Xinjiang is an autonomous region; it in fact is entirely ruled by the Han Chinese. Although the Chairman of the Autonomous Region Government is an Uighur, his rank is no higher than that of the top officials in the other five administrative organs: the Provincial People's Congress, the People's Political Consultative Conference, Commission for Inspecting Discipline, Xinjiang Military Command and the Production and Construction Corp.
All of the six top officials of the above organs are deputy secretaries of the Xinjiang Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, and most of them are Han Chinese. The person who truly wields power is the secretary of the CCP, and the position of secretary has always been held by Han Chinese, from General Wang Zhen (
When it comes to deciding major issues, the Uighur Chairman of the Autonomous Region Government has only one vote in this seven-member committee, one secretary and six deputy secretaries. But the secretary makes all ultimate decisions and was called "the Czar" of Xinjiang.
Under such a power structure, the Xinjiang Uighur officials are as silent as winter cicadas, and it is impossible for them to challenge the Chinese rulers and policies.
For example, like everywhere in China, the Beijing government also mandates a birth control policy in Xinjiang. Despite the fact that the Uighur and other minorities are allowed to have one more child than the Han Chinese, the Uighur people still detest the practice since they have a tradition of large families.
Abdulhekim, the Executive Chairman of the Eastern Turkestan National Center, is the eighth child in a family of 10 children. His oldest sister, who lives in Uzbekistan, also has 10 children.
"I have two daughters," said Abdulhekim, "and I want to have a son, but the authorities warned that I should be fined for violating the rules. I said okay, I'd rather pay the fine and have a son. But the cadres further threatened to expel me from the party. Again, I took it. Now the officials have organized a criticism meeting in my work unit and forced me to change my attitude. So, my wife had two abortions, which almost killed her."
Birth quotas
It was only after coming to Istanbul five years ago that Abdulhekim saw his dream come true to have a third child, a much-wanted son.
Although the Uighur people can have two children instead of one as the Han Chinese are allowed, children must be born according to a government quota. Couples can have children only after receiving their quota. In many cases, newlywed couples have to wait three or four years before receiving their quota for a baby. For those who give birth without receiving their quota first, a fine of 30,000 renminbi is imposed.
"If one is poor and unable to pay the fine," said Abdulhekim, "as is the case with many herdsmen, one's house will be torn apart and cows taken away."
The East Turkestan National Center often receives letters from Xinjiang telling stories about forced abortions.
One letter describes what happened in Wugan township in Toksu County of the Aksu district: a 28-year-old Uighur woman named Niyasam was pregnant for 34 weeks, but the authorities reproached her for having no "quota for birth." Then three policemen and the director of the county's birth control office, Halichem, hauled her to the hospital and had doctors tperform a caesarean operation on her.
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