{"id":835,"date":"2020-08-21T10:30:04","date_gmt":"2020-08-21T10:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ilhamtohtiinstitute.org\/?p=835"},"modified":"2020-08-15T10:54:15","modified_gmt":"2020-08-15T10:54:15","slug":"uyghur-scholar-calls-for-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ilhamtohtiinstitute.org\/?p=835","title":{"rendered":"Uyghur Scholar Calls for Jobs [Archive]"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

RFA News<\/a> 2009.03.09<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HONG KONG\u2014A leading moderate in China\u2019s mainly Muslim Uyghur ethnic minority has sharply criticized Chinese policies in the northwestern Xinjiang region, saying that joblessness remains the single biggest problem and residents have suffered under the current governor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnemployment has existed in Xinjiang since the 1950s,\u201d Ilham Tohti, an economics professor at the Central Nationalities University in Beijing, said in an interview with RFA\u2019s Uyghur service. \u201cNo matter what \u2026 I will still talk about the issue of unemployment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnemployment among Uyghurs is among the highest in the world,\u201d he said after returning home to Beijing from a weeklong academic exchange in France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Xinjiang has developed, but the people are living in poverty, especially Uyghurs.”<\/p>

Ilham Tohti<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Tohti spoke as the National People\u2019s Congress, China\u2019s annual session of parliament, met in Beijing\u2014where the governor of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), Nur Bekri, warned Friday of a \u201cmore fierce struggle\u201d against separatist unrest in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China has accused Uyghur separatists of fomenting unrest in the region, particularly in the run-up to and during the Olympics in August last year when a wave of violence hit the vast desert region. The violence prompted a crackdown in which the government says 1,295 people were detained for state security crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe [security] situation will be more severe, the task more arduous, and the struggle more fierce in the region this year,\u201d Nur Bekri said Friday, according to the official Xinhua news agency. \u201cIt\u2019s a time of celebration for Xinjiang people, but hostile forces will not give up such an opportunity to destroy it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year marks 60 years since China\u2019s People\u2019s Liberation Army entered Xinjiang and implemented what it calls a \u201cpeaceful liberation\u201d of the region. Many Uyghurs regard the move as an invasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tohti also called for the inclusion of Uyghur intellectuals in regional government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the 1990s, I participated in the central government\u2019s 9th five-year research plan, and I was responsible for research on Xinjiang. At that time I wrote that there were 1.5 million unemployed workers in Xinjiang, but the Xinjiang government rejected this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTwo years ago they finally acknowledged that there is surplus labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOther provinces in China have had some improvements with regard to democracy. But in Xinjiang, the situation has worsened,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The [security] situation will be more severe, the task more arduous, and the struggle more fierce in the region this year.”<\/p>

Xinjiang Governor Nur Bekri<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Citing official media, Tohti noted that 1.2 million workers migrated to Xinjiang from elsewhere in China in 2008. \u201cThis indicates that there are abundant employment opportunities in Xinjiang, but why are these opportunities not for Uyghurs?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t oppose migration [to Xinjiang], but we need to re-evaluate it. Xinjiang doesn\u2019t need migrants the way it needed them in the 1950s and 60s, so why bring in migrant workers? If there\u2019s really no unemployment in Xinjiang, why transfer young Uyghur women to inland China as cheap labor?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked about Bekri, the regional governor, Tohti said, \u201cI think he\u2019s unqualified \u2026 I don\u2019t know how he became governor of Xinjiang, and I don\u2019t recognize him as a qualified governor.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe doesn\u2019t care about Uyghurs. He\u2019s always stressed the stability and security of Xinjiang and threatened Uyghurs. Xinjiang has developed, but the people are living in poverty, especially Uyghurs. Laws that should have been applied in the Uyghur Autonomous Region haven\u2019t been implemented.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Safety fears<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tohti said he hasn\u2019t visited Xinjiang for two years because of tensions there, adding that he fears for his own safety because he has been outspoken in criticizing the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course I worry, but what I have said doesn\u2019t conflict with Chinese law. If they put me in jail, I am ready. I\u2019ve sat in front of a computer for so many years\u2014jail would give me a chance to exercise and lose weight\u2026Then I will sue them, and I believe I will win.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Web site<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In mid-2008, Chinese authorities closed a Web site launched by Tohti in 2006 and aimed at promoting understanding between Han Chinese and ethnic Uyghurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tohti said it was fellow Uyghurs who told authorities his Chinese-language Web site, Uyghur Online, had links to Uyghur \u201cextremists\u201d abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time, Tohti said his site\u2014which employed 67 people of 12 nationalities, all unpaid\u2014sometimes scored 1 million page views daily, with content published in Chinese and written by Uyghur, Han, Korean, Tibetan, and other contributors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The site was later reopened but went offline again this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy Web site has been shut down again because of an unlawful decision. I am not accountable to anyone but to the Constitution\u2014and I believe my Web site will be reopened soon. I don\u2019t oppose the Constitution, but I object to its wrongful implementation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to his official biography, Tohti was born in Atush, Xinjiang, on Oct. 25, 1969. He graduated from the Northeast Normal University and the Economics School at the Central Nationalities University in Beijing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Original reporting by Shohret Hoshur for RFA\u2019s Uyghur service. Translated by Rukiye Turdush. Uyghur service director: Dolkun Kamberi. Written and  produced in English by Sarah Jackson-Han.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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