Xinjiang

The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) People's Congress Standing Committee passed the XUAR Ethnic Unity Education Regulation on December 29, 2009, effective February 1, 2010, that promulgates Communist Party policy on ethnic issues and imposes tight controls on freedom of expression, with implications in areas such as academic freedom, educational curricula, and commercial decisions. The regulation follows unrest in July 2009 that underscored deep tensions in the XUAR and rifts between Han and Uyghur communities. While the regulation includes such stated aims as promoting equality, taken as a whole, the regulation represents a far-reaching and intrusive tool for imposing Party policy on XUAR residents, placing them at risk of violating vaguely worded prohibitions that restrict free speech.

A newly revised regulation in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) has redefined the region's priorities in maintaining social order (shehui zhi'an), placing new emphasis on combating perceived threats to state security in the region. The XUAR People's Congress Standing Committee made revisions to the XUAR Regulation on the Comprehensive Management of Social Order on December 29, 2009, effective on February 1, 2010. The government originally adopted the regulation in 1994 and made minor revisions in 1997; the current revisions supersede the 1997 version. Other provincial-level areas also maintain regulations on social order, in line with a national directive, and some include attention to state security threats.

Courts in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) completed trials for 437 cases involving crimes of endangering state security (ESS) in 2009, representing a sharp increase in such cases from the previous year, based on information from XUAR media and as reported in a previous Congressional-Executive Commission on China analysis. Rozi Ismail, head of the XUAR High People's Court, provided the figure in his January 14 work report at the XUAR People's Congress and reported that 255 people had been sentenced to prison terms of 10 years or more for ESS crimes, according to a January 15 Chinese-language Xinhua article.

Authorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) demolished over 4,700 homes in the Old City section of Kashgar city in 2009 as part of an ongoing project to demolish and "reconstruct" the nationally designated historic area, according to reports from Chinese media. As noted in a previous Congressional-Executive Commission on China analysis, XUAR authorities launched the five-year project in February 2009 with a stated aim of resettling at least 50,000 households into earthquake-resistant housing. The project has drawn opposition from Uyghur residents and other observers for requiring the resettlement of residents and for undermining heritage protection. Among recent Chinese media reports on the project, statistics on the total number of households resettled have varied, while information on the number of homes demolished appear consistent for the timeframes given in the different articles (cited below).

Following the forceful police suppression of a demonstration by Uyghurs on July 5 and outbreaks of violence starting that day in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), the Urumqi Intermediate People's Court held trials on December 22 and 23 for 22 people accused of committing crimes in July, according to reports from Chinese and overseas media. The court found the defendants, who were involved in a total of five cases, guilty of crimes including intentional homicide and robbery, sentencing five to death, five to death with a two-year reprieve, eight to life in prison, and four to prison sentences between 12 and 15 years, according to a December 24 report from the Xinjiang Daily (via Bingtuan Net). Based on the names provided in the article, all of the people sentenced appear to be Uyghur.

New Initiative in Xinjiang Rewards Fewer Births, Focuses on Ethnic Minorities

A new regulation that took effect in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) on December 1, 2009, includes provisions addressing the "negative impact" various religious activities have on minors, according to a November 19 Xinhua report. Although the full text of the XUAR Regulation on the Protection of Minors appears to be unavailable on the Internet and in legal databases, if the final version retains provisions included in the draft regulation considered for deliberation in June, it will expand existing legal controls over children's right to freedom of religion in the XUAR and parents' right to impart religious teachings.