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| The Conqueror of China’s Wild West |
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| Written by Mark O'Neill | |||
| Sunday, 13 April 2008 | |||
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How the west was won on China’s Islamic frontier
On April 11, dozens of top Chinese military officers, government and party officials gathered in the frontier city of Urumqi to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of the late Wang Zhen, the man who conquered China’s vast western region for the Communists and in doing so created a unique institution. In 1954, when the country was barely under Communist control and the non-Chinese residents of its restive frontier were presented with a historic, if slim, chance for independence, Chairman Mao Zedong sent Wang Zhen to found the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corp, known in Chinese as Bing Tuan or Army Group, an organization of military settlers with a mission to keep Xinjiang within China. Despite occasional unrest among the Uighurs, Bing Tuan succeeded well beyond the ambitions of its founder, who died 15 years ago at the age of 85. From an initial 175,000 soldiers, it has grown to 2.5 million members and controls 74,000 square kilometers in which are five major cities. It operates like an independent kingdom, with its own schools, universities, hospitals, courts, police, newspapers and television stations. Not subject to the Xinjiang government, the Bing Tuan reports directly to Beijing and retains a central role in Beijing’s strategy for the region, producing steel and tomatoes by day and ready to patrol the borders by night. It even sends its own teams to national sports events, while producing 40 percent of Xinjiang’s cotton, a third of its oilseeds and nearly of half its sugar beets. It has become one of the world’s biggest producers of tomato paste, with more than 4 billion yuan in sales last year, mostly for export. It operates 1,500 companies, of which 11 are listed on various stock markets. Over the last 50 years, it has been crucial to China’s colonization of a region that accounts for one sixth of the national territory, with more than 22 percent of national reserves of oil and gas and substantial reserves of 31 developable minerals. Its members guard the pipelines that transport the oil and gas to the rest of China. “Comrade Wang Zhen gave us a mission – hold a weapon in one hand to defend the borders of the motherland and a tool in the other to develop production.” Bing Tuan commander-in-chief Hua Shifei told the anniversary celebration. At the defeat of the Kuomintang government in distant Nanjing in 1949, the Han Chinese accounted for fewer than 3 percent of Xinjiang’s population, a figure that has risen to 40 percent currently. The First Field Army was sent to the region to prevent any secession, and it fulfilled the mission with cold-blooded efficiency. After the main fighting was over, the question was how Beijing could secure control of the enormous region. Han Chinese did not want to migrate to an area with a harsh desert climate, low rainfall, no infrastructure and hostile neighbours. Mao and Wang decided to use the soldiers in place to set up construction corps, as in Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia, They would settle in a sparsely populated area, cultivate the soil and protect the border. Included in the Bing Tuan, in addition to People’s Liberation Army soldiers, were Kuomintang and East Turkestan Republic soldiers who had surrendered. The central government would later send tens of thousands of young people, especially women, from all over China to join the Bing Tuan and create future generations. Like the pioneers of Israel, the soldier-settlers built irrigation canals and walls of trees to protect their settlements from the desert and the enemy, and grew crops in giant collective farms. They built roads, telephone lines and factories and created new cities, like Kuitun in 1975 and Shiheze in 1976. In 1962, just after the Sino-Soviet split, 60,000 ethnic minorities fled to the Soviet Union and Beijing feared a war. Bing Tuan members took over the farms of those who had fled and set up 58 new ones along a 2,000-km stretch of the border. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the emergence of central Asian republics based on a dominant nationality, Beijing again feared an independent Uighuristan. But it has established good relations with the five neighboring republics. None supports such an independent state nor allows Uighurs in its borders to organize politically or militarily, while exiles, divided among themselves and infiltrated by Chinese agents, have no one of the global stature of the Dalai Lama to keep their flame alive. In this context, the Bing Tuan has become an economic and social powerhouse, with the PLA fulfilling the military role and its members operating as reserve and militia. Han Chinese account for nearly 90 percent of its members but the Bing Tuan cannot, unlike in Wang Zhen’s day, compel its members to remain in Xinjiang against their wishes and must attract them with the promise of a better life, education and career prospects. Nie Weiguo, the organization’s political commissar, said on March 24 that, by 2010, the corps would have a gross domestic product of 65 billion yuan, exports and imports totaling US$7.1 billion and an average individual income of 7,500 yuan – against an average of 4,000 yuan for all rural Chinese in 2007. Its cities, factories and farms have created opportunities for new settlers from central and eastern China, helping Han Chinese to spread their dominance to the hinterland. But, like the heavily armed settler communities in Israel and the West Bank, the Bing Tuan cannot become an entirely economic entity as long as the threat of civil war remains. “The Bing Tuan adheres to the principle of attaching equal importance to production and militia duties,” says a government white paper on the corps. “It has set up in frontier areas a ‘four in one’ system of joint defense that links the PLA, the armed police, the Bing Tuan and ordinary people, playing an irreplaceable special role in the past five decades in smashing and resisting internal and external separatists’ attempts at sabotage and infiltration and in maintaining the stability and safety of the borders of the motherland.”
Comments (40)
  written by Liang1a, April 13, 2008
The economy of Xinjiang can also expand on the basis of producing high tech products for exports to the neighboring countries such as the SCO members, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. China can export cars and consumer electronics and other consumer goods to the neighboring countries and import raw materials from them such as oil, timber, meat, etc. Such economic trade will be beneficial to all countries in the region and promote better lives for all while creating peace and harmony. And as living conditions improve for all, religious and racial bigotry will decrease so make peace and harmony more secure for all.
 written by Overseas Tiger, April 14, 2008
Before our dear American friends comment, I suggest they look at the history behind places like Fort Lauderdale, Florida or Fort Worth, Texas. They too will find it fascinating.
Our British friends too can look at the history behind all the Welsh and Irish towns/cities that grew up around garisoning castles. Or even further afield in India etc. And Our dearly Frenchie friends can check out the histories behind some of the histories of towns in North Africa, oui mes amis?
written by Liang1a, April 14, 2008
If the Westerners start to bitch about "Chinese chauvinism" then just give them the finger. Who cares what they say. As the Americans themselves love to say, Oderint dum metuant, "Let them hate, so long as they fear". The West obviously hates China. But they can do nothing as long as China is strong enough to break their nose if they poke it into Chinese affairs. The Chinese were already strong enough to beat the Americans in Korea half a century ago. Today, it is even stronger. So who cares what the Americans and the Westerners say, as long as China is strong enough to brush them aside. Therefore, China should not be tricked into disarming itself like Saddam Hussein was stupid enough to disarm his WMD. Even though the lack of WMD proved America was lyeing, yet it is small comfort to Saddam Hussein as the rope went around his neck. Therefore, let China be strong and maintain its sovereignty. And behind its powerful military the Chinese can tell the West to go screw themselves.
 written by gothernburg, April 14, 2008
Gorbachev should not had allowed the reunification of Germany, but rather incorporated East Germany into Poland. Then the holocaust-minded filthy Goths would not be so swollen-headed today, bent on formenting violence in foreign lands as they had done in 1914 and 1939. It is a pleasing thought that the Russians have no intentions to return Koeingsburg to those dastardly Germans. Death to the Germans, as Stalin had vowed
http://english.cri.cn/2946/2008/04/14/ This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
 written by nanheyangrouchuan, April 14, 2008
is spreading throughout the internet like some kind of swine flu.
The Uyghur were never part of China, and neither were Tibet. Everything about China is a lie except for the fact that China is a filthy, stinking social train wreck run by psychotic, wretched old men. And did not defeat the US, the US pushed China back to the Yalu river before the cease fire was declared. China cannot even teach history properly.
written by Liang1a, April 14, 2008
nanhey wrote:
The Uyghur were never part of China, and neither were Tibet. ------------------------ China's territory in Han Dynasty extends to cover Kyrgyzstand and Tajikistan. Those interested in real history can go to the following link to see the map: http://homepages.stmartin.edu/Fac_Staff/rlangill/HIS 217 maps/Han dynasty map.JPG Tibet was a part of China at least since the Yuan Dynasty. Those interested can go to the following link to see the map: http://www.paulnoll.com/China/Dynasty/dynasty-Mongol.html
written by Liang1a, April 14, 2008
nanhey wrote:
And did not defeat the US, the US pushed China back to the Yalu river before the cease fire was declared. China cannot even teach history properly. -------------------------------- Yeah, right. America was so kind to give half of Korea to the North Koreans purely out of the kindness of its heart. The truth is America was unable to do anything in Korea and had to make peace. Continuing the war would eventually make America suffer economic recession, and the Americans just didn't want to die anymore. Go to the following link for the quote below: "After months of heavy fighting, the center of the conflict was returned to the 38th parallel, where it remained for the rest of the war." http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0828118.html The truth is the Americans with all its technological superirority simply couldn't do anything against the Chinese who slapped them down hard in Korea through tactical superirority and greater courage. Therefore, the Chinese in truth defeated the Americans in Korea. The Chinese pushed the Americans from the Yalu River back to the 38th parallel. Therefore, the Chinese gained territory and Americans lost territory. That is the definition of victory.
written by Liang1a, April 14, 2008
nanhey wrote:
The Uyghur were never part of China, ... -------------------- When Xinjiang was a part of China in the Han Dynasty some 2,000 years ago, the Uyghur people were not even there. They came much later. They did not enter the Tarim region until 840AD and long after Xinjiang was a part of Han China.
 written by Chinese soldiers, the oppresso, April 14, 2008
Hmm, did someone conveniently forget that America nuked Japan, ending WWII? Otherwise, Chinese would be speaking Japanese today.
written by nanheyangrouchuan, April 14, 2008
@Liang1a
I've seen your maps, claiming all of central Asia as Chinese. It is all lies and propaganda. Turks and Caucasians/Persians were there long before Chinese crawled out of the caves along the Yellow River. As for the Korean war, the US retreated and counterattacked, it took Soviet fighter pilots and 500,000 PLA and NK troops to push back half the number of US troops. The definition of bravery is the Chosin Basin, but I'll bet you never learned about that battle.
written by Liang1a, April 14, 2008
Chinese soldiers, the oppresso
Hmm, did someone conveniently forget that America nuked Japan, ending WWII? Otherwise, Chinese would be speaking Japanese today. -------------------------------- The Americans have obviously forgotten that it is the Chinese who had tied down the vast majority of the Japanese forces in China. If the Chinese cooperated with the Japanese, then the Japanese would have been able to direct its economic resources to produce many more aircraft carriers and fighter bombers. As it is the Americans had a very difficult time to defeat the few Japanese outposts in the Pacific islands. If the Chinese had not tied down the Japanese main forces, then surely the Japanese would have been able to take all Pacific islands from the Americans, including Hawaii. And the vastly more superior Japanese navy would have been able to sink all of the American naval assets in the Pacific and directly thratened American Pacific states. So, from where will the Americans be able to launch their bombers to drop the atom bombs on Japan? In fact, with the Chinese halp, the Japanese would have been able to attack America. And with the Japanese attacking in its western states, the Americans would not be able to put so much of its forces in Europe thus allowing the Germans to dominate Europe while threatening the American east coast. So who will speak what language had the Chinese not fought the Japanese?
written by Liang1a, April 14, 2008
nanhey is just spouting personal delusions. I let the historical maps speak for themselves. To engage in any more spitting matches with an obvious bigot only demeans myself.
As to Korean War, the main facts are that the Americans pushed its way up to the Yalu River but was driven back by the Chinese all the way to the south of the Koreans peninsula. The Americans were able to load up their soldiers and landed them further up north. This forced the Chinese to retreat back to the 38th parallel. And that is where the line stands today. Therefore, when all is said and done, the Chinese pushed the Americans from the Yalu River and fought them to a standstill on the 38th parallel. Therefore, the Chinese took from the Americans the territory between the 38th parallel and the Yalu River. That means the Chinese won. The Americans can spin around like a top, but they cannot change this obvious historical FACT.
written by nanheyangrouchuan, April 14, 2008
@Liang1a
"If" China and Japan had cooperated? Obviously only under the loving embrace of Chinese leadership, I'm sure. Since China and Japan haven't cooperated for 3000 years and China wants to burn Japan to the ground, the US doesn't have much to worry about. As for the Korean peninsula, the US pushed the PLA back to the Yalu river again and the PLA was massing more forces, that is when Truman threatened to use nukes. Bad, lying China.
 written by ChineseInCanada, April 14, 2008
China lies to its citizens. From its need of pride, it hides its past and re-creates reality for their children to believe in and to spread to other peoples.
Liao, Jin, Yuan and Qing are all foreign occupations of China. Ming is Han. When the Ming took power, they did not hold onto Tibet, Manchuria, XinJiang and many other places. To all those who are Han Chinese. You do not own the world, let alone those 'minority' states that you have concluded to be yours after invading them when the Qing collapsed and the ROC went to Taiwan. So stop lying to yourselves and the whole world, face reality. Your version of liberation is oppression to others in the world. Do not think it is right for you to invade and conquer because the Americans or Europeans of the past did. That makes you as Babrbaric as they were. China did not own that land in the past, present nor future. Return them to the rightful owners. China will be doomed for the next hundred years. Your pride in your current state and your love for the glorious past of China will be the cause of your demise.
written by Liang1a, April 14, 2008
nanhey wrote:
"If" China and Japan had cooperated? Obviously only under the loving embrace of Chinese leadership, I'm sure. Since China and Japan haven't cooperated for 3000 years and China wants to burn Japan to the ground, the US doesn't have much to worry about. --------------------------------- Nanhey, do you know anything about China and Japan? The Japanese have adopted the Chinese characters and the Chinese philosophy which is Confucianism for some 2,000 years. The Chinese had obviously fallen behind in technological and cultural developments in the last 300 years or so. But this is just a blip in the long Chinese history. The Chinese nation is already reviving. As I pointed out earlier, the Chinese had beaten the Americans in Korea. And before that, the Chinese had to rescue Merrill's Marauders in Burma when they were trapped and nearly wiped out by the Japanese. The Americans think they're so tough because they took a few Pacific islands which the Japanese lightly guarded. The truth is the Americans can pitch their entire Pacific forces against the few Pacific islands only because the Chinese had pinned down the main Japanese forces. That the Chinese had fought the Japanese in WW2 is already a historical fact and there is no point in debating it. Going into the future, China will surely become more advanced technologically and culturally. And Japan will resume its historical role of being China's pupil and copy China's technologies and culture as it had for most of the last 2,000 years.
written by Liang1a, April 14, 2008
===============================
nanhey wrote: As for the Korean peninsula, the US pushed the PLA back to the Yalu river again and the PLA was massing more forces, that is when Truman threatened to use nukes. ---------------------------- nanhey, why don't you stop humiliating yourself with ignorant remarks? The Americans never reached the Yalu River again after they were pushed back from it in Nov. 1950. The Americans steadily retreated to a line south of the line stretching from Suwon to Samcheok which is south of Seoul. The Americans did eventually take back Seoul and reached the 38th parallel. And that is where the line stands today. The Americans never went north of the Line Kansas which is just north of the 38th parallel and is the line separatng the two Koreas today. If you keep yelling that the Americans reached Yalu River anytime after Nov. 1950, then you'll expose yourself to be an idiot. As to using nukes, it will not be effective. China was not an industrialized country in 1950, therefore there were no vital industrial tragets for American nukes to destroy. That means the nukes will have no effect on China's ability to fight the Korean war. The Americans might kill a lot of civilians, but that won't stop the determined and courageous Chinese from fighting in Korea. If anything, they'll become even more determined just as Japanese atrocities only made the Chinese more eager to defeat them. So give it up. The Americans lost the Korean War despite its more advanced technologies. And the Chinese won due to its superior tactics and courage. And that is a historical fact. And today, the Chinese have military technologies that give them almost parity against the Americans. Chinese nukes can reach all parts of the US. And Chinese fighters can match American fighters plane for plane. The Chinese submarine can be as effective as American subs, if not more so. And we all know already what the Chinese armies can do against the Americans from Korea. So good luck to you if you want to fight the Chinese. In another 30 years when the Chinese are fully developed, they'll be able to field 5 times more troops and weapons than the Americans. For every 1,000 fighters the Americans can field, the Chinese can field 5,000 state of the art fighters. China will be able to smash America like a ripe watermellon. In the end, peace and harmony will be the only chance for America's survival. So, do you want to continue to antagonize the Chinese?
written by Chinese soldiers in Tibet, April 14, 2008
Liang1a wrote:
"it is the Chinese who had tied down the vast majority of the Japanese forces in China ..." --------------------------------- You are such a CCP stooge and cheerleader, worse than Jackie Chan!
written by Liang1a, April 15, 2008
Coward in Canada wrote:
Liao, Jin, Yuan and Qing are all foreign occupations of China. Ming is Han. When the Ming took power, they did not hold onto Tibet, Manchuria, XinJiang and many other places. --------------------- Today, Manchuria (Heilongjiang) and Inner Mongolia are part of China's sovereign territory. If Manchuria and Inner Mongolia are part of China's sovereign territory, surely Tibet is also part of China's sovereign territory. Furthermore, there is really no need for the Chinese to argue about it. If the West can take it away from China, then they would have done so long ago. It is because they are not strong enough to take it from China, that they tried to create dissensions among China's peoples. That make them cowards and perfidious enemies. The Chinese should understand this true characters of the Westerners and beware of them. If the Chinese peoples are aware of the Westerners' lying nature, then there is no danger at all because the Westerners are only cowards who attack only weak and defenceless peoples. And China is safe for as long as it is strong and powerful. The minorities in China should also know what have happened to the minorities in America such as the blacks, native Americans, the Latinos and Asians. They are discriminated against and pushed down into underclasses. They are poor and discriminated against and cannot find good jobs. They often have to pay higher insurances and given inferior services. The truth is, there is hardly any full blooded blacks or native Americans left in America. The blacks and native Americans today are all descendents of rape victims while full blooded blacks and native Americans have all but disappeared due to heinous discrimination. Is this what the minorities in China want? Obviously not. Compared to the minorities in America, the Chinese minorities are honored peoples and with full and equal rights as the Han people. They are much better off in China than in America. And in time as the technologies and economy of China advances and develops, all Chinese peoples of all races and ethnicities will together become the richest and freest in the world. Certainly much more so than in America or Canada.
written by Liang1a, April 15, 2008
CIA operative in Tibet wrote:
You are such a CCP stooge and cheerleader, worse than Jackie Chan! ---------------------------- Can you say anything that makes sense? I guess that is too much for your little brain.
written by Chinese soldiers in Tibet, April 15, 2008
Liang1a wrote:
"it is the Chinese who had tied down the vast majority of the Japanese ..." --------------------------------- Such an idiot pretending to be smart.
written by Liang1a, April 15, 2008
When somebody resorts to personal abuse it is always a sign that they had lost the argument. There is no point to answer to idiots who have conceded the debate. It only demeans me to get into a spitting match trading insults with morons.
 written by Anti-Nanhey, April 15, 2008
Too all the white s**ts:
Yes, Tibet & Xinjiang are firmly in Chinese control, is there anything YOU can do about them? Come on, bring on your blood-sucking white soldiers & let's have a good fight. We would love to slit their throats & drag their lousy, naked bodies parading their corpses on our streets. Just hate these Caucasian beasts! Boycott London 2012! Boycott trades, tourisms, dialogues, communications with these white dog! Smash US/UK/Nato/Israel/Japan/France/Germany/Canada/Australia/New Zealand!
written by Liang1a, April 15, 2008
To Anti-Nanhey:
Go and jump into the Yellow River!
written by Liang1a, April 15, 2008
u are so evil : Liang1a
------------------- The above is probably written by nanhey or his clone. Evil to evil is good. Therefore, I take it as a reverse compliment.
written by Evil Liang1a, April 15, 2008
So many evil Chinese. How to visit China for Olympics?
 written by overseer, April 16, 2008
Evil Liang1a
So many evil Chinese. How to visit China for Olympics? ------------------------------- Don't ever set foot on Chinese soil because I'm going to castrate you if you do so. (the Dalai Lama's overcrowded harem crying out for fresh eunuchs)
 written by Arthur Borges, April 16, 2008
Liang, Americans never learn in school that, as in Vietnam, the division into North and South was supposed to be temporary, until elections could be held. When the Americans and Seoul Government realized the Communists would win any election, they began killing off entire villages across the country to terrorize South Koreans to vote against the Communists. This is why the DPRK attacked, but Americans never learn this.
Gen. Curtis E. Lemay, who commanded the air force nuclear strike force, publicly noted that there were no real targets for nuclear weapons but still wanted "to drop a few" on general principle. What remains secret what effect public US threats of nuclear attack had on the Chinese leadership.
 written by Bushwhacker, April 16, 2008
Unlike the Western powers, the Chinese do not commit genocide on native population such as seen in North America, Australiasia, Israel etc. The best can be said is Cultural genocide as claimed by Dalai clique because of Sinization.
 written by Peter Kauffner, April 17, 2008
Liang1a: In WWII, about one-third of Japanese military resources were tied up in China. The CCP was a minor factor at that time with only one tenth as many soldiers as the KMT, even at the end of the war. Both the U.S. and Soviets gave large amounts of aid to the KMT.
As far as Korea goes, China wouldn't have been able to fight at all without Soviet aid. Arthur Borges: Where do get this stuff from? There was a UN-supervised election in South Korea in 1948. The election was supposed to be for all of Korea, but the North refused to participate.
written by Oversea Tiger, April 17, 2008
Kauffner
From your postings in the other threads, I can see that you ignorance is really quite amusing. You misunderstood and misread the elementary basics of the nature of Japan's conflict in China. The KMT largely fought as a conventional army against the Japanese and therefore received the majority of foreign material aid. But the Communists fought using guerrilla tactics and unconventional warfare and were therefore able to tie down a disproportionately large number of Japanese soldiers relative to the smaller number of communist soldiers and their available resources in areas the Japanese thought already pacified. Consequently, Japan’s occupation of China was becoming an unwinnable land war, while her conflict with the US was primarily naval and aerial. This was also why ultimately the KMT was also defeated by the CCP. Finally, didn’t you know that Mao Tse Tung for all his faults is also the framer of modern guerrilla tactics? How did you think the Cuban communists defeated its US backed government or the Viet Congs defeated the Americans in the Vietnam War (the American War to the Vietnamese). Why do you think the American army is today again having so much trouble in Iraq and why did you think General Petraeus wanted a 'surge' of US troops number there. God! Why do I even bother.
written by Overseas Tiger, April 18, 2008
Kauffner
As for what you said about whether China could have fought at all in Korea without Soviet aid is pretty much a juvenile debate about conjectures and what-ifs. Consequently, there is no point in arguing about it other than simple verbal masturbation. If you are really interested, you can find some tabletop wargaming buddies and re-enact the different scenarios to your heart's content.
 written by Bushwhacker, April 18, 2008
Why is Bin Tuan system not employed in Tibet? Most of the new arrivals are come on their own from other nearby provinces. I think that Tibet issue will be solved faster if the Bin Tuan method is employed.
written by Peter Kauffner, April 18, 2008
The KMT's X-Force and Y-Force drove the Japanese out of Burma. The CCP has no similar WWII success to boast about. The CCP launched an offensive when the Japanese first invaded called the "Hundred Regiments Offensive." After the failure of this offensive, Mao decided attacking the Japanese wasn't worth the trouble. Surely Soviet aid would have been channelled to the CCP instead of the KMT if the CCP had been at all effective in fighting the Japanese.
When the Japanese surrendered, the Soviet occuppied Manchuria, where the Japanese stored their weapons. The Soviets arranged for the CCP to get these weapons and for the puppet Manchukou army to be absorbed by the CCP. Up to this point, CCP was very poorly armed and no match at all for the KMT. Yanan was financed by opium farming. As for Vietnam, the U.S. army defeated the Vietcong guerillas during the Tet Offensive (1968-69). South Vietnam was overrun by North Vietnamese regulars in 1975 after traitors in the U.S. Congress cut off assistance (the Case-Church Act of 1973).
written by Overseas Tiger, April 18, 2008
OK Kauffner, this is my last response to your postings because frankly I am getting bored telling you things that really you should be capable of discovering for yourself.
Here it goes: Military defeats can result in victory, but a military victory is only useful if it serves a purpose. War is about more than a clash of arms, tactics and strategy. Now go away, think about it and get a life. I shalln't respond to you again. PS Sorry for being rude and condescending, its an occasional character flaw and I shall meditate on it, Shalom.
written by Hold the fort, April 18, 2008
The Roman equivalent of "Bing Tuan" were the "Limitanei", farmer-soldiers of the Roman legions, tasked with settling and securing the borders of the vast Roman Empire against barbarian attacks.
 written by Shan, April 21, 2008
@ Liang1a:
don't you have a job? Very un-Han, this...
 written by min, April 30, 2008
With the deep seated hatred of China in the World i would not be surprise to see a war broke out between the old Western powers and China in the next few decades. A major war is the only way for the West to stop the high speed advancement of the Chinese race. The politicians and the media in the West as well as their client states around the world are already preparing their population for that war to come by demonising China and the Chinese race daily. Every day one can read some articles blaming the Chinese for every ills occuring in the economy/environment around the globe. So wakeup you chinese be prepared to fight a war of survival, stop worshiping all things Western. Prepared yourself build up your country or you will not survive the next wave of colonisation.
 written by Arian I., July 08, 2009
The availability of water. In North China and Xinjiang it is arid and there are not many large rivers, so ensuring availability of water is absolutely necessary. Existing water supplies may last only a few decades more. Thus, the Chinese government considers a reduction on local water supplies to be a vitally important concern.
Diverting water from a large river in a nearby region to cities and farms in Xinjiang may be a feasible plan, but this has the side effect of reducing flow volume of the river in question and affecting the natural environment downstream, therefore exacerbating shortages of water available for agricultural and industrial activities. Another solution may give the same desired benefits with only minor side effects. I've once wondered why a Chinese rice farmer produced 5000 KCal of energy (in the form of food) for every 1 KCal of energy expended, while an American farmer, with all his mechanized equipment, produces only 200 KCal for every 1 KCal of energy expended. After knowing about this I realized that there are some situations where the old ways are the optimum solution. Also, it should be remembered that Xinjiang has a climate and soils different from those of the "original Chinese homelands" (i.e., Eastern China south of the Yellow River Basin). The soils of both regions are good for farming, but water can be sometimes scarce. Thus, it will be necessary to make adjustments to agricultural practice in order to facilitate food production in Xinjiang. Although this may sound strange, plowing the soil would not be advisable since this facilitates evaporation of water from the soil, and to do so in a region known for arid conditions would be counterproductive. In the subtropical parts of China, water loss is not much of a problem thanks to annual monsoon rains, so plowing the soil to facilitate the cultivation of rice and other foodstuffs was not always a problem. However, in arid North China and Xinjiang plowing is a good way to destroy the soil and cause crop failure - at least in places were irrigation is not available. How is water continually available in a certain location? Hydrological cycle. Trees lift water up by the roots and send it out by the leaves. Lakes, rivers, and other large bodies of water absorb heat from the sun. The sun's rays warm the land surface and make the water evaporate. Once the water evaporates, it rises higher and higher into the sky. Large quantities of water vapor - in the billions of liters - form clouds. When the clouds are saturated with water vapor, they absorb heat from the surrounding air while rising higher still into the sky. Eventually the air temperature drops (the relationship between altitude and temperature is inverse) and rain falls from the clouds. Much of this water falls to the ground and is absorbed by the soil. The water in the soil is either deposited into a large body of water or absorbed by tree roots, and the cycle repeats itself. Which reminds me, preserving as much as possible the natural environment in Xinjiang will become a vital part of any economic plan for the province. And so I recommend the following website for details: http://permaculture.org.au It is a most informative site. They even have a DVD that shows how to "harvest" rainwater to maximize restoration of the natural environment. And this may also be of interest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sohI6vnWZmk Agriculture and industry in Xinjiang can succeed and grow, but the availability of water and other vital resources must be taken into account. If the Chinese can develop industries that produce a lot in relation to the amount of raw materials that they consume, they can soon become the envy of all the industrialized countries.
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I'm glad to see that the Han population has increased to 40%. I hope it will quickly increase to 90% or more. I also hope as technologies advanced, life will be more comfortable in the desert regions with air-conditioning and central heating. It appears that Xinjinang has vast potentials for producing farm produces in vast amounts for domestic use as China's internal economy develops and the Chinese people's need for food and raw materials increased many times. Xinjiang could also support local industries to produce all kinds of high tech products from cars to TVs and computers. Xinjiang can be economically dynamic and support tens of millions of Han settlers and give them a high standard of living. In time Xinjiang can have an economy bigger than that of Germany.
Above all, the Han Chinese must be allowed to have as many children as they want in Xinjiang. This will increase the Han population as quickly as possible. Also, the Uighuer Chinese should be treated with equality and encouraged to integrate harmoniously with the Han Chinese. There is no reason why the two races of Chinese cannot live harmoniously together for the benefit of all. In time with China becoming the sole ultra-superpower in the world, and the life of the common Uighers become better than the Westerners, the Uighers will be proud to be part of the Chinese nation.