The Congressional-Executive Commission on China has just released its latest newsletter. This issue includes four excellent pieces on topics of interest to Xinjiang watchers:
- The PRC is promoting a new program of “ethnic unity education“.
- There has been a surge in cases involving charges of “endangering state security” in Xinjiang, with regional numbers (1,295 arrests on that charge between January-November 2008) almost as high as national totals.
- A critical analysis of the “Opinion on deepening the promotion of rural reform and development” promulgated in December highlights both economic plans for improving economic equity between North and South Xinjiang, including exporting workers to the Chinese Intetior, and the political programs that accompany it, including “bilingual” education.
- Two young Uyghurs were arrested back in December for distributing leaflets calling for an anti-tobacco and -alcohol protest.
If you haven’t already subscribed to CECC’s newsletter, I would recommend it. They have lately expanded their focus on Xinjiang, and their policy analysis has been increasingly balanced and insightful, much more so than most policy work on Xinjiang.
