See, though, this peculiar quote in a BBC article from John B. Bellinger III, legal advisor to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice:

“[The Uighurs] were properly detained, they were in training camps… but they wanted to fight the Chinese. So there’s no question that we had the proper authority to detain them,” he told the BBC in an interview.

“Since we determined who they were, and that they were not intent on fighting us, we’ve been trying to release them. But China is the only country that wants them back,” he added. [...]

Mr Bellinger said American immigration laws were such that it would be extremely difficult to resettle them in the US, so he welcomed the “first breaking of the ice in European resistance in trying to help out”.

Who, exactly, is “we,” here, as in “we’ve been trying to release them?”  Judge Urbina made it pretty clear back in October that he and the judicial system think they should be out.  It’s the Bush administration, where this guy works, that’s been blocking their release by appealing Urbina’s ruling.  Come to think of it, this is the same administration responsible for locking them up seven years ago, the same people who wanted to throw away the key.  Since they’ve been cleared of all charges now for several years, shouldn’t this administration have started making an effort to resettle them even then?

Granted, I am no expert in US immigration law.  I am sure that settling a military detainee is difficult.  However, it’s not true that only “China” wants these men.  Several Uyghur families in the US have agreed to house the detainees as they adjust to life in the land of the free.  Is it possible that the US has been waiting for a European country (besides Albania) to clean up its mess?

This does make me wonder, where was Sweden in all of this?  Where was the Uyghur community in Germany?  Canada?  Honestly, I couldn’t blame them for considering this an American problem.  The US — my country — detained these men, locked them up, processed them, gripped them tight, kept them firmly inside.  Since they were imprisoned in the American realm, their place in America gained a certain naturalness.  When a country tries to hard to hold onto something, why would it want to give it away?

Then we have the question of US-China relations.  First off, I honestly have no way of knowing under which circumstances exactly the remaining Uyghur detainees were captured and delivered to the US.  It is my suspicion that they were not receiving any sort of military or paramilitary training.  In light of Bellinger’s comments, however, I wonder: Did he just say that the United States tolerates armed insurgency against the People’s Republic of China?  “[T]hey wanted to fight the Chinese … they were not intent on fighting us.”  Does that make them any less of a threat to human life?

To my mind, this can mean one of three things.  1. The United States government wants Uyghurs (and others) to be armed and angry and ready to disrupt the PRC presence in Xinjiang.  2. The US, having declared the men enemy combatants, has found a compromise for them, an identity that makes them insurgents but also prevents their return to China.  3. This is an acceptable story for media consumption, one that draws on preestablished ideas of Muslims in China and that obscures a more complex and bureaucratically byzantine truth.

Recently, the following post, once found at this address, was passed on to me by a friend. It seems to have circulated on the Web since perhaps early November. It is a lengthy and impassioned plea for, at the very least, some respect and hope for the people of Xinjiang of all stripes, who, the author argues, have endured countless hardships for the benefit of their fellow citizens in the East. The author expresses despair at the dashed hopes of the Opening Up of the West and anger at the cancer left by atomic bomb tests in Lop Nor.

The whole document has a feeling of the old Yip Harburg song, “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” “Once I built a railroad…”

My English translation is a little hurried. Comments are welcome.

Also, does anyone else think that the author must be from Korla?

今天的十大头条： 新疆人，对不起，谢谢你

Today’s Top Ten Leading Stories: Xinjiang People, I’m Sorry, Thank You

对不起，谢谢你
新疆的石油运走了，
新疆的天然气运走了，
新疆的棉花运走了，
新疆的钾盐运走了，
新疆的黄金运走了，
新疆的和田玉运走了
……

I’m sorry, thank you

Xinjiang’s oil was transported away,

Xinjiang’s natural gas was transported away,

Xinjiang’s cotton was transported away,

Xinjiang’s leopoldite was transported away,

Xinjiang’s gold was transported away,

Xinjiang’s Khotan jade was transported away

…

原子弹却降临在新疆了
……

The atomic bomb was indeed tested in Xinjiang

…

新疆，一百六十万平方公里的土地，一千九百万各族人民.我们世世代代生活在那片土地
上.我们骄傲，我们自豪.没有理由，就因为那片土地叫新疆.

Xinjiang, an area of 1 600 000 square kilometers, 19 000 000 people of every ethnic group. We have lived on that patch of earth for generations. We are proud, we feel proud. There is no reason, just that that patch of earth is called Xinjiang.

这片占祖国六分之一版图的土地，承载着什么，又蕴藏着什么.这里有四十七个民族的儿
女，或耕耘，或牧羊，或买卖，或采矿.千年的腥风血雨，早已被坎儿井的清清流水洗得
干干净净；千年的历史沧桑，早已被天山上的雪莲花薰陶得浓郁幽香.新疆人，无论什么
民族什么宗教信仰，都渴望自己的家乡能够拥有平等的发展机会与空间.

This patch of earth that occupies one-sixth of the area of our ancestral country, what does it contain, and what does it hide. Here there are the sons and daughters of forty-seven minzu, working the fields, or shepherding sheep, or buying and selling, or mining. One thousand years of bloody history have long since been washed clean by the clear flowing waters of the karez; one thousand years of great historical changed have long since been purged by the snow lotuses and Coumarouna odorata of the Tianshan until they are sweetly fragrant. Xinjiang people, no matter what their minzu or religious beliefs, all hope that their home can have the opportunity and time to develop fairly.

西部大开发，一个曾经让我们振奋不已的口号.一时间，就连塔克拉玛干边缘的万年荒山
上，也用白色的石头拼出了大字：西部大开发，新疆是重点，巴州要大干！

The Great Opening Up of the West, a slogan that once endlessly inspired us. At one time, even upon the mountains around the edge of the Täklimakan, uncultivated for untold ages, we used white stones to spell out big characters: The Great Opening Up of the West, Xinjiang is the focus, Bazhou will make a big effort!

曾经告诉过我们，创世未有的发展机遇降临在了我们的头上；曾经告诉过我们，克服与忍
受暂时的损失与困难，因为长远的幸福是属于我们的；曾经告诉过我们，资源埋在地下永
远变不了金钱；曾经告诉过我们，大型基础设施建设会带动新疆人的就业；曾经告诉过我
们，长长的管子把石油天然气送到了内地，长长的管子还会将大把大把的税收送到新疆人
的手中……

Once they told us, an opportunity for development the likes of which the world had never seen had fallen on our heads; once they told us, endure and withstand temporary loss and hardship, because long-term fortune belonged to us; once they told us, resources buried underground would never become money; once they told us, the construction of large-scale basic-level facilities would spur the employment of Xinjiang people; once they told us, long pipes would take oil and natural gas to the Interior, long pipes might still bring piles of tax revenues to Xinjiang people’s hands…

曾经……

Once…

新疆是一个什么样的地方？涓涓细流会将天山与昆仑山的雪水送到牧区农场，一眼望不到
边的大草原，遍布着牛羊……新疆，就是这样一个地方，绿洲农业，咱不靠天吃饭，旱涝
保收；高山草甸牧业，咱不愁一个月不下雨草场就会旱死.新疆没有发生过饥荒，三年自
然灾害时期，内地人就是扒在火车车厢底下也要来新疆，就算是在星星峡被当作盲流拦住
遣返回原籍，也要在半道上跳下火车徒步进新疆.新疆，就是这样，那里有土地，那里有
雪水，那里，有希望.

What kind of place is Xinjiang? Brooks and streams may carry the meltwaters of the Tianshan and Kunlun Mountains to pastures and fields, a grassland the edge of which the naked eye cannot see, covered in cows and sheep… Xinjiang, it’s just this kind of place. Oasis agriculture, we don’t depend on Heaven to eat, the harvest is protected through draught and flood. Animal husbandry in the mountain grasslands, we don’t worry if the ranges dry out after a month without rain. Xinjiang has never had a famine, a three-year period of natural disasters. People from the Interior even want to cling to the bottoms of train cars to come to Xinjiang. Even treated in the Starry Gorge [a gorge in the Hexi Corridor] as aimless migrants, barred, and made to return to their place of origin, they want to jump out of the train on the way and walk into Xinjiang. Xinjiang, it’s like this. There is land there, there is meltwater, there is hope.

我们觉得自己生活得很幸福.

We felt that we lived happily.

可是，突然有一天，人家告诉我们，人家来帮咱们了，咱们的生活会更好更好了！这个时
候，我们心存感激，我们同样被从那种平静的生活中唤起而后振奋，因为我们被告知
，会有更大的希望！

But, suddenly one day, someone told us, there’s someone coming to help us, our life is going to be better, better! At this time, we felt appreciative. We, too, were stirred up and excited out of that peaceful and tranquil kind of life of ours, because we were signaled, we may have even more hope!

……

…

一晃八年了.

All of a sudden, eight years passed.

当初为我们憧憬过美好蓝图的人啊，你们在哪儿呢？

Those of you who looked forward to a beautiful blueprint for us, where are you?

请来看看我们的新疆.

Please come and look at our Xinjiang.

西部大开发，究竟是什么？

The Great Opening Up of the West, what is it really?

资源，包括那些具有战略意义的能源，被那条长长的管子送到了沿海地区.这，我们不计
较.可是我们又得到了什么？就业机会吗？看看那些从事新疆能源开发的企业，不都是内
地的大型企业吗？咱们新疆人的孩子，又何曾享受过这样的就业机会.西安石油学院毕业
的新疆孩子，想要进新疆的石油单位工作那是难上加难.因为这些待遇优厚的工作岗位，
全部都被这些内地企业自身的员工所占据.你可以随便去一家石油石化单位听听，遍地北
京口音、东北口音、山东口音，就是没有新疆口音.那咱们新疆的孩子能在石油单位找到
工作吗？不是不可以，而且还基本专业对口：加油站给汽车加油.带动相关产业的发展吗
？要知道，西气东输的管道，是在宝鸡生产的.高水准的生活吗？你知道在上海一方天然
气是多少钱吗？一块二；你知道在新疆一方天然气是多少钱吗？一块二毛五.而你知道新
疆人的工资水准是多少吗？一个教龄三十年的中教高级教师，月薪不过两千五，这还是
06年加薪后的工资；一个五十岁的正厅级干部，月薪加补贴不过三千块.那么普通老百姓
呢？工人、农民、一般公务员呢？我们在消化着巨大的剪刀差，我们在默默无闻得为东部
的大发展埋单.

Resources, including those power sources which hold a military significance, have been taken away by those long, long tubes to the coastal regions. This, we don’t bicker about. But what have we then received? Employment opportunities? Look at those enterprises that handle the exploitation of Xinjiang’s resources, aren’t they all big companies from the Interior? The children of we Xinjiang people, how then have they enjoyed these kinds of employment opportunities[?] Xinjiang kids who graduate from Xi’an Oil Institute, if they want to enter a Xinjiang oil work unit, that’s harder than hard. Because these generously-paying work positions, all of them have been taken by those big companies from the Interior’s own employees. You can go to any oil work unit and have a listen, it’s all Beijing accents, North-Eastern accents, Shandong accents, but there are no Xinjiang accents. So can kids from our Xinjiang find work in an oil work unit? It’s not that they may not, and what’s more they are proficient in the most basic profession: putting gas in cars at gas stations. Does this spur the growth of related industries? You have to know, the pipe that take Western gas to the East, this was built in Baoji [a city in Shaanxi with an amusing name]. And a high standard of living? Do you know how much a cubic meter of natural gas costs in Shanghai? 1.2 RMB. Do you know how much a cubic meter of natural gas costs in Xinjiang? 1.25 RMB. And do you know how much the standard salary of a Xinjiang person is? A high-level middle-school teacher with thirty years’ experience, his or her monthly salary is not above 2500, and this is after the pay raise in ’06. A fifty-year-old main-office-level [正厅级?] cadre, his or her monthly salary is not above 3000 RMB. So what about regular everyday people? Workers, peasants, normal service personnel? We are digesting an enormous disparity. Unknown to the public, we are paying the bill for the great development of the East.

乌鲁木齐与库尔勒，一北一南，南北疆的领头城市.让我们来听听这两个城市老百姓的故
事.

Ürümchi and Korla, one in the South, one in the North, the leading cities of North and South Xinjiang. Let us listen to the stories of the everyday people of these two cities.

乌鲁木齐，一个人口二百万的大城市，却拥有着一个长期困扰老百姓生活的难题：打车难
.上下班的高峰期，老百姓往往站在零下二十多度的严寒里，半个小时打不上一辆车.你要
问出租车都到哪儿去了？问一百位司机九十九个都会告诉你：加气站排队加气呢！乌鲁木
齐的出租车烧液化气，新疆是产油的地方，怎么会缺液化气呢？独山子石化的同志们会耐
心的告诉你：新疆同胞们，咱们忍忍吧，新疆的石油和天然气得保证西气东输和内地大城
市用油的需要……当北京的出租车换上了大排量的伊兰特时，当上海居民的厨房里冒出了
纯蓝的灶火时，请想想，生产石油与天然气的新疆人民，还在寒风里站着；新疆的司机，
还排在一眼望不到头的长队里焦急的等待，而这些司机，也得吃饭也得买房也得供孩子上
学，他们本来可以拉活的时间，白白的耗在了等待上……

Ürümchi, a city with a population of 2 000 000 [actually around 3 500 000, now], indeed has a difficult long-term problem for the lives of everyday people: it’s hard to get a cab. At rush hour when people get on and off work, everyday people often stand in the more-than-negative-twenty-degrees bitter cold. Even after half an hour, they cannot get a cab. Want to ask where the cabs have gone? Ask one hundred drivers and ninety-nine will tell you: they’re in line at the gas station to get gas! The cabs of Ürümchi have been converted to run on natural gas, but Xinjiang is a place that produces oil, so why convert them to run on natural gas? The comrades at Dushanzi Petroleum will patiently tell you: Xinjiang siblings, let’s sit tight, eh? Xinjiang’s oil and natural gas have to guarantee the transportation of Western gas to the East and the oil-use needs of the big cities in the Interior… When the taxis of Beijing are traded for great lines of Elantras, when in the kitchens of Shanghai a pure blue stove-flame is lit, please think, the people of Xinjiang who manufacture oil and natural gas are still standing in the bitter wind. Xinjiang’s drivers are still waiting impatiently in a line, the end of which cannot be seen, and these drivers, they also have to eat and give their children schooling. When they could be making a living, they are wasting their time pointlessly waiting…

库尔勒，一个新兴的石油城市，南疆经济的桥头堡，塔里木油田指挥部所在地.石油人来
了，我们端着哈达欢迎您！指挥部建设需要用地，可以！您知道现在塔里木油田指挥部的
所在地过去是什么吗？是上千亩的良田，是库尔勒的各族人民世世代代耕作的良田.祖国
需要，石油人需要，我们无怨无悔，献出了这片沃土.可是，时至今日，塔指的一栋栋高
楼大厦建起来了，五星级公寓建起来了，塔里木油田的一口口油井喷油了，塔里木大气田
的天然气送到东方了，有谁想过那些失去土地的农民现在在干什么？那么请到库尔勒的街
头看看吧.扫大街的环卫工人，清一色的少数民族职工，问问他们原来是干什么的？他们
会遥望一片繁华的塔里木油田指挥部，告诉你，那里曾是我的家.这还是解决了就业的，
那些数以千计的失去土地的农民呢？他们没有技术没有知识，库尔勒的环卫战线也不可能
安排那么多的人.请到库尔勒河的葵花桥头看看吧.每天早晨，都有黑压压一片的壮劳
力，集中在这里，被需要临时工的老板们挑来挑去，幸运的，被挑中，干一天临时工，挣
些前，第二天早晨继续到这里来撞运气；不幸的，过了中午还没有被挑走，就只好回家饿
肚子，祈祷真主明天能赐给他一个临时工的机会……

Korla, an up-and-coming oil city, the bridgehead of the Southern Xinjiang economy, the place of the headquarters of Tarim Oilfields. The oil men came, we welcomed you with qadaqs! [a blue scarf given by Mongols to guests] The Headquarters needed land to be constructed, sure! Do you know what the current location of the Headquarters used to be? It was thousands of mu of good farmland, the good farmland worked by generations of the people of Korla of all kinds. The ancestral countries needs, the oil men need. We didn’t complain or regret. We gave up this patch of fertile land. But, up until the present day, the big buildings and towers of the Tarim Oilfields Headquarters were built, five-star apartments were built, the oil wells of the Tarim oilfields spurted oil, and the natural gas of the Tarim natural gas fields was sent to the East. Has anyone thought of what those people who lost their land are doing now? Then please go to the streets of Korla and have a look. The sanitation workers who sweep the streets, all of them minority workers, ask them, what did they used to do? They may look at the glorious Tarim Oilfields Headquarters in the distance and tell you, that was once my home. Is this solving the employment problem, those thousands of workers who lost their land? They have neither craft nor knowledge, nor can Korla’s Sanitation Front arrange so many people. Please go to the head of the Kuihua Bridge over the Korla River and have a look. Every day in the early morning, there are endless and dense mobs of strong laborers. They concentrate there, picked out by bosses in need of temporary labor. The lucky ones, picked out, do a day of temporary work, earn some money, and, on the next day, return here to try their luck. The unlucky ones, who have not been picked out by after noon, have to go home hungry and pray that, tomorrow, they will be granted a temporary work opportunity.

这还只是能源.其他资源呢？黄金呢？钾盐呢？玉石呢？

This is all still just energy. What about other resources? Gold? Leopoldite? Jade?

大规模的开发，富起来的到底是谁？

Large-scale exploitation, who’s really getting rich?

西部大开发，过了八年了，我们为什么只看到一个个资源项目上马，却很少看到科教文化
卫生人才方面的扶持与投资？要开发一个地区，资源是一条路；可是资源开采完了呢？我
们还能拥有什么？没有科教与人才的积累，到底还有多大的发展空间？

The Great Opening Up of the West, it’s been eight years. Why have we only seen a few resource projects get going, but not seen any assistance or investment in terms of popular science, culture, sanitation, or training? In order to open up a region, resources are one road, but what about when the resources are all exploited up? What can we have? Without an accumulation of popular science and talented people, how much room is there then for development?

你可曾知道，堂堂新疆大学历史系的学生们在校图书馆里竟然找不到《万历十五年》这样
非常普遍的书籍？你可曾知道，堂堂华夏第一州–巴音郭楞蒙古自治州，竟然没有一所
正规的图书馆、博物馆？大城市如此，小城市与农村又是怎样？西部大开发，为什么我们
很少见到这样的项目与投资？

Are you aware that the students of the great Xinjiang University’s History Department cannot find extremely common books like Wanli Shiwu Nian in their library? Are you aware that the great First Prefecture in China, Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, still has not a single regular library or museum? Big cities are like this, so what can small cities and villages be like? The Great Opening Up of the West, why do we so rarely see projects and investment like this?

新疆人，老实巴交的新疆人，被内地人动不动就称作野蛮人的新疆人……就这样默默无闻
的承受着一切……换个角度思考，如果北京的出租车司机成天排队加不上油，会是怎么样
？如果山东的农民成批成批的失去土地，就像库尔勒的农民那样，还会不会如此沉默的承
受一切？

Xinjiang people, honest Xinjiang people, Xinjiang people who cannot move for the Interior people are who are called barbarous… Unbeknownst, they have borne all of this… Thinking about it from another perspective, if Beijing’s taxi drivers were in line all day and could not get gas, what would it be like? If the peasants of Shandong lost their land bit by bit, just like the peasants of Korla, would they still quietly bear all of this?

前两天，把原子弹空投到日本领土的美军飞行员去世了.又一次引发出关于核武器的大规
模讨论.在一次次的讨论中，你们可曾想过，在遥远的罗布泊，曾经露天爆炸过原子弹？
在美丽的孔雀河－塔里木河流域，曾经无数次的进行过地下核试验？当看到新疆刮起沙尘
暴的新闻后，你们第一个想到的肯定是：新疆那个荒凉的地方……有谁想过，从罗布泊刮
来的沙尘暴，会给世世代代居住在那里的老百姓吹来什么？

Two days ago, the American pilot who dropped the first atomic bomb on Japanese soil passed away. [The pilot, Paul Tibbets, died on 1 November 2007, dating this document to perhaps 3 November.] This once again attracted a large-scale discussion of atomic weapons. In the course of one such discussion, did you perhaps think how, in distant Lop Nor, an atomic bomb was once tested in the open? How, in the beautiful Kongque River – Tarim River Basin, there were once conducted countless underground nuclear tests? After seeing the news of the sand storms in Xinjiang, what you first thought was certainly: Xinjiang, that desolate place… Who thought, the sands that storm from Lop Nor, what will they blow to generations of people who live in that place?

一个个身边的亲友倒下了……问问原因，不是肺癌就是食道癌.新疆是著名的长寿之乡，
祖祖辈辈生活在辽阔农村的百姓，呼吸着新鲜空气，吃着五谷杂粮，周围没有任何现代工
业的痕迹，怎么会一个又一个的患上癌症呢？你们可曾知道，就在罗布泊地区的巴音郭楞
蒙古自治州，进入八九十年代以来，已经成为癌症重灾区.胡总去探望艾滋病人了，温总
去河南艾滋病村了，这是时代的进步，这是party和go-vern-ment的关怀.可是，一个因为
长期受到核辐射而成为癌症重灾区的地区，却为何从来没有被报道过，从来没有人正面回
答这个问题？

Some close friend or relative has fallen… You ask the reason, and, if it’s not lung cancer, it’s esophageal cancer. Xinjiang is a place of famed longevity, and the generations of everyday people that live in the expansive villages, breathing fresh air, eating fresh grain, with no traces of modern industry around them, how does one after another get cancer? As you may know, in Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture in the area of Lop Nor, since the beginning of the eighties or nineties, it has already become a cancer disaster area. President Hu always goes to visit AIDS patients, Premier Wen goes to AIDS Village in Henan. This is a generational improvement, this is the party and go-vern-ment showing they care. But, a place that has long received nuclear radiation and become a cancer disaster area, but why has it never been reported, why can no one ever answer this question directly?

一次核试验，中国人民从此站起来了，不用受纸老虎的威胁了；可是千千万万个无辜又无
知的新疆人却倒下了，可悲的是，就连他们自己，也并不知道这究竟是为了什么，更何况
他人？

One atomic test. The people of China from this point on stood up. They no longer had to accept the menace of the paper tiger. But countless poor and ignorant Xinjiang people fell. What is lamentable is that, even they themselves did not know why this was, much less anyone else?

新疆的石油运走了，
新疆的天然气运走了，
新疆的棉花运走了，
新疆的钾盐运走了，
新疆的黄金运走了，
新疆的和田玉运走了
……

Xinjiang’s oil was transported away,

Xinjiang’s natural gas was transported away,

Xinjiang’s cotton was transported away,

Xinjiang’s leopoldite was transported away,

Xinjiang’s gold was transported away,

Xinjiang’s Khotan jade was transported away

…

原子弹却降临在新疆了
……

The atomic bomb was indeed dropped in Xinjiang

…

新疆，是祖国版图不可分割的一部分；新疆人，是十三亿中国人的一部分.我们渴望祖国
的富强，我们祝福兄弟省市人民的富足，但，我们也是人，我们也有不高的要求：新疆与
新疆人，能够得到公正与公平的发展机遇，能够从这片土地所赐予我们的宝藏中得到实惠
的利益，能够有一个更为美好的明天，和祖国人民一样，在资源枯竭之后，仍然留有希望
.

Xinjiang, it is an inseparable part of the map of the ancestral country; Xinjiang people, they are part of the 1.3 billion Chinese people. We hope for the fortune and strength of the ancestral country. We congratulate the people of our brother provinces and cities on their wealth. However, we are also people. We also have requirements that are not high: Xinjiang and Xinjiang people, if they are able to receive an equitable and fair opportunity for development, if they can receive some practical benefit from the treasures of ours that are taken from this patch of land, if they can have a better tomorrow, as the people of the ancestral country, and after the resources are exhausted, yet leave behind a little hope.

朋友们，无论你在祖国的何处，当你享受这阳光下的和平的时候，请你想想那些为祖国的
和平而无知的承受着原子辐射的新疆人，对他们说一声：对不起……

Friends, no matter where you are in the ancestral country, when you share in this peace in the sunlight, please think of those Xinjiang people who, unbeknownst, for the peace of the ancestral country received radiation from the atomic bomb, and say to them, I’m sorry…

朋友们，无论你在祖国的何处，当你享受充足的能源供应与高速经济发展带来的实惠的时
候，请想想那些为另一部分人先富起来而默默承受着所有阵痛的新疆人，收起曾经对新疆
人的种种歧视与不屑，收起那些”援助新疆，支援边疆”得了便宜还卖乖的”豪言壮语”，对
他们说一句：谢谢你！

Friends, no matter where you are in the ancestral country, when you share in the practical benefit that comes from the sufficient provision of resources and the high speed of economic development, please think of those Xinjiang people who, unbeknownst, endure pains for another group of people to become wealthy first. To those who have received all kinds of discrimination and disdain against Xinjiang, who have been cheated and bamboozled by the “grandiloquence” of phrases like “assist Xinjiang, support Xinjiang”, say to them, thank you!

我们的要求并不高，一千九百万新疆人民，在无力改变现状与全局时，在仍然需要长时间
为东部的发展做出牺牲时，只需要得到别人真诚的尊重，只想听到一句诚心的：

Our requirements are not very high. 19 000 000 people, at a time when they are powerless to change the present and overall situation, at a time when they still need to sacrifice for a long time for the development of the East, only need to receive others’ sincere respect. They only need to hear one sincere:

新疆人，对不起，谢谢你.

Xinjiang people, I’m sorry, thank you.

This dedicated lass is a member of Xinjiang’s brand-new all-women Special Forces team, based in Urumqi. According to the article on CCTV, they have the ability to “conduct reconnaissance, assault in the anti-terrorism struggles as well as other risky and challenging missions,” and their responsibilities include “maintaining stability and handling other challenging situations.” That’s nice and vague! But seriously, an all-female team of kick-ass military commandos? Sweet. Is XUAR responding to something in particular by making the PRC’s third female special forces team (after Sichuan and the People’s Armed Police Forces Academy)? Let’s take a look at this picture:

See that in the background? That’s a China Southern jet for those who may not know. I guess the message is sort of, “I’ve had it with these mother****ing terrorists on this mother****ing plane!”

With the National People’s Congress in session, most of the news has been dominated by stories meant to reassure the people of Xinjiang that all is well: Xinjiang officials and academics have expressed their satisfaction with Premier Wen Jiabao’s plans to prevent inflation both in the goods and real estate markets.

More interesting is the transcription of a press conference held with “foreign” (largely Hong Kong) reporters by XUAR Party Secretary and Politburo Member Wang Lequan with XUAR Party Chairman Nur Bäkri at the Xinjiang Office in the Great Hall of the People on the afternoon of 10 March. Highlights: Wang Lequan, who does most of the talking, downplays separatist sentiment, referring to Rabiyä Qadir as a representative of the “Three (Evil) Forces”: terrorists, separatists, and extremists. Wang states that, in the course of the Ürümchi raid, the terrorists threw three grenades, injuring seven police. Wang states that the terrorist cell involved was funded by the supposed East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM, 东伊运). He also notes that, although arrests have been made in the bombing of a China Southern flight from Ürümchi to Lanzhou on 7 March, the motives and funding of the actors involved is not yet certain. The rest of the conference is rather uninteresting talk about the bold strides made in Xinjiang’s economic development, with regret for the slow exploitation of natural resources.

There has been some crime news. Two women, referred to in this (rather overdramatic) article as “Big and Little Guli”, were found to have cheated at least 10 individuals between April 2005 and September 2007, offering false university-entry credentials in exchange for money. Both “Gulis” were apprehended on 25 February and are awaiting trial; however, due to a lack of evidence, they may receive light penalties. (“Guli” (古丽) is the way many Uyghur women’s names are transliterated in Chinese: -gül “flower” is often attached to the end of younger women’s names, which are, thus, a bit too long to fit into the standard Han Chinese name paradigm. It seems a universal rule that such women are referred to in Chinese, not by the first parts of their names or even by their father’s names — or, lately, surnames — but simply as “Guli” for their entire lives. This leads many Han to believe that nearly every Uyghur woman is named “Guli”, and I’ve even heard minkaohan women introduce themselves as such. My point is, I think a reporter, or the “gumshoe” from whom she obtained her information, should have provided the suspects’ actual names.)

The Ürümchi city government has “taken the lead” in releasing a book of regulations regarding military personnel in the city. The regulations are meant to clarify and codify rules regarding the actions of military personnel and the system in which they work, as well as act as a reference for use in the resolution of conflicts involving the military.

According to the New York Times, the PRC has begun to provide extra pay to those army veterans, as well as some civilians, involved in the nuclear tests at Lop Nur. The subsidy began last year.

2 January 2008 saw a terrible fire take place at the Dehui International Square (德汇国际广场) department store on Qiantang Jiang Lu near the passenger train station in Ürümchi. The fire took five lives and caused millions of yuan in damage to property. Xinhua has a story on the outpouring of charity for the over 1200 families affected by the fire. Donations have already exceeded 14 000 000 RMB.

There have been more developments in the field of educational policy. At the recently-concluded 11th Meeting of the XUAR People’s Congress, several representatives pointed out the need to dramatically increase middle and high school enrollment in Southern Xinjiang, specifically in Qäshqär, Xotän, and the Qizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture, with an emphasis on skills training. In Qäshqär, the rate of high school attendance is only 23%, while, in other areas, it is lower than 20%. The meeting also emphasized the need to focus on “bilingual education” and on the “Two Basics” plan. As for the lack of Chinese-language teaching resources, a major impediment to spreading Mandarin in Southern Xinjiang, representatives had no answers, only noting the need for more training. Somewhat more concretely, the XUAR Education Office has set some goals regarding the spread of “bilingual education” in the near future. According to its figures, there are now more than 150 000 students enrolled in “bilingual” classes in Xinjiang, of which there are now over 5000. There will be a new emphasis on pre-school entry Mandarin language training, which currently enrolls 141 500 or so children. In the South, the Education Office wants to enroll 85% of children of age in such programs within four years. “Bilingual” training programs will also begin to train teachers from rural areas.

People and money are flowing through Xinjiang. In 2007, over 7 700 000 passengers passed through the Ürümchi airport, up 19.6% from 2006. In 2007, Xinjiang’s 1636 companies receiving foreign investment were offered 2.852 billion USD in contracts, eventually accepting 812 million USD thereof. Foreign investment in Xinjiang in 2007 exceeded 13.716 billion USD, up 50.7% from 2006, which the XUAR, naturally, wants to improve upon. The goal is to increase foreign investment 20% to 16.5 billion USD, of which 9.8 billion will be invested in regular XUAR companies and 6.7 billion USD in the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. There is also the goal of increasing net profits from import and export to 16.5 billion USD.

Ürümchi is not a very nice place to be right now. Beginning on 18 January, the city experienced the coldest weather it’s had in ten years, dropping below -20C every day for five days. Luckily, it’s been rather noticeably nicer over the last couple of days. On the 24, Ürümchi got hit with an earthquake measuring 3.6 on the Richter scale. Did anyone feel this? Similarly, Qäshqär set a record low temperature, hitting -24 C around 27 January. Likewise was Southern Xinjiang to receive a 10-year record snowfall, getting a total accumulation of 5 to 15 cm.

Actually, all of Xinjiang is experiencing minor disasters. There occurred in Ürümchi’s Midong District on the afternoon of 24 January a mining accident that took one life. The Ili River is experiencing flooding caused by the thickening of the river’s surface ice, in turn brought about by the sustained record low temperatures, flooding herders’ houses and drowning livestock in Huocheng County and in the Chapchal Sive Autonomous County. 23 families of herders and 4640 livestock animals have been evacuated.

There is some hope. The Qaramay oil fields reached their goal in 2007 of zero on-the-job deaths. The Xinjiang Oil Field Company attributes their success to improved employee safety programs. In the medical field, on 20 January, the XUAR Health Office [better translation, anyone?], along with ten other concerned organs, ordered Xinjiang hospitals not to turn away non-job-related cases of carbon monoxide poisoning. Although signs of a measles epidemic in Ürümchi have been building since November, the city reportedly has over 100 outpatient clinics prepared to provide free measles vaccinations, and the city’s Disease Prevention Center has been spreading notices and information about measles. The PRC also plans to establish Ürümchi as a model city for heating production reform and energy conservation. Ürümchi would be the second such city to be established as such under a World Bank program. Unfortunately, it seems that the over 30 000 000 RMB to be provided for this project will, at this point, only go to the construction of two new phases of pre-existing apartment complexes.

Today’s news and photos, unless otherwise credited, came from the Xinhua News Network’s Xinijang channel.

This week saw a massive migration of herds and their flocks take a detour through Aletai City, the opening of a massive, Xinjiang funded tin-zinc mine in Tajikistan, the completion of this year’s Patriotic Muslim Cleric Training Program, new highs in yearly cotton and gold production, the first draft of the translation of the Kyrgyz epic poem Manas to Mandarin Chinese, and more, under the break.

Xinhua Network News Xinjiang Channel 新华网新疆频道

• 17 December 2007:The “port” of Kalasu (see in Google Earth) on the China-Tajikistan border in Tashkorgan County of Kashgar Prefecture, officially closed for the winter on the 30th of November. The original closure was scheduled for the 30th of October but an extension was requested due to the volume of traffic through the port. This year Kalasu saw record highs, including the export of 4046 vehicles, 55 thousand tons of various goods, and 250 million American dollars worth of materials. Workers at Kalasu attribute this rise in commerce and trade to improvements in the Tajik economy.
• 17 December 2007: An explosion in a coal mine exploration well located in Wuqia County resulted in 4 deaths and 2 injuries.
• 17 December 2007: Herders and their flocks crowded the streets of Aletai City recently due to a recent drought that caused their customary winter pastures to supply insufficient water and feed for the animals. Snows in northern Xinjiang have come a month late, throwing off the ecological balance in the area by delaying the much needed water supply which constitutes the base of the region’s wintertime environmental structure. Aletai officials quickly mobilized and organized a program to migrate the herders from their traditional winter pastures in the E’erqisi and Wulungu river valleys to untouched pastures in the Sawu’er Mountains. Units of cadres, doctors, and veterinarians escorted 10 thousand herders and their 55 thousand animals from their old pastures, through Aletai City, to their destination from the 8th to the 14th.
• 18 December 2007: A cooperation agreement was drafted and signed by delegates from Xinjiang Medical University’s Erfu Hospital and Zhongnan University’s Xiangya No. 2 Hospital. The agreement was announced in a ceremony on the 15th. The Erfu hospital, located in Hunan, is renowned across China for being one of the top hospitals in the country, particularly in the field of cardiovascular surgery. The cooperative effort will focus on improving cardiovascular facilities in the Xinjiang hospital and devising better systems for providing better treatment to high-risk Xinjiang residents.
• 18 December 2007: The groundbreaking ceremony for Xinjiang’s largest foreign project, the A’erdeng-Tuopukan lead zinc ore mine in Tajikistan, was held on the 15th. The event was notable enough for XUAR Vice-Chairman Hu Wei to personally attend. The Xinjiang Tajikistan-China Mining Company invested 73 million dollars for the creation of the facility which, after constructed, will have the ability to mine and process 100 million tons of the projected 600 million tons total. Later expansions of the facility will permit continued exploitation of the mine’s underground resources.
• 18 December 2007: This year’s Patriotic Muslim Cleric Training Program ended satisfactorily and XUAR Chairman Ismail Tiliwaldi attended the closing ceremony and gave a talk exhorting the imams and religious workers who participated in the program to vigorously contribute to socialism and social harmony.
• 18 December 2007: The regional Gold Administration Bureau has announced that for the year of 2007 from January to November, a total of 6665.73 kg of gold has been minded so far. Given average monthly mining rates and mining forecasts, the total accumulated amount of mined gold is expected to pass 7 metric tons by the end of the year, making a new all time high.
• 18 December 2007: The Agricultural Bureau of the XPCC has verified that a cotton farm run by the 33th regiment of the 2nd Agricultural Division has reached a yield of 280 kg of cotton per mu, breaking a national record and demonstrating for the fourth year in the row that the XPCC cotton fields along the Tarim river north of the Taklamakan are the highest producing cotton fields in China.
• 19 December 2007: Pollution has gotten even worse in Urumqi over the past few days, with the pollution index hitting a high of 340. According to the article, the air has becoming so thick that an artificial fog has enshrouded the city and a choking smell hangs in the air. It even goes so far as to strongly recommend wearing face masks when outdoors.
• 19 December 2007: 200 million yuan is going to be invested in a new effort to reduce class sizes in Urumqi. Starting next year, elementary school classes will be limited to 50 students and middle school classes will be limited to 46 students. The 200 million yuan investment will be used to construct 22 new school campuses in 4 of the city’s center neighborhoods in order to accommodate the reallocation of students.
• 19 December 2007: 18,850 extremely impoverished households across Xinjiang will receive a bag of flour, a bag of rice, and two buckets of cooking oil. The donations are a part of the effort to help impoverished households prepare festivities for Qurban, New Year’s, and/or Spring Festival.
• 20 December 2007: The first draft of the Chinese translation of the Kirghiz epic poem “Manas” has been completed by over 30 scholars from the XUAR Literary Union and from the Kizilsu Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecture. All 230 thousand lines of the poem have been translated but the draft is currently being reviewed by experts from Chinese Academcy of Social Sciences and the Central Nationalities University. The final edited version of the epic poem is expected to be published August of next year.
• 21 December 2007: Hospitals in Urumqi are reporting the continuous, high-level pollution that has been plaguing the city for the past several days is having a significant effect on the health of residents. The respiratory, ear-nose-throat, and fever departments of Urumqi’s major hospitals are seeing almost 100 patients with pollution related ailments every day. The lead physician of Urumqi’s health care advisory service has no doubts whatsoever that pollution is the cause of this spike of ailments; furthermore, he recommends that all residents, especially the elderly and children, minimize their time outside and wear face masks should going outdoors become an absolute necessity.
• 22 December 2007: As part of a continuing effort to improve the food production industry in Urumqi, the city government has closed over ten thousand unlicensed food industry businesses over the past year. Restaurants, wholesale food businesses, and foodstuff markets must pass sanitary inspections, safety inspections, and obtain the proper licenses or otherwise face the possibility of being shut down by the city’s Industrial and Commercial Bureau.

Other News

• 17 December 2007: Forbes announces that the Asian Development Bank will provide 150 million American dollars to help Xinjiang develop its transportation infrastructure, particularly to improve the Korla-Kuche stretch of the Urumqi-Kashgar road system.
• 20 December 2007: Reuters covers the recently launched joint anti-terrorism exercises conducted by India and China. Although the exercises are being held in Yunnan, both countries have stated anti-terrorism as one of the goals of the training regimen and Reuters cannot help but note similarities between Xinjiang in China and Kashmir in India.
• 21 December 2007: China View has an English language version of a Xinhua article on this year’s total gas production in the Tarim Basin. By the end of the year, the total gas produced by the Tarim gas fields is expected to reach 15.5 billion cubic meters, a 40% increase since last year. Moreover, this year 12 billion cubic meters of the extracted gas were sent to China’s east coast through a pipeline that begins in Lunnan in Southern Xinjiang and ends in Baihe outside of Shanghai (See in Google Earth).