Uighurs: A people under Attack (JR234)

 

Uighurs: A people under Attack (JR234)

Introduction

The Uyghurs are recognized as native to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwest China. They are considered to be one of China's 55 officially recognized ethnic minorities. The Uyghurs are recognized by the Chinese government only as a regional minority within a multicultural nation. There are about 12 million Uighurs, mostly Muslim, living in north-western China in the region of Xinjiang, officially known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).

The Uighurs speak their own language, similar to Turkish, and see themselves as culturally and ethnically close to Central Asian nations.

They make up less than half of the Xinjiang population.

In recent decades, there's been a mass migration of Han Chinese (China's ethnic majority) to Xinjiang, and the Uighurs feel their culture and livelihoods are under threat.

Xinjiang lies in the north-west of China and is the country's biggest region. Like Tibet, it is autonomous, meaning - in theory - it has some powers of self-governance. But in practice, both face major restrictions by the central government. It is a mostly desert region, producing about a fifth of the world's cotton. It is also rich in oil and natural gas and because of its proximity to Central Asia and Europe is seen by Beijing as an important trade link. In the early 20th Century, the Uighurs briefly declared independence, but the region was brought under the complete control of mainland China's new Communist government in 1949.

Uighur  a Turkic-speaking people of interior Asia. Uighurs live for the most part in northwestern China, in the Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang; a small number live in the Central Asian republics. There were some 10,000,000 Uighurs in China and at least a combined total of 300,000 in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan in the early 21st century.

 

The Uighurs are mainly a sedentary village-dwelling people who live in the network of oases formed in the valleys and lower slopes of the Tien Shan, Pamirs, and related mountain systems. The region is one of the most arid in the world; hence, for centuries they have practiced irrigation to conserve their water supply for agriculture. Their principal food crops are wheat, corn (maize), kaoliang (a form of sorghum), and melons. The chief industrial crop is cotton, which has long been grown in the area. Many Uighurs are employed in petroleum extraction, mining, and manufacturing in urban centers.

The chief Uighur cities are Ürümqi, the capital of Xinjiang, and Kashgar (Kashi), an ancient centre of trade on the historic Silk Road near the border between Russia and China. The Uighurs have lacked political unity in recent centuries, except for a brief period during the 19th century when they were in revolt against Beijing. Their social organization is centred on the village. The Uighurs of Xinjiang are Sunni Muslims

 

History

The Uighurs, Turkic nomads living north of the Gobi Desert, ruled over a powerful empire between 744 and 840. Its capital was Karabalghasun on the upper Orhon River in Mongolia. Although of nomadic origin, the Uighurs presided over flourishing commercial centers and agriculture. After their empire dissolved, a group of them who fled west created a new state centered in the oases north of the Taklamakan Desert and extending up into the mountains of the eastern Tien Shan. It would survive until nearly the end of the thirteenth century. The cosmopolitan culture and economic prosperity of these two Uighur states form a notable chapter in the history of the Silk Road.

The rapid rise of the Uighurs in the eighth century coincided with a period when the Tang dynasty in China was weakening. During the An Lu-shan rebellion against the Tang from 755-763, the Uighurs saved the dynasty and in return received rich payments of silk and other Chinese goods. The quantities of Chinese silk flowing into the northern steppes rivaled those that had been sent to the Xiongnu centuries earlier. The peak of Uighur power was under kaghan Mou-yü, who ascended the throne in 759.  His court and that of his successors was heavily influenced by Chinese culture, not the least of the reasons being the frequent marriages to Chinese princesses.

Mou-yü established Manichaeism as the state religion amongst the Uighurs. This dualist belief in the powers of good and evil and separation of matter from spirit had originated in Persia in the third century and was one of many foreign religious which made their way to China. The bearers of Manichaeism were the Sogdian merchants   from Central Asia, who became prominent in the Silk Road trade. Sogdians enjoyed some prominence at the Tang court, even though their religion was only just tolerated. Mou-yü's adoption of the Sogdians' faith in part reflects his desire to distance himself from the Tang and in part the reality of his heavy reliance on Sogdians for the creation of his state administration and for the trade on which Uighur prosperity depended. The Uighur scribal culture would later become the basis for writing Mongolian.

The Uighur language is part of the Turkic group of Altaic languages, and the Uighurs are among the oldest Turkic-speaking peoples of Central Asia. They are mentioned in Chinese records from the 3rd century CE. They first rose to prominence in the 8th century, when they established a kingdom along the Orhon River in what is now north-central Mongolia. In 840 this state was overrun by the Kyrgyz, however, and the Uighurs migrated southwestward to the area around the Tien (Tian) Shan (“Celestial Mountains”). There the Uighurs formed another independent kingdom in the Turfan Depression region, but this was overthrown by the expanding Mongols in the 13th century.

 

After the disintegration of this Uighur empire, some of its survivors created the kingdom of Kocho (Gaochang) (ca. 860-1284), whose urban centers were in the Turfan oasis north of the Taklamakan desert astride the northern branch of the Silk Road. This was a region that previously had been occupied by Indo-Europeans, whose language now was replaced by Turkic Uighur. The Uighurs of western Gansu and Xinjiang today are the descendants of the mixed ethnic population of the kingdom of Kocho.

The dominant religion in that region had long been Buddhism  Important Buddhist monasteries were located in and around the oases of Turfan. Their wall paintings providing striking evidence of the transmission and transformation of Buddhist art along the roads leading from India into China. Buddhism became the religion of the Uighur elite in the Kocho kingdom, although Manichaeism and Nestorian Christianity were prominent as well. The German archaeologists who excavated the Uighur ruins in the early twentieth century took back to Berlin some striking Manichean manuscript fragments and other evidence of what had once been a vibrant and truly cosmopolitan urban culture.

The penetration of Islam into the Tarim Basin (that is, the region around the Taklamakan Desert) was gradual. As early as 821 an Arab ambassador visited the Uighur capital at Karabalghasun. Islam spread east under the Karakhanids in the eleventh century (one of their capitals was Kashgar), but only much later would become the dominant religion of the Uighurs of Xinjiang in modern times.

Uighur nationalist historians in the People's Republic of China and the United States posit that the Uyghur people is millennia-old and can be divided into four distinct phases: Pre-Imperial (300 BC – AD 630), Imperial (AD 630–840), Idiqut (AD 840–1200), and Mongol (AD 1209–1600), with perhaps a fifth modern phase running from the death of the Silk Road in AD 1600 until the present. In brief, Uyghur history is the story of a small nomadic tribe from the Altai Mountains competing with rival powers in Central Asia, including other Altaic tribes, Indo-European empires from the south and west and Sino-Tibetan empires to the east. After the collapse of the Uyghur Khaganate in AD 840, ancient Uyghur resettled from Mongolia to the Tarim Basin, assimilating the Indo-European population, which had previously been driven out of the region by the Xiongnu. Ultimately, the Uyghurs became civil servants administering the Mongol Empire.

 

Chinese treatment of the Uighurs

China is facing mounting criticism from around the world over its treatment of the mostly Muslim Uighur population in the north-western region of Xinjiang. Rights groups believe China has detained more than a million Uighurs over the past few years in what the state defines as "re-education camps".There is evidence of Uighurs being used as forced labour and of women being forcibly sterilised.

The US has accused China of committing genocide and crimes against humanity through its repression of the Uighurs.

Large numbers of Han (ethnic Chinese) began moving into Xinjiang after the establishment of the autonomous region in the 1950s. The influx became especially pronounced after 1990, and by the late 20th century the Han constituted two-fifths of Xinjiang’s total population. Over time economic disparities and ethnic tensions grew between the Uighur and Han populations that eventually resulted in protests and other disturbances. A particularly violent outbreak occurred in July 2009, mainly in Ürümqi, in which it was reported that nearly 200 people (mostly Han) were killed and some 1,700 were injured. Violent incidents increased after that and included attacks by knife-wielding assailants and by suicide bombers. Chinese authorities responded by cracking down on Uighurs suspected of being dissidents and separatists. The authorities’ actions included shootings, arrests, and long jail sentences until 2017, when the Chinese government initiated a thorough crackdown on Uighurs in Xinjiang. Citing a need for greater security, the government set up cameras, checkpoints, and constant police patrols in Uighur-dominated areas. The most controversial governmental undertaking—which was met by protests from human-rights organizations—was the indefinite detention of up to one million Uighurs in “political training centres,” heavily fortified buildings that were likened to the reeducation camps of the Mao Zedong era. In August 2018 the United Nations called upon China to end the detention, but government officials denied the existence of the camps

 

The US has accused China of committing genocide against the Uighurs. According to international convention, genocide is the "intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group".

It follows reports that, as well as interning Uighurs in camps, China has been forcibly mass sterilising Uighur women to suppress the population and separating Uighur children from their families.

On his final day in office under the Trump administration, US Secretary of state Mike Pompeo said: "I believe this genocide is ongoing, and that we are witnessing the systematic attempt to destroy Uighurs by the Chinese party-state."

A UN human rights committee in 2018 said it had credible reports the Chinese were holding up to a million people in "counter-extremism centres" in Xinjiang.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute found evidence in 2020 of more than 380 of these "re-education camps" in Xinjiang, an increase of 40% on previous estimates media caption In 2018, the BBC found all reporting was tightly controlled

Earlier, leaked documents known as the China Cables made clear that the camps were intended to be run as high security prisons, with strict discipline and punishments.

People who have managed to escape the camps have reported physical, mental and sexual torture - women have spoken of mass rape and sexual abuse.

In December 2020 research seen by the BBC showed up to half a million people were being forced to pick cotton. There is evidence new factories have been built within the grounds of the re-education camps.

 

Anti-Han and separatist sentiment rose in Xinjiang from the 1990s, flaring into violence on occasion. In 2009 some 200 people died in clashes in Xinjiang, which the Chinese blamed on Uighurs who want their own state. But in recent years a massive security crackdown has crushed dissent.

Xinjiang is now covered by a pervasive network of surveillance, including police, checkpoints, and cameras that scan everything from number plates to individual faces. According to Human Rights Watch, police are also using a mobile app to monitor peoples' behaviour, such as how much electricity they are using and how often they use their front door.

Since 2017 when President Xi Jinping issued an order saying all religions in China should be Chinese in orientation, there have been further crackdowns. Campaigners say China is trying to eradicate Uighur culture.

 China says the allegations are  are completely untrue.It says the crackdown is necessary to prevent terrorism and root out Islamist extremism and the camps are an effective tool for re-educating inmates in its fight against terrorism. It insists that Uighur militants are waging a violent campaign for an independent state by plotting bombings, sabotage and civic unrest, but it is accused of exaggerating the threat in order to justify repression of the Uighurs.

China has dismissed claims it is trying to reduce the Uighur population through mass sterilisations as "baseless", and says allegations of forced labour are "completely fabricated

Muslim in China

  Islam was once highly regarded by Chinese emperors. From written records and imperial edicts engraved on steles (standing stone slabs monuments) it is clear that these Islamic communities enjoyed the favor of the emperors—especially during the Tang (618-907 AD), Yuan (1271-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1912) dynasties. Islam was looked on favorably by the imperial court because of its ethics, which—as far as the emperors were concerned—promoted harmonious and peaceful relations between the diverse peoples in the imperial territories.

Today, Suzhou is a vibrant, wealthy city of 12 million people only 20 minutes by high speed train from Shanghai. What remains of “Islamic Suzhou” lies just outside the city wall to the north-west. There is only one active mosque: Taipingfang, in the northern commercial and entertainment district of Shilu.

Taipingfang was restored in 2018 and is where local and visiting Muslims go to pray. It’s in a busy part of the neighborhood, squeezed in a tiny alley, surrounded by small restaurants and hotels, canteens, food stalls, and butchers catering to Uighur and Hui Muslims. The butchers of Taipingfang—like those in Beijing’s Niujie area where the majority of the city’s Muslim minority lives—are popularly thought to sell the best meat.

Before 1949, Suzhou had at least 10 mosques of various sizes and social importance. Many of them were vast buildings with precious furniture and sophisticated decorations, while others were smaller intimate prayer rooms. One of them was a women’s mosque presided over by a female imam.

The women’s mosque, Baolinqian, was one of a cluster of four mosques was built during the Qing Dynasty, all connected to the wealthy Yang family inside the city walls in the north-western part of the city. Built in 1923, it was established by initiative of three married women from the Yang family who donated the building and raised funding from other Muslim families to turn it into a women’s mosque. During the Cultural Revolution (1966 to 1976), the mosque’s library, containing holy scriptures, was damaged and the building was turned into private houses. Nothing remains today to show it was a mosque.

Another Yang family mosque, Tiejunong, was built over three years during the reign of the Qing emperor Guagxu, from 1879 to 1881. It was the biggest in Suzhou with an area of more than 3,000 square meters, featuring seven courtyards. The main hall for Friday prayers had 10 rooms and could hold more than 300 people. The courtyard included a minaret and a pavilion in which was housed an imperial stele.

Now a middle school, Tiejunong is recognizable from the external architecture and an ancient wooden engraved side door. Beyond a monumental entrance, there is still the idea of the main courtyard surrounded by trees. Now there is a huge football field, and the trees on the sides of the walkway are still visible from their chopped trunks. The ablution area covered by blue tiles clearly shows the past presence of a mosque.

Tiankuqian Mosque was built in 1906 and is now inhabited by poor city residents—most likely as a result of the practice during the Cultural Revolution of reallocating large, aristocratic or religious buildings as living accommodation for indigent families. The mosque used to cover an area of almost 2,000 square meters, with a main hall, a guest hall, and ablution room.

The structure of the main hall was like a large lecture place, containing—as the local historical records report—a ginkgo wood horizontal plaque written in calligraphy by master Yu Yue. Because many Muslim jade workers had businesses in the same district, donations made the mosque the most prosperous in the whole of China. And, in the 1920s, a school teaching Islamic and Confucian texts was opened there.

Many of the mosques had affiliated schools teaching the Arabic language and Islamic writings to the children of the Muslim communities. Suzhou is one of the first cultural centers where Islamic scriptures were published in the Chinese language. Translations from Persian into Chinese were made by the 16th-century Suzhou scholars, Zhang Zhong and Zhou Shiqi, making the city an early hub of Islamic intellectual culture.

But it was an Islamic hub hybridized in its Chinese context, a process described in Jonathan Lipman’s book, Familiar Strangers: A History of Muslims in Northwest China. Islamic texts were taught alongside Confucian ones, giving birth to an eclectic corpus of Islamic writings.

The oldest Suzhou mosque, Xiguan, takes its name from the adjacent Xiguan bridge in the center of the old city. It was built in the 13th century during the Yuan dynasty, probably financed by the prominent Muslim Sayyid family, and its influential Yunnan’s provincial governor, Sayyid Ajall Shams al-Din Omar al-Bukhari (1211-1279).

The mosque was later incorporated into a government building during the Ming dynasty, so only written accounts remain of its existence in local Chinese records. This suggests—and it is already a well-known historical assessment—that the Yuan dynasty favored Muslims from Central Asia in its administration and government service. This significant population group was much later, in the 1950s, classified within China as the Hui minority and constitute about half of China’s Muslims today.

Traces of the past

The Cultural Revolution effectively banned Islam in China, as religions of any kind were considered tools to oppress and silence the peoples’ needs. As a result, little remains of these religious buildings today. But the traces that do still exist—a door, a stone, the structure of the façade, or simply a known address, written in an archive—are symbolic representations of a past life. These are clues to the diverse social context and spiritual geography that these places inspired and were part of.

As the American sinologist, Frederick Mote—a professor of history at Princeton University—argued, Suzhou’s past is embodied in words, not stones, and the fragments of Suzhou Islamic communities can be pieced together with the help of historical written records. These records of a diverse past are equally important to the future in a country where religions—every religion—are strictly controlled by the state due to what the authorities consider as their potential destabilizing political powers.

The recent reports of efforts of ideological re-education performed by local authorities towards the Uighur population in north-western China make the situation even more complex and worth further observation and research.

 

Chinese plans for the future

 

More than 5,000 members of China’s political elite have converged on Beijing this week for the biggest event on the political calendar. Known as the "two sessions", or lianghui , the annual gatherings of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the National People’s Congress (NPC) are a window on the central government’s priorities and plans for the coming year. On Friday morning, Premier Li Keqiang read out to NPC delegates the government’s Work Report, which reviews the government’s accomplishments over the last year and gives general guidance on the government’s social and economic policy direction this year.  The NPC session began under tight security and strong Covid controls.  Some key takeaways from the report:

Beijing sets a GDP growth target of “above 6 per cent” for this year.   The GDP target is generally in line with the expectations of those analysts who predicted there would be a growth target for this year. China’s economy is widely expected by analysts to grow by more than 8 per cent this year, helped by the low comparison base from last year’s weak growth.     Setting the target below expected annual growth is meant to emphasize the sustainable level of growth on a quarterly basis over the course of the year, government officials said. And, as expected, Beijing cut back its fiscal support for the economy as it starts to taper off economic stimulus and re-emphasises debt reduction The central government’s budget deficit-to-GDP target to 3.2 per cent, down from the target of 3.6 per cent last year     It also cut back the local government special purpose bond issuance quota to 3.65 trillion yuan (US$564 billion) from 3.75 trillion yuan last year.      Beijing will not issue additional “Covid-19” bonds this year after selling 1 trillion yuan last year to fund coronavirus relief     No numerical target set for money supply growth this year. M2 growth to be in line with nominal GDP growth.  Other economic targets were set in an "appropriate range" Create 11 million new jobs this year, up from target of 9 million last year and actual growth of 11.86 million.     Surveyed unemployment rate of 5.5 per cent this year, down from target of 6 per cent and actual 5.6 per cent     Consumer inflation target of “about 3 per cent this year, down from 3.5 per cent target last year and actual growth of 2.5 per cent

Hong Kong   China to "close loopholes" in Hong Kong electoral system to prevent foreign interference The central government will ensure the “comprehensive and accurate” implementation of the 'one country, two systems' doctrine, with the "Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong" and the city enjoying a "high degree of autonomy," Li said.     "We will resolutely guard against and deter external forces’ interference in the affairs of Hong Kong and Macau. We will support both regions as they grow their economies and improve people's lives, so as to maintain the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and Macau," he said.     Further elaborating on the plan to reform Hong Kong electoral system, NPC vice-chairman Wang Chen said there were loopholes in Hong Kong that allowed foreign forces to interfere with the city's affairs. Some even used their public office to call for such interference.     "The risks in the system need to be removed, and a democratic electoral system with Hong Kong characteristics need to be established," he added.     Candidates for Legco will still need pro-Beijing body’s approval

China will increase lending by big banks to small businesses by more than 30 per cent this year, continue fintech clamp down   China plans to increase the number of "inclusive" loans offered by its biggest banks to micro and small businesses by more than 30 per cent in 2021, Li said.  It will also continue to enact new lending rules and increase its scrutiny of the nation’s financial technology (fintech) industry.     As part of the new five-year plan, banks will be encouraged to increase credit loans and first-time loans and provide "targeted support" for companies and sectors that continue to be affected by the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.     Beijing will also expand its efforts to stop monopolistic behaviour in the tech industry and curtail the "unregulated" expansion of capital, Li said.

China sets comprehensive plan to become advanced manufacturing powerhouse   China sets out comprehensive plan to upgrade its manufacturing capabilities by 2025 in eight priority areas, The plan focuses on rare earth and special materials, robotics, aircraft engines, new energy vehicles and smart cars, high-end medical equipment and innovative medicine such as vaccines, agricultural machinery, major equipment used in shipbuilding, aviation and high-speed rail, and industrial applications of China’s Beidou global navigation satellite system.     The strategy would help offset rising production costs, reduce reliance on foreign technologies and enhance competitiveness against the US.      The advanced manufacturing plan forms an integral part of the country’s 14th five-year plan, which spells out the country’s economic and development goals for 2021 to 2025.      The new plan comes after Beijing played down its previous "Made in China 2025" industrial strategy

The need for continued vigilance on Covid-19; may not open border until 2022   Efforts to contain the Covid-19 pandemic must not be relaxed, Li said, and the nation must work to address the remaining weak points in its control efforts. China may not relax border controls until 2022 as vaccination plan makes slow progress     Preventing imported cases from sparking local outbreaks is ‘the priority among the priorities’, NDRC says in annual report at NPC.     Herd immunity in China will not be achieved until the middle of next year at the earliest, head of Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention says     Measures are still needed to stop the emergence of cluster outbreaks     The government shall provide free vaccinations to all citizens.     Authorities throughout China together spent more than 400 billion yuan (US$62 billion) on containing the coronavirus last year.     China provided 220 billion masks, 2.3 billion pieces of protective gear, and one billion test kids to other nations.

Beijing increases military budget more than expected   Beijing will increase spending on its military more than expected this year The military budget for 2021 will increase by 6.8 per cent to 1.355 trillion yuan. The increase is slightly higher than the 6.6 per cent growth last year and higher than the 6 per cent expected by most analysts given the country’s continued battle against the coronavirus.     Training for the People’s Liberation Army will be boosted to raise their readiness for battle.  and a better coordination to address security risk is needed.     A separate document on the nation’s upcoming five-year plan said measures have to be taken to ensure the building of a strong military by 2027. Those measures include upgrading weapons, focusing more on disruptive technology.

Beijing hopes for "appropriate" fertility level this year, will gradually extend retirement age   China is hoping for an "appropriate" fertility level this year as the country faces up to its growing demographic challenge. But vague reference is seen as the best the government can say  while it awaits the data on new births in the population census due in April.     China will gradually extend China’s retirement ages during the 2021-2025 five year plan, Li said, without providing details.     The government will also ensure 95 per cent of its citizens would have access to a basic pension during the five year period.

Beijing to take steps to rein in housing prices and ensure affordability for first time buyers   China's government will make more land available for developers to increase the housing stock in the world’s largest property market to help reign in rapidly rising housing prices,  It will keep a tight lid on runaway prices to ensure that affordability is within the reach of the nation’s first-home buyers.     It will also increase the supply of subsidised rental homes and shared ownership housing to ensure well-regulated development of the long-term rental housing market     It will also cut taxes and rental fees.     "We will keep the prices of land and housing, as well as market expectations stable," Li said.      "We will address prominent housing issues in large cities [and] make every effort to address the housing difficulties faced by our people, especially new urban residents and young people." The ‘two sessions’: China stakes its claim to leading role in the world John Carter Senior Editor, Political Economy 13 March 2021   Chinese President Xi Jinping abandoned years ago paramount leader Deng Xiaopeng’s advice to “hide your strength and bide your time” and has taken a far more assertive approach to domestic politics and international relations. At last week’s “two sessions” meetings, Xi and the Communist Party leadership unveiled more details of their blueprint to push Chinese development to the next stage. We will all be watching to see how the plan unfolds. All the best, John Carter Senior Editor, Political Economy China laid out a new policy blueprint for coming years. Now it has to implement it.  The annual meeting of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) - the so-called two sessions - are the most important political meeting of the year, when policies for the coming year are refined and locked into place.  This year’s meetings were particularly important because they introduced the new five-year plan for 2021-25 and longer term vision for 2035, and put in place the first policies to meet the goals of those two plans. In addition, Chinese Communist Party officials used the occasion to trumpet the nation’s rise ahead of the party’s 100th anniversary in July this year.  The meetings started with Premier Li Keqiang reading the annual work report, which describes the government’s activities in the past year and its plans for the coming year. Here is our special newsletter on some of the key takeaways from that report.  On the last day of the week-long meetings, Li spent most of his time in his traditional press conference pledging further job creation and improvements in living standards ahead of the Communist Party’s 100th anniversary in July. He said he hoped US and Chinese officials would find some “common ground” in their talks in Alaska next week even if major disagreements remain, though US officials warned Beijing to brace for difficult discussions. Li also said Beijing was willing to talk to Taiwanese officials as long as they accepted there is one China.  On Thursday, the NPC took its most controversial action, passing an election reform plan for Hong Kong that would ensure that “only patriots” could run the city government and establish “democracy with Hong Kong characteristics”. A Beijing official claimed there were patriots among Hong Kong opposition members. Amid criticism of Beijing’s move by the US and European Union, Hong Kong’s top official warned foreign governments not to meddle in China’s internal affairs. Beijing will use “legal combination punches” in overhauling Hong Kong’s legal system and is prepared to accept the pain to “fix” Hong Kong.  Vice-Premier Han Zheng said the reform was not aimed at eliminating opposition voices. The new slate of Beijing-backed Hong Kong leaders are under pressure to tackle the city’s housing crisis, a key cause of last year’s anti-government protests. And a sharp debate has started whether the electoral changes allow any chance for democracy in the future.  On the economic front, the government set a modest growth target of “above 6 per cent” for this year, below expectations for actual growth of over 8 per cent, to give it room to address uncertainties in the economic outlook, trim the economic stimulus that Beijing introduced last year to combat the pandemic and reintroduced its deleveraging campaign to cut debt and financial risks. But it did not set a gross domestic product target for the new five-year plan to give itself flexibility to change course to meet new challenges during the period. The government also said it would pursue reform of the hukou household registration system to allow more migrant workers to become urban residents in an effort to boost growth.  The government’s budget calls for an 8.6 per cent increase in military spending this year,  but the military’s second in command called for yet more spending to meet the challenge from the US. President Xi called on the People’s Liberation Army to be ready to fight at any time given an increasingly uncertain external environment. And the new five-year plan also pledged to improve benefits for military veterans.  Beijing also rolled out policies to achieve Xi’s promise for the nation to be carbon neutral by 2060, including new emphasis on nuclear power and renewable energy sources. However, critics charged the policies outlined at the meetings did not go far enough. And heavy smog in Beijing during the meetings showcased the government’s difficult balancing act between industrial growth and environmental protection.  The government set ambitious goals for developing new technology and promoting advanced manufacturing as part of its overall effort to reduce dependence on foreign sources and so increase national security. Seven key sectors would get more money for research and development. China will need to attract foreign tech talent to meet its goals, but Taiwan is already responding to an attempted brain drain. Use of blockchain technology will also play a major role in the nation’s development over the next five years. But the country’s former industry minister warned that China is still 30 years away from matching the industrial prowess of the US or Germany. While the government promised a level playing field for private and foreign firms, it also boosted support of state firms. China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a wide-ranging press conference during the two sessions, in which he warned the US from crossing the “red lines” on Taiwan and Hong Kong, called charges of genocide in Xinjiang “fake news,” said China and Russia should jointly oppose “colour revolutions,” promised that Beijing would live up to its word on the European Union investment treaty, reached out to Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia in response to US efforts to build new alliances, and reached out to India and Japan ahead of the meeting of the Quad four nations. China’s foreign policy priorities are changing in a post-pandemic world. The two session’s focus on maritime law reflects its concerns about the South China Sea. The NPC also ratified the RCEP trade agreement ahead of schedule.