Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps
The Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps ( Chinese 新疆 生产 建设 兵团 , Pinyin Xīnjiāng Shēngchǎn Jiànshè Bīngtuán , Uighur شىنجاڭ ئىشلەپچىقىرىش قۇرۇلۇش بىڭتۇەنى, English: Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, abbr .: XPCC , Bingtuan ) is a unique economic and paramilitary organization in the autonomous region of Xinjiang in China . The XPCC performs administrative tasks for several medium-sized towns, villages and farms in Xinjiang. It has its own administrative structure and performs governmental functions such as health care and education in the areas under its administration. The Xinjiang government does not normally appear in these areas.
The XPCC was founded in 1954 by Wang Zhen on the orders of Mao Zedong . The goals that are set for the organization are: promoting the development of the border areas, supporting economic development, ensuring social stability and ethnic harmony and consolidating border defense. In its 50th anniversary, the XPCC has built farms, small and large towns, and provided land and labor distribution for dismissed military personnel. The XPCC is also active in the economic sector as the China Xinjian Group ( Chinese 中国 新建 集团 ), as well as with a number of subordinate commercial enterprises (including Xinjiang Chalkis Co.Ltd ( Chinese 中 基 健康 产业 股份有限公司 )).
history
The XPCC has its roots in the traditional Chinese tuntian system ( Chinese 屯田制 ). This system consisted of settling military units in border areas with the aim of enabling the military to lead a self-sufficient life. There were similar measures in the Tang and Qing dynasties . Construction corps were formed in various sparsely populated border areas, including Heilongjiang , Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang . The newly established People's Republic of China initially had the problem of what to do with many former non- communist soldiers who had not worked in economic contexts for many years. There were ideas to settle these soldiers on communally used plots. The government then formed the XPCC from soldiers from the Communist First Field Army , former Kuomintang soldiers and soldiers from the Ili National Army . The XPCC itself was founded in October 1954 with 175,000 military personnel who were settled in Xinjiang under Tao Zhiyue as the first commander.
The XPCC initially dealt with the settlement, agricultural management and development of sparsely populated areas, for example in the outskirts of the Taklamakan and the Gurbantünggüt , under the principle "not to compete with the local residents for profit". The XPCC also served as a reserve unit for the active forces in Xinjiang, but was never called up because relations with the neighboring Soviet Union were good in the founding years of the People's Republic. The XPCC was also replenished by enthusiastic young people from other parts of China, above all to balance the gender quota and to attract members with a higher education. In 1962, after the Sino-Soviet rift , some violence broke out in Yining and 60,000 people from ethnic minorities fled to the Soviet Union. The Chinese government became concerned that the Soviet Union might try to destabilize China and start war. The XPCC was hired to run the farms of those who fled. By 1966 the XPCC had reached a strength of 1.48 million people.
The XPCC, like many other organizations at the time, was severely decimated by the Cultural Revolution . In 1975 it was completely dissolved and all powers were transferred to the Xinjiang government and regional authorities.
When the Soviet Union invaded neighboring Afghanistan in 1979 and the mujahideen gained power, fears of Soviet encirclement and Islamic fundamentalism led to the re-establishment of the XPCC in 1981. The cultivation and economic development of the border areas intensified.
organization
The XPCC is subordinate to both the Chinese central government and the government of Xinjiang and has competencies at the sub-provincial level, comparable to sub-provincial cities . The economic and social facilities are designed separately by the Xinjiang administration. The party secretary of Xinjiang is also the " Executive Political Commissar " ( Chinese 政治 委員 ) of the XPCC, while the party leader of the XPCC is usually also the political commissioner of the XPCC and the highest authority for daily affairs. The area and population of the XPCC are usually reported as part of Xinjiang's statistics, but gross national income is listed separately.
The XPCC is divided into divisions and regiments . The headquarters are in Urumqi . Each division is comparable to a provincial prefecture of Xinjiang.
The XPCC is headed as a whole by three officials each and the divisions are structured in the same way: There is a first political commissioner, a political commissioner and a commander. The first political commissar of the XPCC is also the "Xinjiang Committee Secretary" of the CCP, and the first political commissars of each XPCC division are also "committee secretaries" at the respective prefecture levels.
In addition to regiments, the XPCC maintains farms at regiment level.
At the end of the 20th century, the XPCC became superfluous. The military function was transferred to the Xinjiang Military District , a division of the Lanzhou Military Region , which covers all of northwestern China. XPCC military personnel are currently only reservists and militiamen .
Administrative structure
The XPCC consists of 14 divisions, which are divided into 185 units at the regimental level (regiments, farms and farms), which are distributed across the entire province of Xinjiang.
Divisions:
Surname | founding | area | headquarters |
---|---|---|---|
XPCC I. Division | 1953 | Aksu (administrative region) | Aral |
XPCC II Division | 1953 | Bayingolin | Tiemenguan |
XPCC III. division | 1966 | Kaxgar (administrative region) | Tumxuk |
XPCC IV Division | 1953 |
Ili (south, directly managed) |
Kokdala |
XPCC V. Division | 1953 | Bortala | Shuanghe |
XPCC VI. division | 1953 | Changji | Wujiaqu |
XPCC VII Division | 1953 | west of Karamay | Kuytun , (Tianbei New District) |
XPCC VIII Division | 1953 | east of Karamay | Shihezi |
XPCC IX. division | 1962 | Tacheng from Ili | Emin |
XPCC Xth Division | 1959 | Altay (administrative district) of Ili | Contribute |
XPCC Construction Engineering Division | 1953 | Urumqi | |
XPCC XII. division | 1982 | Urumqi sub-provincial town | Urumqi |
XPCC XIII. division | 1982 | Hami sub-provincial town | Hami |
XPCC XIV Division | 1982 | Hotan | Hotan |
Settlement projects
The XPCC built six medium-sized cities and still manages five of them today. The administrations of these cities are completely interwoven with the division that controls them. For example, the headquarters of the division is also the city administration, the division political commissioner is also the "City Committee Secretary", the division commander is the mayor and so on. The five XPCC cities are nominally listed as the "Sub-Provincial City" of Xinjiang , but the administration of Xinjiang has normally nothing to do with the administration of these cities.
Surname | Official appointment to the city |
Management period | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Kuytun | 奎屯 市 | 1975 | 1953-1975 | |
↳ | Tianbei Xinqu | 天 北新区 | TBD | 2002 – present |
Shihezi | 石河子 市 | 1976 | 1953–1975, 1980 – today | |
Aral | 阿拉尔 市 | 2002 | 1953–1975, 1980 – today | |
Wujiaqu | 五 家 渠 市 | 2002 | 1953–1975, 1980 – today | |
Tumushuke | 图 木 舒克 市 | 2002 | 1966–1975, 1980 – today | |
Contribute | 北屯 市 | 2011 | 2002 – today | |
Tiemenguan | 铁门关 市 | 2012 | 2002 – today | |
Shuanghe | 双河 市 | 2014 | 2002 – today | |
Kokdala | 可 克达拉 市 | 2015 | 2003 – today |
Demographics
37 ethnic groups are represented in the XPCC. The largest of these are Han , Uighurs , Kazakhs , Hui and Mongols . Muslims are the largest religious group with 250,000 members, but there are also smaller groups of Buddhists , Protestants (jidujiao) and Catholics . While the Han originally made up the largest group of workers in the XPCC, their numbers have declined: from 1980 to 1993 the membership of the XPCC remained constant, while Han members fell from 90% to 88%. About 13% (2002) of the population of Xinjiang belongs to the XPCC.
Ethnic groups, 2002 estimated | ||
---|---|---|
nationality | population | Percentage |
Han | 2,204,500 | 88.1 |
Uighurs | 165,000 | 6.6 |
Hui | 64,700 | 2.6 |
Kazakhs | 42,700 | 1.7 |
Mongols | 6,200 | 0.3 |
other | 18,100 | 0.7 |
The VII. Division is the largest with a membership of 579,300 (2002).
economy
In the course of its history, the XPCC established a large number of mining and steel industry operations that were gradually transferred to the government of Xinjiang. Today the XPCC mainly focuses on economic development and agriculture. In the course of the economic opening of China, the XPCC has established many listed sub-companies that manufacture a wide range of products. The XPCC uses the name "China Xinjian Group" to represent the private sector.
The main products are still agricultural products such as cotton , fruits, vegetables, staple foods, vegetable oils , sugar beets and others. The most important of these are cotton, tomatoes , ketchup , Korla pears , Turpan grapes , wine and others. The XPCC uses a mixture of factory farming , industrial agricultural production and small farms.
Some other businesses work in the tertiary sector , such as trade and transport, real estate, tourism, construction and insurance. The XPCC currently has eleven listed companies:
- Xinjiang Baihuacun Co., Ltd. (新疆 百花 村 股份有限公司) (百花 村, 600721.SS) - Information technology
- Xinjiang Tianye Co., Ltd. (新疆 天 业 股份有限公司) (新疆 天 业, 600075.SS) - plastic
- Suntime International Economic-Trading Co., Ltd. (新天 国际 经贸 股份有限公司) (新天 国际, 600084.SS) - international trade
- Xinjiang Talimu Agriculture Development Co., Ltd. (新疆 塔里木 农业 综合 开发 股份有限公司) (新农开发, 600359.SS) - cotton
- Xinjiang Yilite Industry Co., Ltd. (新疆 伊 力 特 实业 股份有限公司) (伊 力 特, 600197.SS) - alcohol
- Xinjiang Chalkis Co.Ltd (新疆 中 基 实业 股份有限公司) (新中基, 000972.SZ) - tomatoes
- Xinjiang Tianhong Papermaking Co., Ltd. (新疆 天宏 纸业 股份有限公司) (新疆 天宏, 600419.SS) - paper
- Xinjiang Tianfu Energy Co., Ltd. (新疆 天 富 能源 股份有限公司) (天 富 能源, 600509.SS) - Electronics
- Xinjiang Guannong Fruit & Antler Co., Ltd. (新疆 冠 农 果 茸 股份有限公司) (冠农股份, 600251.SS) - fruit and livestock
- Xinjiang Qingsong Cement Co., Ltd. (新疆 青松 建材 化工 股份有限公司) (青松 建 化, 600425.SS) - cement
- Xinjiang Sayram Modern Agriculture Co., Ltd. (新疆 赛 里木 现代 农业 股份有限公司) (新赛股份, 600540.SS) - cotton
Culture
The XPCC runs its own education system from elementary school to university education. There are currently two universities:
- Shihezi University (石河子 大学)
- Tarim University (塔里木 大学)
The XPCC also has its own newspaper, the Bingtuan Daily , as well as several television channels.
reception
According to the Swiss refugee aid analyst from 2001, "Bingtuan" is the extended arm of the Chinese Communist Party ( CCP ) in Xinjiang. They should coordinate around the colonization of Xinjiang. Furthermore, they are responsible for over one hundred hectares of land, which is almost exclusively inhabited by Han Chinese. Bingtuan has its own police or militia , court structures, camps and prisons, and are therefore considered a state within a state . The prisons are used, among other things, for politically opposition Uyghurs. By 2001 they built over “2000 urban or village settlements in Xinjiang”, 90 percent of which are inhabited by Han Chinese (2.5 million), which corresponds to one seventh of the total population of Xinjiang. The Bingtuan Organization is an elementary factor in the economic development of Xinjiang, but it promotes the clear policy of " ethnic segregation and resentment of the Uighur people and the local government". For the CCP leadership, the bingtuan is an ideal institution in order to be able to bypass all lengthy and laborious "local and regional authorities" and to ensure elementary influence in Xinjiang. For five decades, bingtuan has protected the fact that Han Chinese settle in Xinjiang and can evolve economically and politically. In order to be able to cope with the growing Han Chinese settlers, the company is expanding into southern Xinjiang, i.e. into the core area of the Uighurs.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Mark O'Neill: The Conqueror of China's Wild West. Asia Sentinel 2008-04-13.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h IX. Establishment, Development and Role of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. History and Development of Xinjiang, State Council of the People's Republic of China May 2003.
- ↑ Reuters
- ^ A b c d e Morris Rossabi: Governing China's Multiethnic Frontiers. University of Washington Press 2005: 157-158.
- ↑ Source ( Memento from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Roland Portmann: The situation in the Chinese region of Xinjiang and the situation of the Uighurs . Country analysis SFH. In: SFH information exchange . 5/01 (December 2001). Swiss Refugee Aid (SFH), Switzerland 2001, 4.2 The Bingtuan as an extended arm of Beijing in Xinjiang, p. 33–34 ( ecoi.net [PDF; 101 kB ]).
swell
- Nicolas Becquelin: Xinjiang in the Nineties. In: The China Journal , no. 44 (2000): 65-90.
- Desai Sohum: Study of the Infrastructure of Xinjiang , Security Research Review.
- Donald H. McMillen: Xinjiang and the Production and Construction Corps: A Han Organization in a Non-Han Region. In: The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs , no. 6 (1981): 65-96.
- Mark O'Neill, "The Conqueror of China's Wild West," Asia Sentinel, April 13, 2008.
- James D. Seymour: Xinjiang's Production and Construction Corps, and the Sinification of Eastern Turkestan. In: Inner Asia, 2, 2000: 171-193.
- Li Zaili: Xinjiang: What does "maintaining stability" mean for the Han? In: bitterwinter.org. Bitter Winter , December 14, 2018 .
literature
- Jean-Baptiste Malet : L'Empire de l'or rouge. Inquiry mondiale sur la tomate d'industrie. Fayard 2017. ISBN 978-2-213-68185-6
Web links
- Official Homepage (Simplified Chinese)
- bingtuan.gov.cn