Three alls: `eat all, rob all and distribute all'

The area of Xinjiang is about one-sixth the size of China, or 44 times that of Taiwan. Xinjiang is also rich in oil and other natural resources. But today, 20 out of China's 25 poorest counties are in Xinjiang, according to official Chinese reports.

"The communists have always said they are the saviors of China," said Abdulhekim, Executive Chairman of the East Turkestan National Center. "However, after ruling Xinjiang for almost half a century, they're still unable to address the basic issues such as water, fodder and food. The Chinese are exercising a policy of resource exploitation in Xinjiang. The Xinjiang Production and Construction Corp (XPCC, 新牘生2ㄚ堛嬪L1?/CHINESE>) controls the best land, the most fertile ranches, the best strategic positions and water resources. They are also in charge of suppressing local separatist activities."

The XPCC was established in the early 1950s and its 2.4 million members are almost homogeneously of Han ancestry. The bulk of the army was divided into 11 divisions and 150 regiments, and stationed around almost all of Xinjiang's major cities.

While working as a reporter for the Urumqi Evening News (烏魯?儢翿??/CHINESE>), Abdulhekim once had access to go over the petition letters from the public in the Autonomous Region's government office. Looking through the letters, he became aware that during a period of six months the government had received about 500 petitions and most of them were Uighurs' complaints about the expropriation of their land, ranches and water resources by the XPCC.

"The Americans seized the land of the Indians and made it a first-class country," said a former Uighur teacher from Urumqi who had just arrived in Istanbul three weeks before. "The British occupied Hong Kong and turned it into a prosperous port city. But the Chinese took over Xinjiang, only to strip it of all resources, to impoverish the region, and to annihilate the ethnic groups."

Unemployment rate

The unemployment rate is also rising in Xinjiang. "We call a layoff (?U崗) an `Uighur-off' (?U維) because while many ethnic Turkic people are losing their jobs, the Chinese are not only thriving but also swarming into Xinjiang."

Along with the economic development, multifarious taxes and levies have become harsher and harsher everywhere in China, and the situation in Xinjiang is worse. According to the official Xinjiang Legal Daily (新牘法制???, there were 37 different kinds of taxes in Xinjiang, including a "weather forecast tax," that is, one has to pay a tax in order to get information about when it's going to rain or snow.

The older-generation of the Uigurs lament that the living standard in Xinjiang is worse than that of the 1930s. The younger generation, like 28-year-old food sciences student Ahemat, complains about poverty in his home town. "People in Hetian (和?ETH>) live in terrible penury," said Ahemat, in Istanbul, where he studies. "The average per capita income there is only US$50."

With a population of 1.4 million, Hetian is one of the poorest regions in Xinjiang. It is true that the Beijing government also wants to improve the situation there and began to receive aid and loans from institutions like the United Nations and the World Bank. However, according to insiders, a huge amount of funds has been embezzled by the many layers of bureaucracy in both Beijing and Xinjiang.