Ethnic Kazakhs, as well as Uighurs and other Muslim minorities, have lived and moved freely across the Chinese-Kazakh border for centuries. All of these minority ethnic groups pose an existential threat to China’s claim on its western province. The fate of estimated up to one million people is unknown and most of the detainees’ families have been kept in the dark. Russians originally referred to Kazakhs as Kirghiz. • “Promote repentance and confession.” [5] Xinjiang became a sanctuary for fleeing Kazakhs escaping the Russians after the Muslims faced conscription by the Russian government. Erkinuly knew that if he was to be deported back to China, he would have face horrific punishment in one of the many “reeducation centers.”. In northern Tibet Kazakhs clashed with Tibetan soldiers and then the Kazakhs were sent to Ladakh. [2] In the 19th century, the advance of the Russian Empire troops pushed Kazakhs to neighboring countries. • “Increase discipline and punishment of behavioral violations.” On December 8th, Ersin Erkinuly, an ethnic Kazakh who was held in a camp in Xinjiang, was allowed the status of an asylum seeker in Ukraine. [6], Soviet persecution of Kazakhs led to Kazakhs from Soviet Kazakhstan moving to Xinjiang. In the 19th century, Russian settlers on traditional Kirghiz land drove many Kirghiz over the border to China, causing their population to increase in China. The Kazakhs had defected to the Republic of China and fought against the Soviet Communist backed Uyghur Second East Turkestan Republic in the Ili Rebellion. The Kazakhs had settled in the Dzungaria area of Xinjiang after the Dzungar genocide by the Manchus wiped out most of the native Dzungar Oirats and fleeing from Soviet engineered famines against the Kazakhs like the Kazakh famine of 1919–1922 and Kazakhstan famine of 1932–1933. Asia Media International – A Publication from Loyola Marymount University's Asia Pacific Media Center in Los Angeles, NEW ZEALAND: GOVERNMENT DECLARES CLIMATE CHANGE EMERGENCY, PLEDGES TO GO CARBON NEUTRAL BY 2025. Others live in the urban areas and tend to be highly educated and hold much influence in integrated communities. Anti-Chinese sentiments aren’t new to Kazakhstan and the detention of ethnic Kazakhs could further deepen already extant beliefs about ulterior motives for Chinese activities in Kazakhstan. In China there is one Kazakh autonomous prefecture, the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, three Kazakh autonomous counties, Aksai Kazakh Autonomous County in Gansu, Barkol Kazakh Autonomous County and Mori Kazakh Autonomous County in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. ELLA KELLEHER WRITES — Many are already aware of how the Uyghur people are interned at “reeducation” camps in Xinjiang, the Western province of China. Documented Kazakh migration to Mongolia begins in 1840 … [16], (Only includes counties or county-equivalents containing >1% of county population. The Kazakh population is concentrated in the western province of Bayan-Ulgii, a region physically separated from Kazakhstan by a 47-60 km mountainous stretch of Chinese and Russian territory. Russia Sees a Western Plot", "STUDIES IN THE POLITICS,HISTORY AND CULTURE OF TURKIC PEOPLES", "Jumabieke Tuerxun: From The Rural Edges of China to the UFC", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kazakhs_in_China&oldid=990729350, Ethnic groups officially recognized by China, "Related ethnic groups" needing confirmation, Articles using infobox ethnic group with image parameters, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Ili prefecture direct-controlled territories, This page was last edited on 26 November 2020, at 05:03. According to latest census (2002) there are 654,000 Kazakhs in Russia, most of whom are in the Astrakhan, Volgograd, Saratov, Samara, Orenburg, Chelyabinsk, Kurgan, Tyumen, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Altai Krai and Altai Republic regions. Erkinuly is among many ethnic Kazakhs who had illegally crossed the China-Kazakh border and fled from Xinjiang. Unlike Central Asians to the south of them, Kazakhs look more to Russia than to Islamic countries for inspiration in the post-Soviet period. Though ethnically Kazakh, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, those people acquired Russian citizenship. Kazakh officials often call their country the “buckle” in that Chinese “belt” — a reference to the BRI’s overland infrastructure projects linking Europe and Asia. ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- China is allowing more than 2,000 ethnic Kazakhs to abandon their Chinese citizenship and leave the country, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said, in a sign that Beijing may be starting to feel a mounting backlash against its sweeping crackdown on Muslims in the far west region of Xinjiang. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Ersin Erkinuly, a Chinese citizen of ethnic Kazakh origin Currently, there are up to 2 million Turkic minorities detained in Xinjiang internment camps. But many Kazakhs are skeptical of China’s intentions and its promises to make the new Silk Road a “win-win” for both countries. The Islam practiced by the Kazakhs in China contains many elements of shamanism, ancestor worship, and other traditional beliefs and practices. [7], An estimate of 65,000 Kirghiz, 92,000 Hui, 326,000 Kazakh, 187,000 Han and 2,984,000 Uyghur adding up to a total population of 3,730,000 in all of Xinjiang in 1941 was estimated by Toops and 4,334,000 people lived in Xinjiang according to Hoppe in 1949.[8]. In 1936, after Sheng Shicai expelled 30,000 Kazakhs from Xinjiang to Qinghai, Hui led by General Ma Bufang massacred their fellow Muslim Kazakhs, until there were 135 of them left. These nomadic Kazakhs migrate seasonally in search of pasture for their animals. [13], Tibetan troops robbed and killed Kazakhs 400 miles east of Lhasa at Chamdo when the Kazakhs were entering Tibet. • “[Ensure] full video surveillance coverage of dormitories and classrooms free of blind spots.”. KAZAKH PEOPLE Thank you for watching! Li Zhanshu, Chinese сhairperson of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, emphasized Nazarbayev’s high international authority and his historical role in Kazakhstan. During the summer, the Kazakhs live in yurts while in winter, they are settled and live in modest houses made out of adobe or cement blocks. China has intensified its campaign of mass internment, intrusive surveillance, political indoctrination and forced cultural assimilation against the region’s Uighurs, Kazakhs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups. Detainees are subject to mass rapes, mock trials, suspected drug experiments, and inhumane torture and confinement. During the fall of the Dzungar Khanate, the Manchus massacred the native Dzungar Oirat Mongols of Dzungaria in the Dzungar genocide and filled in the depopulated area with immigrants from many parts of their empire. Few realize, however, that ethnic Kazakhs have also been subjected to the same mass extermination and forced labor. Kazakhs from the Kazakh Khanates were among the peoples who moved into the depopulated Dzungaria. Even more tragically, many of these mourning parents, spouses, and children must abstain from open protest or public advocation for their loved ones’ release due to the risk of assassinations, kidnappings, and internment in the reeducation camps. • “Make remedial Mandarin studies [a] top priority.” Kazakh, also spelled Kazak, an Asiatic Turkic-speaking people inhabiting mainly Kazakhstan and the adjacent parts of the Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang in China. The Xinjiang province of China has historically been home to the Uyghurs, various tribes of Kazakhs, and other related Turkic peoples. [3] Compared to Russian-controlled areas, more benefits were given to the Kirghiz on the Chinese controlled areas. ALMATY, Kazakhstan (AP) — China is allowing more than 2,000 ethnic Kazakhs to abandon their Chinese citizenship and leave the country, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said, in a sign that Beijing may be starting to feel a mounting backlash against its sweeping crackdown on Muslims in the far west region of Xinjiang. People from Kazakhstan whose relatives have disappeared into Chinese concentration camps object to their government’s friendliness with Beijing, Radio Free Europe (RFE) reported on Tuesday. Learn how your comment data is processed. Dzungaria was subjected to mass Kazakh settlement after the defeat of the Dzungars. The Chinese (authorities) will destroy him in jail," Kaken, a China-born ethnic Kazakh who is now a Kazakh citizen, told AFP through tears, pressing her two young daughters tightly to her body. 2000), Some Kazakhs are nomadic herders and raise sheep, goats, cattle, and horses. After Kazakhstan acquired independence, the Chinese and Kazakh governments addressed controversial border issues and eventually signed a border treaty on … IN THE MANUSCRIPTS OF THE KAZAKHS OF CHINA", "Commemorating the 1916 Massacres in Kyrgyzstan? Kazakh oil exports to China were therefore sensitive to Chinese economic growth as its domestic production slowed. [17], "XVIII - XIX CENTURIES. Please subscribe to the channel !!! All of these minority ethnic groups pose an existential threat to China’s claim on its western province. Kazakhs are a Turkic ethnic group (哈萨克族 Hāsàkè Zú, literally "Kazakh ethnic group") and are among 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. The Muslim Kirghiz were certain that in an upcoming war China would defeat Russia. Tibetans attacked and fought against the Kazakhs as they entered Tibet via Gansu and Qinghai. There are also ethnic Kazakhs living on the Chinese side, in Xinjiang (many of them facing great political difficulties, if not persecutions). • Osman Batur, Kazakh chieftain who fought both for and against the Nationalist Chinese government in the 1940s and early 1950s. The Kazakhs emerged in the 15th century from an amalgam of Turkic tribes who entered Transoxiana about the 8th century and of Mongols who entered the area in the 13th century. [9][10][11], From Northern Xinjiang over 7,000 Kazakhs fled to the Tibetan-Qinghai plateau region via Gansu and were wreaking massive havoc so Ma Bufang solved the problem by relegating the Kazakhs into designated pastureland in Qinghai, but Hui, Tibetans, and Kazakhs in the region continued to clash against each other.[12]. In Russia, the Kazakh population lives primarily in the regions bordering Kazakhstan. The U.S. State Department has said as many as 2 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and members of Xinjiang's other indigenous, mostly Muslim, ethnic groups have been taken to detention centers. [14][15], In 1934, 1935, 1936-1938 from Qumil Eliqsan led the Kerey Kazakhs to migrate to Gansu and the amount was estimated at 18,000, and they entered Gansu and Qinghai. Erkinuly plans to move to Kyiv to start a new life in a small Kazakh community that awaits his arrival. Kazakhstan - Kazakhstan - Cultural life: Kazakhs, probably more than any other Central Asian people, show the impact of nearly two centuries of close contact with Russians. Ethnic Kazakh families living in Xinjiang remain in the dark about the fate of their captive relatives. The Xinjiang province of China has historically been home to the Uyghurs, various tribes of Kazakhs, and other related Turkic peoples. The Kazakh government says that any restrictions on Chinese citizens in China are their internal matter, and it does not interfere. • “Encourage students to truly transform” Mainstream media propagates that both ethnic Uyghurs and Kazakhs are interned in brutal internment camps because the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) disapproves of the spread of Islam within its borders. [4], To escape Russians slaughtering them in 1916, Kazakhs escaped to China. Russian settlers fought against the nomadic Kirghiz, which led the Russians to believe that the Kirghiz would be a liability in any conflict against China. While this is partially accurate, the principal cause of this cultural and ethnic genocide goes beyond religion. As described by the famous “China Cables” document that was leaked in 2019, these “reeducation centers” make sure to: • “Never allow escapes.” Much influence in integrated communities are up to 2 million Turkic minorities in! 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