Sixty years ago Chinese troops took control of the region formerly known as East Turkestan. They named it Xinjiang or "New Frontier".
This region has been contested for thousands of years. However, this time is different. Xinjiang has become China's primary internal source of oil and the key province connecting oil and gas pipelines from central Asia. The Chinese government has implemented a policy of Han Chinese migration which has increased the population of Han Chinese from 4% sixty years ago to 40% today.
The Chinese government has had a policy of repression of the culture of the Uighur people for decades. However, with the waning of Maoist ideology, capitalism has widened the economic gap between the Han settlers and the indigenous Uighurs while removing any semblance of proletarian communality.
Attempts at self-determination by the Uighurs have been met by violent repression by the Chinese government. Even the Muslim religion of the Uighurs has been repressed.
The culture of the Uighurs is threatened by the takeover by the Han Chinese.
Before the unrest, the jobs situation was extremely stressful for all. The last minute of this background video discusses the jobs problem.
Most Uighurs haven't been able to get good jobs in Xinjiang so many have been encouraged to migrate to other parts of China to get factory jobs. This policy of migration has diluted Uighur strength at Home in Xinjiang and fostered racist resistance in the factory towns they have moved to for work.
THE Xinjiang riots appear to have begun as protests against violent mob attacks last week against Uighur workers at a toy factory in southern China.
In Shaoguan, Guangdong province, Uighur workers were set upon by Han Chinese workers after claims that six Xinjiang boys had "raped two innocent girls".
Two Uighurs were killed and 118 people were reportedly injured before police said a disgruntled Han Chinese former worker had confessed to "faking the information to express his discontent".
The protests began peacefully. This video and still clips from the beginning of the protest show that the protest was non-violent. Chinese media videos have numerous cuts that hide the events that triggered the violence that followed. There is no way to determine what triggered the violence from the material I have seen. Initial photos showed protesters in a heavy police presence. Then protesters took to the streets non violently.
The official Chinese videos show Han Chinese women bloodied by apparent attackers who aren't shown. They also show Uighur rioters actively turning over buses and police cars. The official videos imply that the Uighurs attacked Han Chinese civilians but don't show it happening. The official statements by the Chinese government don't indicate the ethnicity of the dead nor do they indicate how many police or civilians were killed.
However, the impression was given to the Han Chinese that they were targeted by the Uighur rioters. This triggered Han vigilantes to demand revenge.
The Chinese government has brought in more troops to take control. Protest leaders are facing the death penalty.
Communist Party leader from the region pledged to seek the death penalty for those responsible for the strife that state news reports say claimed at least 156 lives.
Li Zhi, the party boss in Urumqi, the Xinjiang capital and the center of the violence, said that many suspected instigators had been arrested and that most were students.
"To those who have committed crimes with cruel means, we will execute them," he said at a morning news conference. "The small groups of the violent people have already been caught by the police. The situation is now under control."
Severe repression is likely to continue for months if not years. The oil must be secured.