China is a united country with 56 ethnic groups. As the majority (around 92 percent) is of the Han people, the others are customarily referred to as ethnic minorities. This makes China a nation with colorful culture and diversified living habits, which also makes Chinese feel proud to have 56 members living together in harmony under the same roof of one big family. In fact, it is a basic state policy to help ethnic minorities with economic and cultural development.

Chinese Constitution in particular emphasizes the important of ethnic equality and common prosperity, which stipulates as `` The state protects the lawful rights and interests of the ethnic minorities and upholds and develops a relationship of equality, unity and mutual assistance among all of China's ethnic groups. Discrimination against and oppression of any ethnic group are prohibited.''

Guided by these principles, Chinese government has formulated an ethnic policy called Regional Ethnic Autonomy. With a view that ethnic groups being migrated and mingled through long time of development, the Government has set up five ethnic autonomous regions, namely as Tibet, Xinjiang, Guangxi, Inner Mongolia and Ningxia, as well as 30 ethnic autonomous prefectures and 120 ethnic autonomous counties.

The central government always takes into consideration the characteristics and needs of these areas when formulating national plans, and adopts many preferential policies and additional assistance. Meanwhile it full respects the ethnic minorities' freedom to develop and use their languages and scripts, to preserve and reform their customs and religious beliefs. The autonomous regions on the other hand, also have much freedom and rights in implementing own policies. These mainly include: to manage own economic affairs under the guidance of national plan; independently manage education, science, culture, public health and sports, etc; organize law enforcement to maintain social order upon approval by the State Council; and have ethnic group be the heads of autonomous region, prefecture, or county.

The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (also called Xinjiang for short), being one of the five autonomous regions, is situated in the northwest, and covers an area of one sixth of China. It has a population of 21 million, among whom 60 percent are ethnic minorities, mainly the Uygur(45.7%), and about 39.7% are the Han people. Since the Han Dynasty 60 B.C, the Chinese central governments of all historical periods exercised administrative jurisdiction over the region.

By the time in 1950s when the region was initially established, the economy of Xinjiang was in an old pattern with farming and livestock breeding as the mainstay. Industry was underdeveloped, and with no railways or big factories or mines. People were mostly impoverished and poor-educated. Since then, people of different ethic groups but with one common aim for development, all began to take actions in line with the support of the central government.

In the past half century, Xinjiang's economy and social undertakings have advanced by leaps and bounds, while recent years have witnessed especially speedy development in this vast and promising land. In 2008, its GDP exceeded 400 billion yuan (58.9 billion U.S. dollars), with per-capita GDP about 19000 yuan, which is over 100 times compared with the year 1952. The investment in infrastructure during the period from 2000 to 2008 amounts to 1trillion yuan, twice as much as the total in past 50 years, and the trade volume in 2007 climbed to 13.7 billion U.S. dollars. The overall production capacity of agriculture has enhanced notably,and industrial structure constantly adjusted and optimized. The quality of life of local residents has been noticeably improved and the compulsory education fully practiced. Its capital city Urumqi is even entitled as "Los Angeles of China" by some scholars.

This enormous development is also widely acknowledged by some central Asian countries that have similar geographical structure and natural resources. They conclude that stability in the region contributes to one of the main reasons for the miracle. However, for those "East Turkestan" forces which intended to separate Xinjiang out of China, a stable environment for development is not what they want.

In the early 20th century and later, a small number of separatists and religious extremists in Xinjiang, began to use the term "East Turkistan"to clamor for an independent state through "opposition to all ethnic groups other than Turks" and for the "annihilation of pagans" . Soon they turned violent, and one of its main branches "The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM)" was later defined as terrorist group by the UN in 2002. However, they never resigned themselves to defeat, and continued to carry out sabotage activities home and abroad. Therefore, to fight against "East Turkestan" has become an extra assignment for both the Central and regional government, which further emphasizes the preciousness of peace and stability in this region.