Xinjiang would be as rich and developed as the eastern province of China. Urumqi would be the Shanghai of western China. With the BRI and the opening up of Central Asia and the growing importance of land transportation made possible by high speed trains, global trade and communication would not be the same again. When trade was solely dependent on sea routes, maritime cities and states enjoyed unprecedented growth for being in the trade routes. Landlocked countries and cities were left out from the main trading activities. Xinjiang and the Central Asian countries were in a way abandoned, left isolated and to survive thriftily on the fringes of the world. They resigned to the fate of being underdeveloped and poor and make do with their barren lands and isolation.
The fate of the Central Asian states would be dramatically changed for the better. Xinjiang would be the western gateway of China and would benefit tremendously from the trades that by passed the region. As many as half of the trade could go pass Xinjiang to and through Central Asia to Europe and vice versa. If the eastern provinces of China can prosper by trade, Xinjiang too would do just as well. The biggest beneficiary of this transformation, a paradigm shift if international trade would be the minorities in Xinjiang, the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. They could become one of the richest Muslim people in the world.
This is China's plan to develop Xinjiang and Central Asia, the next growth centre of the world. But there is a caveat. The Americans would not want this to happen. They need the Muslim minorities in the region to bring down China, to stop China's growth. The fake support of Uyghurs and fabricated discrimination, forced labour and genocide were created to be used as an excuse to incite the Muslims to create unrest in the region. The banned on produce from Xinjiang, the fruit of Muslim minority labour, is a ploy to impoverish the Muslims in Xinjiang to agitate and incite unrest in the province. Stopping purchase of Xinjiang produce would adversely affect the income and standard of living of the Uyghurs and Muslims in the region. In the guise of supporting their fabricated allegations of forced labour and genocide, the Americans are trying to cripple the economy and livelihood of the Uyghurs and Muslims, to keep them poor and unhappy. This devious plot of the Americans cannot be allowed to succeed if the Uyghurs and Muslims hope to prosper in the opening up of Central Asia and the revitalising of trade and economic activities in Xinjiang.
The people of Xinjiang has a very bright future when 50 per cent of China Europe trade passes through the region. They will be in the heart of all the economic activities and would be the main beneficiary. Maritime trade would have to compromise and share half of its volume to land trade through central Asian. The impact on maritime trade would be significant with the opening and development of land trade through Central Asia. The pie may grow but a big portion of the pie would be diverted to land trade. This is the new reality for maritime states. It is time that they realise and make adjustments for a smaller piece of the cake. Tuas may be too big for a smaller pie.
Xinjiang can look forward to becoming the new region of growth if all things go as planned by the Xi govt. The Muslims in Xinjiang has a bright and prosperous future to look forward to, sitting at the western gateway into China, the old silk route.