Word: china
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...streets of the cities and towns of China's northwestern region of Xinjiang you can hear complaints from the Uighur minority group about restrictions on the Islamic religion they practice, their Turkic language or their culture, which is most closely linked to the lands of Central Asia. But in interviews in Urumqi, the regional capital that exploded with ethnic rioting last week that left 184 dead, the single most common complaint of Uighur residents is that they feel excluded from economic opportunity...
...Xinjiang, which makes up one-sixth of China's landmass but is home to less than 2% of its population, is an area of vast oil, mineral and agricultural wealth. Under a decade-old "develop the West" policy, the GDP of the region climbed from $20 billion in 2000 to $44.5 billion in 2006. Many Uighurs feel, however, that the boom has benefited majority Han Chinese, while they've been left out. "If you're Han, there are opportunities. But if you're from my group, there's nothing you can do," says a Uighur man in Urumqi who declined...
...Guangdong city of Shaoguan were part of a government program to send minority workers to the coast. "They can't get work in their own province, so they go to the far corner of the country to seek jobs," says Dru Gladney, an expert on Islam in China and president of the Pacific Basin Institute at Pomona College. "They are recruited by the government, and then they feel like government doesn't defend and protect them. They feel discriminated against. They can't win at home and they can't win far afield...
...sanctuary in state-owned enterprises with minority-hiring quotas. But as Xinjiang's economy has become increasingly privatized, those opportunities have eroded, says Barry Sautman, an associate professor of social science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. "Years ago everything in Xinjiang, like the rest of China was state-owned. It was relatively easy for Uighurs with some qualifications to get jobs in state enterprises, based of course on preferential policies," he says. "Now, with a substantial part of the economy privatized, it's much more difficult. It's up to individual employers as to who they...
...Like other minorities, Uighurs are given additional points in China's college entrance exam, but as a group they don't have the same educational level as Han Chinese. Many can't speak fluent Mandarin. Company managers with roots outside of Xinjiang often make hiring decisions based on connections or regional origin, leaving Uighurs at a disadvantage. China doesn't have a fair-hiring law, meaning that those with sufficient skills and experience still have no recourse if they face discrimination in the job market. (See pictures of China after the riot deaths on LIFE.com...