal of business-as-usual stands out due to what is notably absent. For instance, Xi's visit to Xinjiang University would have been particularly poignant for those aware that its former president, Tashpolat Tiyip, is reported to have received a death sentence for being labeled a ‘two-faced official,’ or that the internationally renowned professor Rahile Dawut was detained by state authorities in late 2017, with no update on her whereabouts since. The sense of strained normalcy is heightened by what is lacking in Xinhua’s coverage of Xi's remarks: compared to previous official statements about Xinjiang in the last five years, Xi did not mention terrorism, extremism, or separatism during this visit, nor did he refer to the so-called 'vocational training centers' (internment camps) that have been a central aspect of his policies. He also did not address the labor transfer program that has forcibly relocated hundreds of thousands of mainly Uyghur individuals from their homes to work in factories in Xinjiang or across the PRC. Although justified as 'poverty alleviation,' this process is fracturing families, denying them better economic opportunities, and expelling them from lands they have inhabited for generations.
The closest Xi came to acknowledging the pressing issues during his official trip was while visiting the Eighth Division of the Bingtuan in Shihezi, northern Xinjiang. While commending the Bingtuan's role in maintaining stability by 'garrisoning the frontier,' he referred to its problematic history and significant costs, as the entity was disbanded after the Cultural Revolution due to high overhead costs and reformed in 1981, driven by the PRC's concerns regarding Islamic movements. Everyone associated with the Bingtuan understands that, despite its self-proclaimed heroism, it does not defend China's borders; rather, it exists to manage potential unrest among the non-Han populations of Xinjiang.
Established after the CPC's victory in 1949, the Bingtuan has since acquired and occupied land and facilitated Han migration by providing land grants while also operating prisons and internment camps, many of which were constructed in recent years. Bingtuan-controlled farms and factories account for a substantial portion of Xinjiang’s cotton production, which represents 80% of China’s total cotton output. Due to its active involvement in repression and forced labor, the Bingtuan now faces international sanctions, disrupting the global textile and garment industries as brands reevaluate their supply chains. Xi's call for the Bingtuan to 'adapt to new conditions and demands' likely refers to this recent global scrutiny and
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Xi Jinping, the leading figure of the People's Republic of China (PRC), conducted a four-day 'investigative tour' of eastern Xinjiang in mid-July—marking his first visit to the Uyghur Region since 2014. At first glance, the trip and its public narrative seem similar to those of his predecessors. However, the ideological emphasis of Xi's comments during the visit centered on a historical account showcasing an innate sense of Zhonghuaness, where Uyghurs, Kyrgyz, Kazakhs, and other indigenous peoples of Xinjiang were included from the outset. This narrative is notably inclusive, minimizing non-Han ethnic identities not by rejecting them, but by subsuming them into a broader, constructed category. In essence, Xi’s interpretation of Zhonghua-ism has harnessed the notion of a collective identity for colonial objectives, emphasizing a shared history, common territory, and a sense of unity expressed through 'root veins.'