XINJIANG, China -- Tensions remain high in the Chinese frontier region of Xinjiang as Han Chinese assert their power over the indigenous Uighur population.

Armed police guard the headquarters of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps in Urumqi.

The city of Aksu is located 700km southwest of Urumqi, the capital of China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. It is said to be the most Chinese place in the southern area of Xinjiang.

Yellow sand blowing in the winds from the Taklamakan Desert is often one of the first things passengers notice when arriving at the local airport. Driving away from the airfield, farming villages consisting of simple, single-story clay-brick homes start to appear. The atmosphere here feels more Islamic than Chinese.

"Don't you agree Toyota is the best automobile brand?," a man in his 30s said, as he pointed at my car. People here apparently do not pronounce the automaker's name in a Chinese way. Approaching the center of the city, signboards with Chinese characters began to appear. Some of the signs on large commercial buildings advertized foreign brands, such as Apple and Samsung Electronics.

Aksu is home to some 500,000 people. Following a large-scale migration of Han Chinese, the city is now 50% Han, with the rest made up of various minorities.

Military administration

Hanization has also been carried out in southern Xinjiang, where the Uighur people are still the majority. The policy of promoting Chinese influence in the region has been spearheaded by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. It is a paramilitary organization under the control of the Chinese Communist Party.

Walking around Aksu, you can see many signboards bearing the same Chinese characters, the name of the "First Agricultural Division." Hospitals, schools, banks and many other institutions in the city display the name of this XPCC division.

"We have similar powers to local governments, and we carry out largely identical tasks as local governments, but we certainly are a military organization in terms of structure," said a high-ranking official at the Urumqi XPCC headquarters.

Established in 1954, the XPCC has handled border protection and regional development by sending military units and creating settlements in specific areas. It has its own administration and judicial authority. The XPCC today consists of 14 divisions and 2.6 million personnel spread across southern Xinjiang. In addition to cultivating farmland and building infrastructure, it operates businesses. These commercial projects include 14 listed companies spanning industries, such as chemicals, coal and cement.

The economy-related operations reveal just one side of the XPCC. As a military organization, it also commands 120,000 full-time soldiers, whose job it is to maintain law and order in the region.

"We played the leading role during the 7-5 incident," a high-ranking official said proudly.

The large-scale rioting by the Uighur people that took place in Urumqi on July 5, 2009 was quickly suppressed, but according to official records, 197 people lost their lives in the process. The XPCC led the crackdown, which is seen by the Uighurs as a massacre.

The cost of growth

There is no denying the XPCC has made a great economic contribution to the region. An economic development zone built by the XPCC has created well-paid jobs for locals. Several dozen Uighurs work at a factory set up in the zone by Hangzhou Wahaha Group, a major beverage company based in Zhejiang Province.

"I earn about 3,800 yuan ($609) a month," said one of the workers.

"The work is hard, but we have been treated all right," added the man in his 20s.

Considering that the average monthly wage for factory workers in other places is between 2,000 yuan and 3,000 yuan, Aksu does offer better economic opportunities. This is because new jobs continue to be created by large employers opening shop here. For instance, major Taiwanese food makers Ting Hsin International Group and Uni-President Enterprises have set up factories nearby.

But some Uighur people are unhappy about subjugation by the Han Chinese. A Uighur man in his 30s said his six-year-old son has to learn Uighur and Chinese at school.

"You cannot get a good job unless you speak Chinese," he said.

Chinese culture and education are imposed upon the Uighurs through the dominant power of the Han Chinese. An example of this is that 80% of the personnel in the XPCC are Han Chinese.

In a farm village near the airport near Aksu, I met two Uighur locals -- a mother who does not speak Chinese and her daughter who received a Chinese education. Both of them said they did not like the city and that they missed old days. Their sun weathered faces seemed to indicate that life remains tough for many people in this frontier region.