Chinese National Identity And Minority Populations: The Case Of The Uighurs

Chinese national identity can be understood in three periods: socialist China (1949-1975), post socialist China (1975-2010), and China post-Deng (2010-2019). Policies towards Uighurs in the Xinjiang region can be compared over these three periods, demonstrating the continuities and discontinuities in Chinese national identity over time. These periods frame the response of the Uighurs to Chinese policy. Mao, Zedong Deng Xiaoping, and Xi Jinping are key elite figures in shaping Chinese national identity. The various Constitutions of China and white papers are used to understand how the elite in China view Chinese national identity. Chinese policies towards Uighurs have shifted in accordance to Chinese national identity and Chinese national identity has changed since 1949 to the present.