The Partnership of Stability in Xinjiang: State–Society Interactions Following the July 2009 Unrest

Abstract

Most analyses of central government policy in Xinjiang focus on “the Uyghur problem”. This article demonstrates the coexistence of a significant “Han problem” in Xinjiang, and thereby throws a different light on relations between center and periphery in China. Central government reactions to the Ürümqi riots in July 2009 suggest that stability among the Han population of Xinjiang is the center's primary objective, and that this stability is seen to be facilitated by a particular style of development. Furthermore, state–society interactions in the immediate aftermath of the 2009 riots show that Han in Xinjiang perceive themselves to possess collective—if limited and contingent—influence. This perception is the product of the mass frame through which, I argue, the Han mainstream view their relationship with the central government. I call this mass frame “the partnership of stability”.