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Abstract

China has witnessed the emergence of a new political culture and social control mechanisms since Xi Jinping has taken charge of the party-state. The political leadership has not only redefined China's 'core interests' and brought every aspect of statecraft within the rubric of national security, but, in the process, also increased the intrusive role of the state and further restricted social aspirations and any possibility of dissent within communities. The introduction of advanced surveillance technologies and social monitoring techniques as well as the innovations brought about in their wake have occasioned certain quintessential changes in the securitization framework across the country. Given the history of Uyghur separatism and the intermittent outbursts of violence in the XAR, that Region has, of late, become a site of experimentation in a range of novel methods of coercion, officially claimed to be part of the de-extremization process there. In the larger context of China's global outreach and Xinjiang's immense and increasing geo-strategic and geo-economic importance, the stability and growth of the region is thus directly linked with how the regime manages to shape the voices of the ethnic communities within the region as well as, more broadly to contain the deeply rooted majoritarian prejudices against ethnic minorities in general and against Islam in particular. The panelists will reflect on and discuss a recently published ICS Monograph titled Countering Security Challenges in Xinjiang – Rise of the Surveillance State? The study explores the situation in Xinjiang against the broader canvas of China's political environment under President Xi Jinping.

About the Speakers

Dr. Debasish Chaudhuri has been working in the field of Chinese Studies for over two decades. His major works include Countering Security Challenges in Xinjiang – Rise of the Surveillance State? (2021) and Xinjiang and the Chinese State – Violence in the Reform Era (2018). Chaudhuri also authored 'Xinjiang Studies and its Relevance in India' (2020), 'Land, People and Faith: Wang Meng's Narrative of Uyghur Life in Zhe bian fengjing' (2019), 'White Paper: A Response to International Efforts of 'giving bad name' (wuminghua) to the Vocational Education and Training Works in Xinjiang' (2019), 'China's Policy in Xinjiang, 1948-78' (2016), 'Minority Economy in Xinjiang – A Source of Uyghur Resentment' (2010) and 'A Survey of the Economic Situation in Xinjiang and its Role in the Twenty-First Century' (2005). Chaudhuri is presently teaching in the Department of Foreign Languages, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab.

Atul Aneja is the Editor of India Narrative.com. Former Strategic Affairs Editor of The Hindu newspaper (Jan - July 2020). Atul was previously Associate Editor (China), posted in Beijing between Aug-2014 - Jan 2020. Earlier he was the West Asia correspondent for The Hindu, based in Bahrain and Dubai from August 2002-June 2014. Specialising in conflict zones, he had earlier reported on the Lebanon war of July/August 2006 between Lebanese Hezbollah and Israel from Beirut, Sidon and Damascus. He also covered the Kargil war (1999) from Kashmir, the situation in Afghanistan as it appeared from Dushanbe and Kabul soon after the 9/11 attacks. He has traveled extensively in all the Central Asian Republics on journalistic assignments, has an M. Phil degree in International Relations from the School of West Asian and African Studies of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Prior to joining The Hindu as a defence and diplomatic correspondent in April 1991, Atul worked briefly at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi.

About the Chair

Vijay Nambiar, born in Pune (1943), studied at St Xavier's College Mumbai. He was awarded the Chancellor's gold medal for his Masters in 1965. Joining India's Foreign Service in 1967 he was Ambassador/High Commissioner in Algiers (1985-88), Afghanistan (1990-92), Malaysia (1993-96), China (1996-2000) and Pakistan (2000-01) He was also Permanent Representative at India's UN Mission in New York (2002-2004). After retirement in 2004, he served as Deputy National Security Adviser until 2006 when he was seconded to the UN as Special Adviser to UNSG Kofi Annan. He served at the UN from 2006 to 2016 as Special Adviser to the Secretary-General, as Chef de Cabinet to UNSG Ban Ki Moon and later as his Adviser on Myanmar. He returned to India in 2017 and is now settled in Greater Noida.