Rethinking B eijing's Geostrategic Sensibilities to T ibet and X injiang: Images and Interests

The aim of this essay is to examine the ways in which B eijing perceives the issues of T ibet and X injiang differently in the context of its geostrategic thinking in international politics today. In doing so, this essay will provide a deeper understanding of B eijing's different geostrategic sensibilities of T ibet and X injiang in regard to rising C hina's national security interests in C entral and S outh A sia. This essay argues that, although B eijing publicly sees the T ibet and X injiang problems as issues of securing C hinese sovereignty, geostrategically B eijing alludes to a subtle difference in its perception of the two regions: (i) the T ibet problem is a practical, domestic issue to be handled by B eijing's paternalistic engagement of modernization, and is a symbolic issue regarding how to manage rising C hina's benign image abroad while harshly oppressing any separatist voices in T ibet; and (ii) in B eijing's geostrategic thinking, X injiang's security importance seems to be defined in terms of energy security for C hina's economic growth, which is integral to social stability and the C hinese C ommunist P arty's legitimacy, as well as the transnational I slamic terrorist movement interlinked with U yghur separatism in X injiang.