China should NOT grant independence to the Xinjiang province.

"Xinjiang, conventional Sinkiang, in full Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang, officially Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu, Chinese (Pinyin) Xinjiang Weiwu’er Zizhiqu or (Wade-Giles romanization) Hsin-chiang Wei-wu-erh Tzu-chih-ch’ü, Uygur also spelled Uighur or Uyghur, autonomous region of China, occupying the northwestern corner of the country. It is bordered by the Chinese provinces ofQinghai and Gansu to the east, the Tibet Autonomous Region to the south,Afghanistan and the disputed territory of Kashmir to the southwest,Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the west, Kazakhstan to the northwest, Russia to the north, and Mongolia to the northeast. It is China’s largest political unit. Its capital is at Ürümqi (Wulumuqi).

Known to the Chinese as Xiyu (“Western Regions”) for centuries, the area became Xinjiang (“New Borders”) upon its annexation under the Qing (Manchu) dynasty in the 18th century. Westerners long called it ChineseTurkistan to distinguish it from Russian Turkistan. Xinjiang is an area of lonely, rugged mountains and vast desert basins. Its indigenous population of agriculturalists and pastoralists (principally Uighurs) inhabit oases strung out along the mountain foothills or wander the arid plains in search of pasturage. Since the establishment of firm Chinese control in 1949, serious efforts have been made to integrate the regional economy into that of the country, and these efforts have been accompanied by a great increase in the Han (Chinese) population there. The policy of the Chinese government is to allow the ethnic groups to develop and maintain their own cultural identities. However, the extent to which that policy has been successful in Xinjiang has been interpreted variously; ethnic tensions exist, especially between Uighurs and Han. 

Area 635,900 square miles (1,646,900 square km). Pop. (2010) 21,813,334." 

- Britannica.com

To be very clear here, there is no debate over whether this region belongs to China- it does, and has done for a long time. If independence is to be granted to Xinjiang, it will need to come from China. The real issue here is that the Ethnic Uighers, who currently make up roughly 45% of the population of the region, compared to the Han Chinese's 41% [ this PDF detailing the ethnic make up of the region] feel that they should be granted independence from China. 

Our side argues that China should not grant this independence on the following grounds:

1. Economic Loss.

2. Resource Loss.

3. Sets a precedent.

4. Geo-Political instability. 

1. Economic Loss: 

Aside from the obvious economic loss that would come from China having to replace the resources it already gains from this region, (see the next section) it needs to be noted that China has invested heavily into this area developing urban areas and encouraging internal migration into the area. In 2013, China AgBank pledged to increase its investment in the area to the tune of loans extending to over 16 billion dollars. And most recently, the government has built a 23 billion dollar high speed train bringing Xinjiang that much closer to Beijing. 

2. Resource Loss: 

The Xinjiang region of China is resource rich. With almost 1.4 billion people, China has some serious resource drains and with a chunk of land approximately the same size as Iran, Xinjiang is far valuable to lose. The following list can be checked from a number of sources including this one. 

• Grassland. Just over 40% of the total land area is suitable for agricultural development. This provides valuable meat, crops and timber for the rest of China. 
• Water. Over 110 billion cubic metres of water, (Surface and Ground) not to mention an estimate 2,580 billion cubic metres of water locked away in Glaciers. 
• Coal and Petroleum. Coal reserves estimated at 38% of the national total. Petroleum and Natural Gas reserves estimated at more than 25%of the national total. 
• Mineral reserves. Significant reserves of Iron, Beryllium, Muscovite and Jade. 

• China is bordered by more foreign nations than most and 8 of its 14 neighbours border the Xinjiang province. Many of these areas are hot beds of political and religious instability, for example, Afghanistan and Pakistan. As a communist country, Religious terrorism is something that China needs to constantly be on guard against. Xinjiang provides a buffer zone between these countries and China's valuable East. In fact the name literally means, "new border". 
  

• In recent times, China has invested heavily into building trade relations with Central Asia. In 2006 it began receiving oil from Kazakhstan and Russia through a massive overland pipeline which runs right through Xinjiang. In 2009, the same thing with Natural Gas. More pipelines are planned for the future.