Wei Jingsheng: The Debate on Uyghur History

Following the U.S. government, the parliaments of several other democratic countries have passed resolutions classifying the so-called re-education camps in Xinjiang as acts of genocide, a major blow to the Chinese Communist Party, which has brutally oppressed the people of all ethnic groups. People of all ethnic groups have applauded and expressed their sympathy and support for the Uyghur people. At the same time, the CCP has increased their unification and division efforts, causing a major debate on the Internet.

On the Han side, in addition to the Overseas Joint Conference of China’s Democratic Movement, which has supported and helped Uyghurs defend their rights for years, different voices have emerged. Some are strongly advocating that Han Chinese should kneel down and apologize to Uighurs, which has caused two kinds of reactions. Most Han Chinese on the Internet are extremely offended by this. It is the Communist Party that oppresses the peoples, and it is not the Han Chinese who are oppressing the peoples, so why should Han Chinese apologize to Uyghurs? This is not pulling hatred for our Uyghur friends? Its heart is punishable.

Years ago, there was a middle-level cadre of the Tibetan Party Committee’s propaganda department who also incited in Tibetan friends to let Han Chinese kneel and apologize to the Tibetan people. A few years later, the Tibetans saw through the charade and the Dalai Lama still maintained good solidarity with the Han Chinese people’s movement. The guy also moved on in disgrace, and she was not seen active for a long time.

Unfortunately, the extremist faction of our overseas Uyghur friends instead jumped to support the dubious person whose heart is in the right place, and used extremely bad language to insult the Han Chinese, even using the same racist language as the Nazis to insult the Han Chinese people. This is not a bad match, escalating the verbal violence of those publicists by a notch. It seems this is not some ethnic conflict, there should be a deeper conspiracy.

The publicists say: Han Chinese are the white people of China, so they should kneel down and apologize to the black Uyghurs of China. But people Uyghurs often say they are white, or at least of mixed white blood, which is a slap in the face to that so-called publicist. Although from the results of genetic tests, Uyghurs are basically of yellow blood. But from the perspective of archaeological findings, the ancient inhabitants of the Xinjiang region did contain a large number of Caucasians, including mixed yellow and white. This is indeed what Xinjiang scholars have been saying is correct. Another slap in the face.

So are the modern Uyghurs white? Apparently not. The original habitat of the Uighurs was what is now Outer Mongolia, the same race as the ancient Xiongnu, Xianbei, Turkic and Mongolian, and not related to the white race of the Seja. After the Huihe Khanate was defeated by the Kyrgyz and moved south, most of them integrated into the Han Chinese in the north, while only two small parts moved west to Xinjiang and Central and West Asia. The part that moved to Xinjiang was taken in by the Han Chinese regime at that time, the Gaochang State, which eventually formed the Gaochang Huihe, which is the ancestor of Xinjiang Uyghurs. So you should not use such vicious language to scold your relatives.

There are some extreme Uyghurs who say: It was the Han Chinese who invaded their country. This statement is so wrong. Only one country with a predominantly Uyghur population has existed in history, the Mongol-ruled Eastern Chaghatai Khanate. It was also called the Turfan Khanate in some books, and most of its inhabitants were Uyghurs in what is now Turfan, or the former state of Gaochang; it was then twice destroyed by the same Mongol branch of the Khanate, and finally the Junggar Khanate was destroyed by the Manchu Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, and was formally incorporated into the Qing dynasty, known as Xinjiang Province. This has nothing to do with the Han Chinese, who never invaded the Uyghur state; nor has there ever been a Uyghur state, only a Mongol khanate.

What is the point of talking about this history? Did the Uighur people not have the right to demand independence because there was never a Uighur state? Of course not. Any part of the people has the right to demand independence, which is called a natural human right. Not only the Uighurs, but also the Kazakhs, Tajiks, Kyrgyz, Hui, and Mongolians have the right to demand independence. But they also have the right not to be independent. It all depends on what is better for the people of each ethnic group, and it will all be after the fall of the Communist Party, an unreasonable regime.

Under the common brutal oppression by the Communist Party, to make a split between allies of resistance forces under the same vulnerability, no matter what reasons you have, you can only be said to be an accomplice of the Communist Party, and you are not wronged at all.