Page 208 - Communist Chinas Policy of Oppression in East Turkestan

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Turkish presence had the effect of making Muslims second class citi-
zens in their own land in the face of the Chinese settlers. The settlers

who poured into the country were placed in the most productive areas,
and the local people were forced to move into arid ones. The Chinese
are able to enjoy all political, economic, technological and social ben-
efits, while the Muslims have grown ever poorer. The difference in the
living standards of the local Muslims and the Chinese settlers is de-
scribed by Arslan Alptekin:
The Turks are made to do the very hardest jobs for subsistence wages,
while the Chinese migrants are given special political and economic
privileges. The Muslim people live in rural areas or in shanty towns,
while special settlement areas with full infrastructure have been built
for the Chinese migrants. Social inequality is weighted against the
Turkish people from all points of view. 58

China's attempts to increase the number of Chinese in East
Turkestan were sped up in the 1990s. In order to justify that increase,
the Red Chinese government speaks about various economic invest-
ments, and special projects, most of which have been developed solely
with that in mind. For instance, the October, 1992, edition of the Hong
Kong magazine Trend disclosed a secret program which planned the
settlement of 5 million Chinese in East Turkestan by the year 2000. This
figure does not include the People's Liberation Army units who are per-
manently stationed there, qualified Chinese personnel, or convicted
Chinese criminals who have been deliberately sent to the region. 59

THE ROLE OF THE BIN TUAN IN

EAST TURKESTAN
Following the communist takeover, one of the most important ele-
ments of Mao's Great Leap Forward was the investments made in eth-

nically differentiated regions such as East Turkestan. Within the

Communist China’s Policy
of Oppression in East Turkestan