Race Wars in China: The economics of being Uighur

China may not be a rich place, but even still it has a lot of income inequality. Throughout hte entire country, we see a big difference between incomes in coastal cities and in the rural, inland communities. Overall, the per capita GDP (nominal) in China is about $3,300, compared to those poor bastards with democracy in Taiwan at $17,000 per person, or about $31,000 per person in politically and legally separate Hong Kong. Now, China has a much lower cost of living (*cough cough peasant slavery*), so on a purchasing power basis, so on a purchasing power parity basis, this is something like $6,000 per person per year, compared to $44,000 in Hong Kong, or $31,000 in Taiwan.

In Xinjiang, things are a little less rosy. Not only have they lost control of their homeland and endure a foreign police state, but the basic economics of survival are against them. In rural Xinjiang as a whole, these people live on around $560 per year. In southern Xinjiang, the average is around $330 per year per person. Now remember, this is an average, and income inequality in China is terrible, so the median person is doing even worse. Northern Xinjiang's economy is run "by the Han-dominated Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a quasi-military organization established to pacify the region." For Xinjiang as a whole, the per capita GDP is up to around $2,900, mostly due to the central government's control of the capital Urumqi, and it's money being spent to bring in Han Chinese to assimilate the province.

Chinese policies are made at many different levels with many different objectives. Certainly, the Uighurs do get some breaks. And certainly, the tide of cash from Beijing is lifting many boats. As Han companies come into this Islamic Central Asian area, the character of things has also changed. Halal foods (meaning religiously ok for Muslims to eat) are now an industry dominated by Han Chinese. Ancient landmarks thousands of years old are being demolished by Han companies for "development projects." Curious, since Xinjiang has immeasurably vast expanses of empty, cheap land to develop on - why might Beijing want these testaments of ancient culture destroyed ?

Xinjiang has historically been poor, ever since the demise of the Silk Road, when trade between China and the Middle East and Europe was transferred to boats. The GDP of the province is now around $60 billion, in the Chinese empire whose GDP is around $4 trillion. Also keep in mind, all these numbers reported are from the Chinese government, and may be manipulated up or down for political reasons.