Borderland Infrastructures

Front matter

ASIAN BORDERLANDS

Alessandro Rippa

Trade, Development, and Control in Western China

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 9

Part1 Proximity

1 Connections 37 Interlude — proximity 67 2 Bridgehead 73 Coda 105

Index

Urumqi

.

Xinjiang Uyghur ai Si Autonomous

Region ~ tN?

ss ¢ Yunnan ~ ‘ho i K . g TAIWAN mi eRe

1. KYRGYZSTAN 4. LAOS 2 TAJIKISTAN 5. VIETNAM 3. BHUTAN 6 NORTH KOREA |

Figure 1: The People’s Republic of China (map by Michael Athanson)

KYRGYZSTAN

Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous f Region onthe \ > TAJIKISTAN .

M ' ATW PER ?

— SAL N) See! TR Á ery > 3 P ` ~ bars wy ed d ?

A i SVE r ASS ra ` N a>, PN

Figure 2: The Xinjiang-Pakistan borderlands (map by Michael Athanson)

Tibet Autonomous Gi ; Region Taty Sichuan E ie ae i Pas ? LIZ AS p ; Pe vy A £ X RS, A i + fae Mi SA

INDIA

—_ Ledo va:

Yunnan

Dali

Figure 3: The Yunnan-Burma borderlands (map by Michael Athanson)

F

Acknowledgements

As I see the fruit of over a decade of research take concrete shape in this manuscript, there is nothing I would like to do more than to thank all of those who have helped me throughout this time. While it is only my name that appears as the author of this book, not a single page of it would have been written without the support of colleagues, friends, mentors, and family.

As I write these words in the autumn of 2019, however, I realise that I cannot thank those who deserve my gratitude the most. I cannot name my friends, interviewees, and acquaintances from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, without whom my research in the region would have been pointless. I owe my academic career and, indeed, the life I currently live, to their generosity. Yet, I cannot name any of them for fear of possible repercussions that they and their families might encounter in the current political climate in the People’s Republic of China.

Therefore, I have decided not to mention any names, but rather to let this book be a tribute to the un-acknowledgeable. To those who have been disappeared. To those who live in fear for themselves and their loved ones.

May the future give you back some of the happiness that you deserve.