Fazhan 发展
Introduction
Development (fazhan发展 ) is a core goal of the Chinese government and the Communist Party. It means economic development but also cultural, scientific, and military development. In addition to the goal of a prosperous and cultured life—“The Chinese Dream”—the party also promises “the rejuvenation of the Chinese minzu” which includes China’s return to great power status in the world.
While China has always conceived itself as a great power, its material backwardness during the Century of Humiliation forced it to reckon with its identity. Since the economic liberalization during the Deng Xiaoping years, China has experienced nothing short of a miracle in economic development and industrialization. The notion of a “moderately prosperous society” (小康社会) epitomizes this notion of economic development and modernization. As rising powers do vis-à-vis the hegemon, China seeks to renegotiate its sphere of influence and the Belt and Road Initiative is the redoubling of this effort. In total, China has already invested over $200 billion in the BRI and the scope of the project extends beyond 2027 and spreads over 125 countries.
Xinjiang is physically located in the epicenter of the BRI and is culturally distinct from the Han-dominated imagination of a new China. The current academic discourse in China is already framing Xinjiang’s location as “strategic,” “essential” and “core.” This discourse is developed in conjunction with state policies such as “Xinjiang Aid” (援疆) and a plethora of other economic development projects that aim to integrate Xinjiang fully into a rising China. This is a source of ongoing friction and conflict as locals resent central government impositions and Beijing sees local resistance as irrational and dangerous opposition to development. As such, just how this “new Silk Road” will be paved over Xinjiang is something that should interest every keen observer.
Keywords: 扶贫 Poverty alleviation, 一带一路 Belt and Road Initiative, 就业 employment, 援疆 Xinjiang Aid
Yi Jianping 易建平, 2018A Study on Man-land Relations and Development Strategies of Ethnic Minorities in Xinjiang
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Feng Jianyong 冯建勇, 2016New Vision for China’s Borderland Study of “One Belt and One Road”
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Qiu Yuanyuan 邱媛媛, 2016Persist in Shared Development and Promote the Construction of the People’s Livelihood in Southern Xinjiang
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Xu Jianying 许建英, 2015Xinjiang’s Position and Core-Zone Construction in Perspective of “Silk-Road Economic Belt”
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Ilham Tohti 伊力哈木·土赫提, 2014Present-Day Ethnic Problems in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region: Overview and Recommendations
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Xing Guangcheng 邢广程, 2014On China’s New Silk Road Strategy: A New Linking Model of Deep Interactions between China and the World
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Wu Lili 武丽丽, 2013An Analysis of the Current Situation of the Legal Consciousness of Xinjiang’s Transient Ethnic Minority Population
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Baihatiyar Tursun 拜合提亚尔·吐尔逊, 2003
The Existing Problems and their Countermeasures during the Course of Social and Economic Development in Southern Xinjiang
新疆南疆地区社会经济发展面临的问题、对策及其意义———新疆维吾尔自治区南疆地区实地调查
Baihatiyar Tursun draws on field work in southern Xinjiang to assess the region’s economic problems and propose solutions for its development. His solution includes five steps: state investment in development and construction, the revitalization of the region’s natural environment to better exploit its resources, the improvement of transportation and communication infrastructure, the promotion of education and scientific knowledge as an antidote to the “religious consciousness” (宗教意识) of ethnic minorities, and the advancement of the overall quality of local cadres.