Development or destruction?: the Uighurs of Xinjiang and China's Open Up the West Project

The Chinese government launched the Western Development Program (WDP) in 1999 in response to the wealth disparity between eastern and western China. This paper examines the WDP's effects on the Uighurs, a Turkic Muslim minority group in Xinjiang province. Broadly, this essay addresses the relationship between economic development and nationalism, examining Beijing's claim that the WDP will improve the Uighurs' economic situation, hence diminishing Uighur nationalism. I argue that the literature does not support this claim. Economic growth will not diminish Uighur nationalism. Moreover, the WDP's benefits in Xinjiang have flowed to Han Chinese migrants, leaving the Uighurs economically disadvantaged. Beijing has encouraged the migration of large numbers of Han Chinese to Xinjiang. Combined with Uighurs' sense of historical injustice at the hands of China and Beijing's ongoing repression in Xinjiang, CCP policies exacerbate Uighur anger and cause nationalism to increase.