China`s xinjiang policy: an analysis based on the theory of relative deprivation

Xinjiang, which is China’s western province that comprised 18 percent of the country’s total land area and heavily populated by non-Han Chinese ethnic minorities, is a region increasingly beset by the problem of confrontation between two very distinct groups- the more recently arrived Han and the indigenous Uighur Turkish Muslims. The confrontation revolves primarily around the struggle for domination over the province between the two, and also Uighur quest for greater autonomy rights or even independence from the government of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In order to tackle these problems, the government of CCP has already taken and implemented both coercive and persuasive measures and policies in Xinjiang since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. However, disturbances by ethnic minorities in Xinjiang such as violent demonstrations and ethnic clashes continue and can recur anytime in the future with little forewarning if necessary steps were not taken. All these, reflect the failure of CCP government’s policies towards Xinjiang in its efforts to ensure stability in the region. To what extend the effectiveness of CCP’s policies towards Xinjiang depends on the factor of relative deprivation (RD) that exist among the minorities in Xinjiang, particularly the Uighurs when they compare themselves with their Han counterparts that obviously have better living conditions compared to them

Prevalence of Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus in Uygur and Han populations from the Urumqi and Kashgar regions of Xinjiang, China

Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is the infectious etiologic agent associated with Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS), primary effusion lymphoma, and multicentric Castleman disease. It has been shown that high KSHV prevalence and high incidence of both classic KS and AIDSassociated KS are found mostly among people of Uygur ethnicity in Xinjiang, while people of Han ethnicity in Xinjiang have a higher KSHV seroprevalence than those of other Han populations in mainland China. However, it is still unclear why there is such geographical and population variation in KSHV distribution in China. In this work, we focused on the populations in the Kashgar region and Urumqi area, where a total of 1294 research subjects were randomly selected to investigate the potential correlation between KSHV prevalence and different ethnicities in endemic areas of Xinjiang, and to determine risk factors that may affect KSHV infection rates or KS incidence. We identified a high seroprevalence of KSHV and high peripheral blood DNA infection in the general Uygur and Han populations in both Urumqi and Kashgar regions of Xinjiang, and determined that advancing age, low education level, and stationary population status affect KSHV infection rates. Further, KSHV-positive Uygur participants were shown to have higher prevalence of neutralizing antibodies and neutralizing antibody titers than KSHV-positive Han participants

That Undisclosed World: Eric Shipton’s Mountains of Tartary (1950).

Mountains of Tartary (1950) recounts Eric Shipton’s mountaineering and travels in Xinjiang during his two postings as British Consul-General in Kashgar in the 1940s. An accomplished Himalayan mountaineer of the 1930s, Shipton was a successful author of mountaineering travel books. During the 1930s his work with the Survey of India saw him increasingly drawn into the workings of the imperial security state in the geopolitically sensitive border regions of the Karakoram. Shipton’s proven ability to travel in arduous mountain terrain and gather geographical intelligence led to his posting to Kashgar. Details of his diplomatic work are almost entirely absent from Mountains of Tartary and only became known in outline in 1969, with the publication of his autobiography. With unparalleled knowledge of the geo-political situation in Xinjiang in the 1940s, Shipton was prevented from publishing anything that revealed the details of his role in Great Game politics in 1950, not least by the fact that he still held a consular position in Kunming, Yunnan. Thus at the heart of Mountains of Tartary is an occlusion. This paper will examine the rhetorical strategies Shipton employed in writing a book in which so much had to remain undisclosed. He was aware that the roles he played, as mountaineer, explorer and traveller had multiple meanings on the borders of British India, that to situate his narrative within an Orientalist and Great Game tradition risked unwanted disclosure. The essential unreliability of the narrative emerges as a consequence of writing under such constraints. Intentionally aporetic, the text is riven by chronological and biographical voids, unintentionally reveals the strain of inhabiting multiple personas and keeping track of the competing demands of different audiences. Shipton’s failure of self-censorship erupts in transgressive revelations, concealed messages to certain sections of his readership able to read between the lines, revealing Mountains of Tartary to be a steganographic text, one that needs not just decoding but looking beyond, to what is undisclosed and unsaid

Islam in China: Uyghurs in Crisis

Islam has been in China for hundreds of years and has been the religion to ten people groups in China, including the Uyghur people group. The Uyghurs have been under China’s domain since the mid-1700s and since then have stood out among the fifty-five recognized minority groups due to their ethnic differences in comparison to the Han majority. The Uyghurs have a rich and distinct history and cultural heritage, which is different than the Han majority culture. Since 2001 there have been campaigns to curb religious freedom in China by controlling the Uyghurs’ autonomous region of Xinjiang, located in western China. The latest move to control and regulate Islam and the Uyghur people group is a multitude of reeducation camps in Western China that houses millions of the Uyghur people. A survey of Uyghur history and literature review reveal that the Uyghurs are in a crisis with a lack of religious freedom and a lack of media coverage on what is happening currently in Western China

The incidence of liver injury in Uyghur patients treated for TB in Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region, China, and its association with hepatic enzyme polymorphisms nat2, cyp2e1, gstm1 and gstt1.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Of three first-line anti-tuberculosis (anti-TB) drugs, isoniazid is most commonly associated with hepatotoxicity. Differences in INH-induced toxicity have been attributed to genetic variability at several loci, NAT2, CYP2E1, GSTM1and GSTT1, that code for drug-metabolizing enzymes. This study evaluated whether the polymorphisms in these enzymes were associated with an increased risk of anti-TB drug-induced hepatitis in patients and could potentially be used to identify patients at risk of liver injury. METHODS AND DESIGN: In a cross-sectional study, 2244 tuberculosis patients were assessed two months after the start of treatment. Anti-TB drug-induced liver injury (ATLI) was defined as an ALT, AST or bilirubin value more than twice the upper limit of normal. NAT2, CYP2E1, GSTM1 and GSTT1 genotypes were determined using the PCR/ligase detection reaction assays. RESULTS: 2244 patients were evaluated, there were 89 cases of ATLI, a prevalence of 4% 9 patients (0.4%) had ALT levels more than 5 times the upper limit of normal. The prevalence of ATLI was greater among men than women, and there was a weak association with NAT2*5 genotypes, with ATLI more common among patients with the NAT2*5*CT genotype. The sensitivity of the CT genotype for identifying patients with ATLI was 42% and the positive predictive value 5.9%. CT ATLI was more common among slow acetylators (prevalence ratio 2.0 (95% CI 0.95,4.20) )compared to rapid acetylators. There was no evidence that ATLI was associated with CYP2E1 RsaIc1/c1genotype, CYP2E1 RsaIc1/c2 or c2/c2 genotypes, or GSTM1/GSTT1 null genotypes. CONCLUSIONS: In Xinjiang Uyghur TB patients, liver injury was associated with the genetic variant NAT2*5, however the genetic markers studied are unlikely to be useful for screening patients due to the low sensitivity and low positive predictive values for identifying persons at risk of liver injury

A four-month gatifloxacin-containing regimen for treating tuberculosis.

BACKGROUND: Shortening the course of treatment for tuberculosis would be a major improvement for case management and disease control. This phase 3 trial assessed the efficacy and safety of a 4-month gatifloxacin-containing regimen for treating rifampin-sensitive pulmonary tuberculosis. METHODS: We conducted a noninferiority, randomized, open-label, controlled trial involving patients 18 to 65 years of age with smear-positive, rifampin-sensitive, newly diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis in five sub-Saharan African countries. A standard 6-month regimen that included ethambutol during the 2-month intensive phase was compared with a 4-month regimen in which gatifloxacin (400 mg per day) was substituted for ethambutol during the intensive phase and was continued, along with rifampin and isoniazid, during the continuation phase. The primary efficacy end point was an unfavorable outcome (treatment failure, recurrence, or death or study dropout during treatment) measured 24 months after the end of treatment, with a noninferiority margin of 6 percentage points, adjusted for country. RESULTS: A total of 1836 patients were assigned to the 4-month regimen (experimental group) or the standard regimen (control group). Baseline characteristics were well balanced between the groups. At 24 months after the end of treatment, the adjusted difference in the risk of an unfavorable outcome (experimental group [21.0%] minus control group [17.2%]) in the modified intention-to-treat population (1356 patients) was 3.5 percentage points (95% confidence interval, -0.7 to 7.7). There was heterogeneity across countries (P=0.02 for interaction, with differences in the rate of an unfavorable outcome ranging from -5.4 percentage points in Guinea to 12.3 percentage points in Senegal) and in baseline cavitary status (P=0.04 for interaction) and body-mass index (P=0.10 for interaction). The standard regimen, as compared with the 4-month regimen, was associated with a higher dropout rate during treatment (5.0% vs. 2.7%) and more treatment failures (2.4% vs. 1.7%) but fewer recurrences (7.1% vs. 14.6%). There was no evidence of increased risks of prolongation of the QT interval or dysglycemia with the 4-month regimen. CONCLUSIONS: Noninferiority of the 4-month regimen to the standard regimen with respect to the primary efficacy end point was not shown. (Funded by the Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00216385.)