Eiji Ohashi

Where is the identity as Uygur heading to? This question always comes up to my mind when I visit Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region where everything is rapidly changing since my first visit.

In elementary schools, Uygur children are now studying in Chinese, not in their own language anymore. They all sing Chinese songs and use Chinese textbooks.

This area was once known as a frontier but now there are many streets lined with buildings. Old town becomes a tourist spot. To think about this situation, we have to be aware of one thing; what is occurring here is not globalization, but rather it’s an assimilationism