Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07BEIJING2949
2007-05-04 08:31:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Beijing
Cable title:  

MANDARIN DROWNING OUT UIGHUR LANGUAGE AMONG YOUTH

Tags:  PGOV PHUM SOCI KCUL CH 
pdf how-to read a cable
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OO RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #2949/01 1240831
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 040831Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7475
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 002949 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/04/2032
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI KCUL CH
SUBJECT: MANDARIN DROWNING OUT UIGHUR LANGUAGE AMONG YOUTH
IN XINJIANG

Classified By: Political Section Internal Unit Chief Susan A. Thornton.
Reasons 1.4 (b/d).

Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 002949

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/04/2032
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI KCUL CH
SUBJECT: MANDARIN DROWNING OUT UIGHUR LANGUAGE AMONG YOUTH
IN XINJIANG

Classified By: Political Section Internal Unit Chief Susan A. Thornton.
Reasons 1.4 (b/d).

Summary
--------------


1. (C) Young people, teachers and parents are
optimistic about Xinjiang's economic future but
are also concerned about the loss of Uighur cultural
roots, Poloff learned during a recent trip to the
region. Official Xinjiang media and Government policy
confirm that speaking Chinese is the key to
advancement in most non-agricultural fields and the
Government has instituted a policy making Mandarin the
language of instruction for most courses, even in
schools that are officially Uighur-language
institutions. The official emphasis on Mandarin
coincides with continuing tight restrictions on
unsanctioned religious activity and promotion of
Uighur identity and political activism, which
protracts general anti-Han resentment among young
Uighurs. Nonetheless, an increasing number of Uighur
parents are actively taking steps to ensure that their
children master Mandarin in an effort to assure their
economic future. End summary.

Language and the Trials of Integration
--------------


2. (C) By law, parents in Xinjiang have a choice
between sending their children to schools where
instruction is in Mandarin or in Uighur. Although the
Government intends for the Uighur institutions to be
seen as symbols of cultural tolerance, our reading
from discussions with minorities in Xinjiang February
3-10 is that the policy poses a stark dilemma for
Uighur parents. A Uighur child who attends Mandarin
school may never learn to read or write the native
script and thus runs the risk of being resented by
other Uighurs for "selling out" and contributing to
the loss of cultural identity. On the other hand, the
choice to attend a Uighur school could limit career
opportunities after graduation, as Chinese language is
a requisite for a large number of non-agricultural
jobs, both blue and white collar, observers said.


3. (C) According to students and teachers in Yining
and Kashgar, two cities in northern and southern
Xinjiang respectively where Han Chinese are in the

minority, more and more Uighur parents are enrolling
their children in Mandarin schools. Contacts
estimated the portion of Uighur students in Mandarin
schools has reached 30 and 40 percent in each city
respectively. (Note: A teacher in Kashgar, where
roughly four-fifths of the population is Uighur,
estimated that 55 to 60 percent of local primary and
middle schools are Uighur. End Note.) A new
"bilingual classes" policy gradually being implemented
across the region aims to ensure that even Uighurs not
attending Mandarin schools will speak Chinese.
According to the official Xinjiang Daily, in 2007 the
Government will invest RMB 210 million (USD 27.2
million) in this initiative, which requires teachers
in Uighur schools to speak Mandarin in all subjects
but Uighur literature. Some RMB 151 million (USD 19.5
million) of the funding will come from the Central
Government. Statistics reported in the press indicate
that 150,000 minority students in 5,000 schools,
including kindergartens, are already enrolled in
"bilingual classes." The figure is slated to reach a
total of 258,000 minority students by 2010.


4. (C) Tailaiti, a teacher at Kashgar No. 1 Middle
School, said his daughter is a second grader at a
Uighur school. She is receiving all instruction
(except for literature) in Mandarin Chinese as decreed
under the "bilingual classes" policy. Tailaiti had
mixed feelings about this new development in Xinjiang
education. Asked if he felt Mandarin is an important
skill for his daughter to have, he responded
dismissively. "If the government says so," he griped,
the implication being that if she wants to get ahead
economically, she has little choice in the matter.
Two female students in "Bilingual Classes" at Kashgar
No. 13 Middle School, a Uighur school where one-third
of the homeroom sections receive bilingual education,
said they enjoy learning Chinese in the special
classes.

Speak Mandarin or Get Sacked
--------------

BEIJING 00002949 002 OF 003




5. (C) In fact, the need to master Mandarin to
achieve career advancement has become an economic
reality for Xinjiang's Uighur population, which is why
these educational opportunities are increasingly
appealing. Xinjiang Government policy and leaders
publicly acknowledge this phenomenon. CPC Secretary
Wang Lequan stated in a March 12 interview that the
only way for ethnic minority peasants in southern
Xinjiang to increase their income is to learn
Mandarin. Without this skill they cannot venture to
the cities in search of non-agricultural jobs.
According to official Xinjiang media, Kashgar District
alone is investing RMB 30 million (USD 3.9 million)
each year in an effort to train at least one member of
each household in Mandarin language and various
technical skills so that they may seek work in the
cities. The goal is to empower what the official
media has referred to as a "rich labor force of over 1
million peasants idling in Kashgar, Kizilsu and Hotan
districts of southern Xinjiang."


6. (C) Despite speaking Uighur and English, 28-year-
old Sabir has lost jobs as a tour guide and as a taxi
driver because of unsatisfactory Mandarin. Ali, 27,
who works for a travel agency in Kashgar and also
speaks English, is being pressured to learn more
Mandarin by his Han Chinese boss. Abdigini, a 24-
year-old teacher in Yining, switched to a Han Chinese
high school because of the example of an elder cousin
who regretted her own limited opportunities after
completing her secondary education in Uighur schools.
For reasons such as these, more and more Uighur
parents are sending their children to Mandarin schools
or having them join bilingual classes, our contacts
said.


7. (C) Speaking a foreign language can also help
create career opportunities. The municipal
governments in Yining and Kashgar have allowed opening
of Uighur-operated private language schools where
Uighurs can study English and, in some places,
Russian. These training centers are thriving. For
example, in Kashgar the number of these schools has
more than tripled in the past several years, according
to one adult student. Although some primary and
middle school students also attend the schools to
learn foreign languages, most clients are young adults
who, having given up hope of careers where Mandarin is
the lingua franca, are seeking to improve their
prospects based on foreign language abilities. This
could give them an edge in seeking employment in
private enterprises, particularly in trade and
tourism.


8. (C) During informal discussions with Poloff at the
Mengbulak English School in Yining, all of the roughly
10 Uighur students in one group said they are
optimistic about their future career opportunities.
At Yining?s Western Nur Language School, enrollment
for Russian classes surpasses even that for English,
likely a result of the growing trade opportunities
with Xinjiang?s close foreign neighbors, the former
Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan
and Russia. Articles in the official Xinjiang media
frequently tout increased trade and infrastructure
development between Xinjiang and the neighboring
Central Asian republics. In fact, a USD 700 million
pipeline began pumping oil from Kazakhstan into
Xinjiang in 2005, and there has been regular official
discussion of creating a "free trade zone" between
western China and its neighbors.

The "Seven Forbiddens"
--------------


9. (C) The authorities' liberal approach to regional
trade does not extend to tolerance for unsanctioned
religious activity, promotion of Uighur identity or
political activism. In fact, official worries about
Uighur separatism continue to color propaganda
efforts. For example, a large poster in front of
Bazha Primary School in Yangdaman Village of rural
southern Xinjiang -- a school that recently received a
national award for education work in impoverished
areas -- spelled out the "seven Forbiddens" for
students and school employees to avoid, with
corresponding illustrations for each "forbidden."
According to the poster, students must not:

-- refuse education or Marxism and atheism;

BEIJING 00002949 003 OF 003


-- believe in religion or participate in religious
activities;
-- wear clothing with religious adornment;
-- spread illegal religious propaganda;
-- do anything to the disadvantage of the solidarity
of the ethnic groups;
-- say anything to the disadvantage of the ethnic
groups; or
-- participate in ethnic separatist activities.

In a similar vein, a notice board at Kashgar No. 1
Primary School, which has 1,000 students (and which
locals say was a madrassah before the Communists took
over),calls for students to thoroughly study Marxism
and atheism, "strengthen resistance against ethnic
separatism and illegal religious activities and
maintain social stability and a sense of
responsibility for the unification of the motherland."
Even in the more tolerant regional capital of Urumqi,
Poloff heard reports of Muslim students being forced
to eat during Ramadan, a traditional time of fasting
and prayer.

Ethnic Tension Among Students
--------------


10. (C) Such pressures have given rise to Han-Uighur
tension among Xinjiang?s youth. Two American teachers
at Xinjiang Normal University in Urumqi said their
classes have been divided by the school administration
into Han sections and minority sections for fear of
inter-ethnic disturbances. One teacher described a
multi-ethnic conversation exercise she held where a
group Han and Uighur students divided down ethnic
lines and refused to speak to one another. At an
informal meal attended by Poloff with several
university students of Han, Hui and Uighur
ethnicities, a Han student derided Rebiya Kadeer as a
criminal and woman of low character. Immediately
following the dinner, a 19-year-old Uighur freshman
who had been sitting next to the Han student confided
her enthusiastic admiration for Kadeer and frustration
that she could never voice such praise in public.

Comment
--------------


11. (SBU) By pushing linguistic and educational
assimilation, the authorities appear to be betting
that Uighurs' desire to have a stake in China's
supercharged economy will outweigh any sentiments of
Uighur nationalism they may harbor. How this plays
out remains to be seen, but it is clear from our
discussion with regular citizens that there is a long
way to go before Uighurs and Han enjoy equal access to
the best job opportunities. In the meantime, the
resentments that have emerged with Xinjiang's
demographic shifts and culturally repressive policies
will continue to simmer.
RANDT