The Silk Road plan has important domestic ramifications for China\u2019s restive Xinjiang province.<\/p>\n
By Shannon Tiezzi
November 19, 2014<\/p>\n
Last week\u2019s APEC summit in Beijing served as a major coming-out party for President Xi Jinping\u2019s \u201cone belt, one road\u201d plan: the Silk Road Economic Belt and the Maritime Silk Road. Kerry Brown ably explored the historical and diplomatic meaning of the initiative in a piece for China Power<\/a>. However, it\u2019s also worth looking in more detail at the domestic ramifications of the Silk Road plan, and particularly its meaning for China\u2019s troubled western regions.<\/p>\n The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) emerged as a major trouble spot domestically for China following violent riots and terrorist attacks within Xinjiang and as far away as Kunming and Beijing. Faced with this unrest, Beijing implemented a two-pronged strategy. First, the central government unleashed a severe crackdown on terrorist activities, resulting in mass arrests and trials. Second, Beijing doubled down on its previous strategy of promoting economic development<\/a> in the region as a way of addressing ethnic tensions. The central government recognizes that unemployment and poverty among Uyghurs is a major driver of discontent.<\/p>\n In this context, the Silk Road initiative dovetails perfectly with China\u2019s bid to develop its relatively poorer, underdeveloped central and western regions \u2013 including Xinjiang. The Silk Road Economic Belt provides a rationale for the central government to lavish spending on these inland regions. A report from Bloomberg <\/i>says the government plans to set aside $16.3 billion<\/a> for domestic infrastructure spending in support of the Silk Road. All of this money will be spent within China\u2019s borders.<\/p>\n The effects of the Silk Road are already being felt in Xinjiang. Just this week, China opened the first leg<\/a> of a new high-speed railway that will eventually connect Urumqi, Xinjiang\u2019s capital, with Lanzhou, the capital of neighboring Gansu province. And it\u2019s not only Xinjiang\u2019s infrastructure that is garnering government-encouraged investment: Beijing and the provincial government have an ambitious plan<\/a> to boost Xinjiang\u2019s manufacturing, tourism, and even financial services industries, all as a part of Xinjiang\u2019s new role as the gateway between China and Central Asia on the new Silk Road.<\/p>\n The newly-established city of Horgos is a case in point. Previously a small town of 85,000 on the border between China and Kazakhstan, Horgos has been targeted as a future transportation and commercial hub on the Silk Road. Already, trains filled with cargo are leaving from Horgos bound for Kazakhstan, Russia, and even Germany. In addition, Horgos is now home to China\u2019s first-ever trans-border free trade development zone, with the zone encompassing both sides of the China-Kazakhstan border. The deputy director of the Horgos free-trade zone told the Wall Street Journal<\/i><\/a> <\/i>that more than 20 billion RMB ($3.25 billion) has already been invested in the Chinese side of the zone.<\/p>\n The impact on Horgos itself has been immense. Between January and August of 2014, Horgos\u2019 government revenue was almost 80 percent higher<\/a> than during the same period in 2013. That jump is almost entirely due to Horgos\u2019 position as a \u201cland port\u201d for the Silk Road Economic Belt. The government\u2019s hope is that this investment and employment boom will extend to other cities in Xinjiang.<\/p>\n