Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps

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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:

Culture

The XPCC runs its own education system from elementary school to university education. There are currently two universities:

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

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Mark O'Neill: The Conqueror of China's Wild West. Asia Sentinel 2008-04-13.
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. ↑ Reuters
  4. ^ A b c d e Morris Rossabi: Governing China's Multiethnic Frontiers. University of Washington Press 2005: 157-158.
  5. ↑ Source ( Memento from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ^ 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 ]).

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