B.RAMAN
There have been no fresh reports of violence from Urumqi, but tension persists. This tension is partly due to the anger of the Uighurs over what they describe as the indiscriminate use of force by the local authorities against Uighur protesters on July 5 and 6,2009, and the anger of the Han Chinese over what they project as the brutalities allegedly committed by the Uighur Muslims against the Han Chinese and over the failure of the security forces to protect them.
2.As a result of the disturbances for four days from July 5, the confidence of both the Uighurs and the Han Chinese in the local security forces has been shaken---each for different reasons. Army units, which were rushed to Xinjiang on the orders of President Hu Jintao, in his capacity as the Chairman of the Central Military Commission, after his premature return from Rome without attending the G-8 summit, may have to stay in the province for a long time. The aggravated polarization in the relations between the Uighurs and the Han Chinese has complicated the situation for the Chinese authorities.
3. The situation in Urumqi and the rest of the Xinjiang province is not being handled by Prime Minister Wen Jiabo, but by Meng Jianzhu, State
Councillor, who is the Minister for Public Security and in that capacity is the chief of China's internal intelligence and homeland security set-up, and by Zhou Yongkang, who is a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and in that capacity supervises the internal security apparatus. These are the only two leaders, who have been touring the affected areas and reassuring the Han Chinese that the Government will act firmly to prevent any more violent incidents.
4. Zhou Yongkang, who visited Kashgar and Hotan in Southern Xinjiang on July 11 and met the local officials and Han Chinese community leaders, called for a "steel wall" of security to "win the tough war of maintaining Xinjiang's stability."
5. The Chinese are not clear in their mind as to who were responsible for what happened. They continue to blame the Munich-based World Uighur Congress (WUC) for the outbreak of violence. While the protest demonstrations on the evening of July 5 were definitely held by secular Uighurs sympathetic to the WUC, nobody knows who caused the subsequent brutalities against the Han Chinese---men and women. Reliable reports say that even pregnant Han Chinese women were not spared by the rioting Uighurs.
6. The Uighurs constitute only 15 per cent of the population in Urumqi. The Han Chinese constitute about 75 per cent. It is, therefore, difficult to understand how elements from such a small minority managed to kill so many members of the majority community in a brutal fashion. This indicates the possibility of the infiltration of pro-Al Qaeda and pro-Taliban elements sympathetic to the Islamic Movement of East Turkestan (IMET), who are strong in the interior areas, into Urumqi to take advantage of the protests organised by the sympathisers of
the WUC to create a mayhem. The Uighurs constitute the largest ethnic group in the interior.
7. The Chinese authorities continue to allow foreign journalists to cover the situation in Urumqi. While they have allowed tourist groups, which were already in Xinjiang at the time of the outbreak of the violence to continue their tours without asking them to leave, they are discouraging group tour companies from taking new groups to Xinjiang on the ground that many tourist buses were destroyed by the Uighurs during the riots and that the local authorities may not be able to provide effective security to the tourists.
8.Last Friday, while some mosques in Urumqi remained closed, some others held their Friday prayers, which were largely attended by the local Muslims. Some foreign journalists in Urumqi reported that the Chinese authorities had banned the prayers and that some mosques had held the prayers in defiance of the Government ban. This has been strongly denied by the local authorities. According to them, there was no such ban. They contended that while some clerics held the prayers as usual, some others decided on their own to cancel the prayers due to the continuing tension. They maintained that the Government had no role in this decision.
9. The Chinese authorities have, in the meanwhile, revised upwards the number of fatalities. Initially, they had given the figure as 156. On July 11, they revised it as 184---- of whom 137 were Han Chinese. They have cautioned that the number of fatalities might go up since many of the injured undergoing treatment in hospitals are in a critical condition.
10. It is still not clear why Hu had to cancel his participation in the G-8 summit despite the danger of its being perceived by the outside world as indicating that China was losing control in Xinjiang. It would also be projected by his domestic critics as “loss of face for China”. In a commentary by the Asia Times Online’s China Editor, it has said that this was because that only Hu, in his capacity as the Chairman of the Central Military Commission, could have authorised the movement of the Army to Xinjiang to take over the responsibility for law and order. Since neither Wen Jiabo nor any of the other political leaders from the Standing Committee of the Politbureau is a member of the Commission they could not have taken this decision in the absence of Hu. While this explanation sounds plausible, this may not be the complete explanation. There are undercurrents of tension in the leadership over the fact that for the first time China had to suffer a “loss of face”. Maintaining face is very important for the Chinese.
11. The Urumqi uprising has created tension in China’s relations with Turkey, which has characterized the situation in Xinjiang as genocidal and has called for a debate in the UN Security Council. This has been opposed by China. The Central Asian Republics and the Secretariat of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation have described the situation as an internal matter of China. Western reactions have been restrained and there has been an attempt not to embarrass China by exploiting the situation. While there was considerable sympathy for the Tibetans last year and many expressions of solidarity with them, similar sympathy and expressions are not to be seen in the case of the Uighur uprising. The world does not want another Islamic trouble spot in addition to Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Chinese are banking on this and encouraging the foreign journalists to go to Urumqi in the hope that they would see for themselves the dangers of a new Islamic trouble spot.(13-7-09)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
Sunday, July 12, 2009
MUMBAI 26/11: A DAY OF INFAMY
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Thursday, July 9, 2009
RELATIVE NORMALCY IN URUMQI : UIGHURS' PSYWAR BOOMERANGS
B.RAMAN
In a report carried on July 10,2009, the "China Daily" has projected the situation in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang province of China, as a "relative state of normalcy" after two days of violent rioting by the Uighurs followed by two days of communal tension due to retaliatory attacks by sections of the Han Chinese.
2. No major incident of violence or protest was reported on July 9,2009. Most shops have re-opened, the Government servants have reported back to work and the public transport system which was very badly damaged during the initial rioting by the Uighurs is functioning again.
3. However, there have been complaints from Uighurs that shops owned by Han Chinese are not selling them provisions and that Han drivers of buses and taxis are not prepared to take them. The public transport system in Urumqi is dominated by the Han Chinese. Practically all taxi-drivers are Han Chinese. While there are no more reports of protests by the Han Chinese, reports indicate a kind of undeclared social boycott of the Uighurs being observed by many Han Chinese residents of the city. While administrative normalcy might have been restored, it might take a long time to restore social normalcy.
4. "Restoration of stability"-----that has been the key theme of a statement issued after a meeting of the nine-member Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party held on the evening of July 8 under the chairmanship of President Hu Jintao. That has also been the theme of discourses by other Chinese leaders and editorials and comments in the Government-controlled media.
5. The policy of transparency continues. Chinese journalists say that the Chinese authorities have allowed about 400 journalists to go to Urumqi. However, they do not specify how many of them are foreign journalists.
6. The Chinese have kept up the focus of their psywar on the World Uighur Congress (WUC), allegedly funded by the National Endowment For Democracy of the US and helped by the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO) of Holland. The Munich-based WUC and its US-based President Ms.Rebiya Kadeer have played into the hands of the Chinese authorities by making exaggerated statements about the fatalities and by unwittingly disseminating or using documents and alleged pictures of the Chinese security forces using force against the Uighurs. In at least two instances, the Chinese authorities have been able to prove them to be fake.
7. For example, during an interview with Al Jazeera on July 7 , Rebiya Kadeer showed a picture of what she claimed was Chinese security forces massed against peaceful protesters in Urumqi. The Chinese have claimed that the picture which she said was taken in Urumqi was actually carried by the "Nanfang Weekly" in its online edition on June 26. According to the Chinese authorities, the picture had been taken by the weekly during a public demonstration at Shishou in the Hubei province.
8. According to the Chinese, the Uighur American Association had also disseminated a photograph purporting to be of a scene of the riots in Urumqi. According to them, it was actually a photograph taken when sections of the public in Hangzhou in the Zhejiang province had protested on May 15,2009, after a traffic accident.
9. The WUC had initially alleged that 600 Uighurs were killed during the use of force by the security forces on July 5 and 6. They subsequently changed the figure of Uighur fatalities to over 800. These figures have not been corroborated so far. Similarly, the WUC's claims of violent incidents in Kashgar have not been corroborated.
10. Till now all Uighur reactions have come from the WUC, its leaders and spokesmen. There have been no reactions from the Islamic Movement of Eastern Turkestan (IMET) headed by Sheikh Abdul Haq, which operates from the Waziristan area of Pakistan and is allied to Osama Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda in the International Islamic Front (IIF).
11.The CBS News of the US had reported on April 15,2009, that the media wing of the IMET called Sawt al Islam had recently disseminated a 43-minute video entitled “Persistence and preparation for Jihad”. To quote the CBS:" It includes a statement by the group’s current leader Sheikh Abul Haq, as well as its late leader Hassan Makhdum, whose alias is Abu Mohammed al Turkistani. Abul Haq said “jihad” was a duty that falls on all Muslims just like any other religious duty. He also pledged more attacks against Chinese forces.”
12. While the Chinese are not yet openly talking of any role of the IMET in the Urumqi riots, they are reported to have reiterated once again to the Pakistani authorities the need to act against its terrorist infrastructure in Pakistani territory. Neither Al Qaeda nor the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban nor any of the Pakistani jihadi oranisations have so far commented on the Urumqi uprising.
13.However,the only comment in Pakistan has come from the Jamaat-e-Islami (JEI),which has many members from the Uighur diaspora in Pakistan. It had in the past protested against the refusal of the Saudi Embassy in Islamabad to issue Haj and Umra visas to Uighurs living in Pakistan. The Saudis were insisting that they should apply for the visas to the Saudi Embassy in Beijing.
14. "The News" carried the following report on July 9: " LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Syed Munawwar Hasan has expressed deep concern over the bloody riots in China’s largest Muslim population province Xinjiang, and urged the Chinese government to show magnanimity towards its Muslim minority. He cited reports saying around 3,000 Chinese Muslims were tortured in the Urumqi city when they were demanding a probe into the clashes between the Muslim Uighurs and the Han Chinese that left hundreds killed. He said though it was China’s internal affair yet it was painful to hear about so many Muslim deaths. He said he would like to assert that violence and inflexible attitude could make things worse. He suggested the Chinese authorities to consider the genuine demands of the Muslims with an open mind and be large-hearted in respect of their religious rights. He said there were reports of the US involvement in the incident. In that case, he said the Chinese authorities should create an atmosphere in which the US did not get an opportunity to interfere."
15. The web site of the NED of the US gives details of the following grants given by it to Uighur organisations during 2008:
International Uyghur Human Rights and Democracy Foundation
$134,805.To advance the human rights of ethnic Uyghur women and children. The Foundation will maintain an English- and Uyghur-language website, publish a report on the human rights situation of Uyghur women and children and conduct a civic-education workshop for Uyghur women.
International Uyghur PEN Club $20,300. To promote freedom of expression for writers creating work in the Uyghur language. The International Uyghur PEN Club will maintain a website publishing banned writings and the works of persecuted poets, historians, journalists, and others, and will conduct international advocacy campaigns on behalf of imprisoned writers.
Uyghur American Association (UAA) $269,000. To raise awareness of Uyghur human rights issues and advance Uyghurs’ religious freedom and human rights. The UAA’s Uyghur Human Rights Project will research, document and bring to international attention, independent and accurate information about human rights violations affecting the Turkic populations of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
World Uyghur Congress $146,000 . To strengthen advocacy on behalf of Uyghur human rights and democracy. The World Uyghur Congress will solicit its members to prepare strategy papers and will organize a major conference bringing together pro-democracy Uyghur leaders to discuss priorities for the Uyghur movement in the areas of advocacy, outreach, and democracy education.
165. After Hu's return from Italy, the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party has tried to project a picture of unity in order to dispel speculation about possible differences over the handling of the situation. This does not mean that differences do not exist. These might come out in the open subsequenly. A report disseminated by the Xinhua news agency on the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Politburo held after Hu's return from Italy is annexed. (10-7-09)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt.of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
ANNEXURE
Xinhua report on the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party chaired by Hu Jintao
------------------------------
Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday night convened a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central
Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) to discuss issues relating to the Xinjiang riot.
The meeting was told that stability in Xinjiang is the "most important and pressing task," according to a statement issued Thursday. The
meeting also vowed "severe punishment" on culprits in accordance with the law.
The government will "firmly crack down on serious crimes including assaults, vandalism, looting and arson" to maintain social stability and
safeguard people's fundamental interests in Xinjiang, according to the statement.
The Standing Committee told relevant authorities to "isolate and crack down on the tiny few" and "unify and educate the majority of
masses".
"Instigators, organizers, culprits and violent criminals in the unrest shall be severely punished in accordance with the law," it said. "Those
taking part in the riot due to provocation and deceit from by separatists, should be given education."
The deadly July 5 unrest in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, has "profound" political background, the
statement said.
It was a serious violent crime which was masterminded and organized by the "three forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism at home
and abroad, it said. The unrest has resulted in great losses to people and done great harm to local order and stability, it said.
The Standing Committee asked local government to visit bereaved families, innocent people injured, and those with property losses, to offer
necessary support and aid.
In a report carried on July 10,2009, the "China Daily" has projected the situation in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang province of China, as a "relative state of normalcy" after two days of violent rioting by the Uighurs followed by two days of communal tension due to retaliatory attacks by sections of the Han Chinese.
2. No major incident of violence or protest was reported on July 9,2009. Most shops have re-opened, the Government servants have reported back to work and the public transport system which was very badly damaged during the initial rioting by the Uighurs is functioning again.
3. However, there have been complaints from Uighurs that shops owned by Han Chinese are not selling them provisions and that Han drivers of buses and taxis are not prepared to take them. The public transport system in Urumqi is dominated by the Han Chinese. Practically all taxi-drivers are Han Chinese. While there are no more reports of protests by the Han Chinese, reports indicate a kind of undeclared social boycott of the Uighurs being observed by many Han Chinese residents of the city. While administrative normalcy might have been restored, it might take a long time to restore social normalcy.
4. "Restoration of stability"-----that has been the key theme of a statement issued after a meeting of the nine-member Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party held on the evening of July 8 under the chairmanship of President Hu Jintao. That has also been the theme of discourses by other Chinese leaders and editorials and comments in the Government-controlled media.
5. The policy of transparency continues. Chinese journalists say that the Chinese authorities have allowed about 400 journalists to go to Urumqi. However, they do not specify how many of them are foreign journalists.
6. The Chinese have kept up the focus of their psywar on the World Uighur Congress (WUC), allegedly funded by the National Endowment For Democracy of the US and helped by the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO) of Holland. The Munich-based WUC and its US-based President Ms.Rebiya Kadeer have played into the hands of the Chinese authorities by making exaggerated statements about the fatalities and by unwittingly disseminating or using documents and alleged pictures of the Chinese security forces using force against the Uighurs. In at least two instances, the Chinese authorities have been able to prove them to be fake.
7. For example, during an interview with Al Jazeera on July 7 , Rebiya Kadeer showed a picture of what she claimed was Chinese security forces massed against peaceful protesters in Urumqi. The Chinese have claimed that the picture which she said was taken in Urumqi was actually carried by the "Nanfang Weekly" in its online edition on June 26. According to the Chinese authorities, the picture had been taken by the weekly during a public demonstration at Shishou in the Hubei province.
8. According to the Chinese, the Uighur American Association had also disseminated a photograph purporting to be of a scene of the riots in Urumqi. According to them, it was actually a photograph taken when sections of the public in Hangzhou in the Zhejiang province had protested on May 15,2009, after a traffic accident.
9. The WUC had initially alleged that 600 Uighurs were killed during the use of force by the security forces on July 5 and 6. They subsequently changed the figure of Uighur fatalities to over 800. These figures have not been corroborated so far. Similarly, the WUC's claims of violent incidents in Kashgar have not been corroborated.
10. Till now all Uighur reactions have come from the WUC, its leaders and spokesmen. There have been no reactions from the Islamic Movement of Eastern Turkestan (IMET) headed by Sheikh Abdul Haq, which operates from the Waziristan area of Pakistan and is allied to Osama Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda in the International Islamic Front (IIF).
11.The CBS News of the US had reported on April 15,2009, that the media wing of the IMET called Sawt al Islam had recently disseminated a 43-minute video entitled “Persistence and preparation for Jihad”. To quote the CBS:" It includes a statement by the group’s current leader Sheikh Abul Haq, as well as its late leader Hassan Makhdum, whose alias is Abu Mohammed al Turkistani. Abul Haq said “jihad” was a duty that falls on all Muslims just like any other religious duty. He also pledged more attacks against Chinese forces.”
12. While the Chinese are not yet openly talking of any role of the IMET in the Urumqi riots, they are reported to have reiterated once again to the Pakistani authorities the need to act against its terrorist infrastructure in Pakistani territory. Neither Al Qaeda nor the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban nor any of the Pakistani jihadi oranisations have so far commented on the Urumqi uprising.
13.However,the only comment in Pakistan has come from the Jamaat-e-Islami (JEI),which has many members from the Uighur diaspora in Pakistan. It had in the past protested against the refusal of the Saudi Embassy in Islamabad to issue Haj and Umra visas to Uighurs living in Pakistan. The Saudis were insisting that they should apply for the visas to the Saudi Embassy in Beijing.
14. "The News" carried the following report on July 9: " LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Syed Munawwar Hasan has expressed deep concern over the bloody riots in China’s largest Muslim population province Xinjiang, and urged the Chinese government to show magnanimity towards its Muslim minority. He cited reports saying around 3,000 Chinese Muslims were tortured in the Urumqi city when they were demanding a probe into the clashes between the Muslim Uighurs and the Han Chinese that left hundreds killed. He said though it was China’s internal affair yet it was painful to hear about so many Muslim deaths. He said he would like to assert that violence and inflexible attitude could make things worse. He suggested the Chinese authorities to consider the genuine demands of the Muslims with an open mind and be large-hearted in respect of their religious rights. He said there were reports of the US involvement in the incident. In that case, he said the Chinese authorities should create an atmosphere in which the US did not get an opportunity to interfere."
15. The web site of the NED of the US gives details of the following grants given by it to Uighur organisations during 2008:
International Uyghur Human Rights and Democracy Foundation
$134,805.To advance the human rights of ethnic Uyghur women and children. The Foundation will maintain an English- and Uyghur-language website, publish a report on the human rights situation of Uyghur women and children and conduct a civic-education workshop for Uyghur women.
International Uyghur PEN Club $20,300. To promote freedom of expression for writers creating work in the Uyghur language. The International Uyghur PEN Club will maintain a website publishing banned writings and the works of persecuted poets, historians, journalists, and others, and will conduct international advocacy campaigns on behalf of imprisoned writers.
Uyghur American Association (UAA) $269,000. To raise awareness of Uyghur human rights issues and advance Uyghurs’ religious freedom and human rights. The UAA’s Uyghur Human Rights Project will research, document and bring to international attention, independent and accurate information about human rights violations affecting the Turkic populations of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
World Uyghur Congress $146,000 . To strengthen advocacy on behalf of Uyghur human rights and democracy. The World Uyghur Congress will solicit its members to prepare strategy papers and will organize a major conference bringing together pro-democracy Uyghur leaders to discuss priorities for the Uyghur movement in the areas of advocacy, outreach, and democracy education.
165. After Hu's return from Italy, the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party has tried to project a picture of unity in order to dispel speculation about possible differences over the handling of the situation. This does not mean that differences do not exist. These might come out in the open subsequenly. A report disseminated by the Xinhua news agency on the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Politburo held after Hu's return from Italy is annexed. (10-7-09)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt.of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
ANNEXURE
Xinhua report on the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party chaired by Hu Jintao
------------------------------
Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday night convened a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central
Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) to discuss issues relating to the Xinjiang riot.
The meeting was told that stability in Xinjiang is the "most important and pressing task," according to a statement issued Thursday. The
meeting also vowed "severe punishment" on culprits in accordance with the law.
The government will "firmly crack down on serious crimes including assaults, vandalism, looting and arson" to maintain social stability and
safeguard people's fundamental interests in Xinjiang, according to the statement.
The Standing Committee told relevant authorities to "isolate and crack down on the tiny few" and "unify and educate the majority of
masses".
"Instigators, organizers, culprits and violent criminals in the unrest shall be severely punished in accordance with the law," it said. "Those
taking part in the riot due to provocation and deceit from by separatists, should be given education."
The deadly July 5 unrest in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, has "profound" political background, the
statement said.
It was a serious violent crime which was masterminded and organized by the "three forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism at home
and abroad, it said. The unrest has resulted in great losses to people and done great harm to local order and stability, it said.
The Standing Committee asked local government to visit bereaved families, innocent people injured, and those with property losses, to offer
necessary support and aid.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
CHINESE INTERNAL SECURITY CHIEF FLIES TO URUMQI: TRANSPARENCY CONTINUES
B.RAMAN
The situation in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Province of China, continues to be tense with sporadic acts of violence of a
minor nature as compared to what happened on the night of July 5,2009, and the next day. The violent incidents reported on July 8 were mainly in the form of small groups of angry Han Chinese trying to attack individual Uighurs.
2.In all instances, the police promptly intervened and persuaded the Han Chinese to disperse and not to take the law into their own hands. The police have mobilised the support of some members of the Han Chinese community, who are in a preponderant majority in Urumqi, to go round the Han Chinese areas and appeal to them not to take the law into their own hands. They have also been promising the Han Chinese that all Uighurs who were involved in the attacks on the Han Chinese will be prosecuted and promptly executed if found guilty of violent crimes.
3. More Army reinforcements have been moved into Urumqi and other areas of the province from Sichuan. They have undertaken a vigorous patrolling of the areas in order to help the police maintain law and order. Helicopter patrols have also been pressed into service. While violence is down, tension and nervousness continue. Many shops remained closed on July 8 and there was a rush at the local airport due to the anxiety of many Han Chinese to leave Xinjiang. All flights going out of Urumqi are packed and Han Chinese, not able to get a seat in the flights, have been staying in hotels near the airport, hoping to get a place in subsequent flights.
4. Meng Jianzhu, State Councillor, who is the Minister for Public Security and in that capacity is the chief of China's internal intelligence and homeland security set-up, has flown into Urumqi from Beijing and has been going round the city along with officials of the local Government and party appealing for calm and assuring the Han Chinese that the laws will be applied firmly against those who indulged in violence. In an unusual move, the People's Daily of China, owned by the Chinese Communist Party, asked its readers in advance to look out for an editorial
on July 9 in which it would call for the strict application of the laws against those found guilty and for strict measures to restore social order.
5. Even after the surprise return of President Hu Jintao from Italy on the morning of July 8 after cancelling his participation in the G-8 summit, the Chinese have continued with their policy of transparency in order to let the world know about the kind of brutalities allegedly committed by the Uighurs on July 5 and 6,2009.This would probably show that the policy of transparency, which was reportedly ordered by Prime Minister Wen Jiabao in the absence of Hu in Italy, had the support of Hu.
6.The way the Chinese have handled the aftermath has been refreshingly different from the way they reacted after the Lhasa uprising of March 2008. After the Lhasa uprising, they ordered all foreign journalists and tourists in Tibet to leave and stopped permitting foreign journalists to visit Tibet for nearly three months. Now, the Chinese Foreign and Information offices in Beijing have been taking the initiative in contacting foreign journalists and requesting them to go to Urumqi to report on the situation. It has been reported that many journalists are already in Urumqi.
7. The only common factor in the way the Chinese handled the aftermath of the Lhasa uprising and are now handling the Urumqi uprising is the virulent demonisation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Youth Congress last year and a similar demonisation of the World Uighur Congress (WUC) and its leaders.
8. The immediate priority for the Chinese, as seen by them, is to address the Han Chinese anger over the alleged failure of the Police to protect them on July 5 and 6,2009. The next priority is to arrest and prosecute all those involved in acts of violence.
9. The ground situation in Xinjiang is qualitatively different from that in Tibet. In Tibet, the Tibetans are in a decisive majority still despite the settlement of a large number of Han Chinese. In Xinjiang, the Uighurs are not in a decisive majority. Muslims constitute about 60 per cent of the Xinjiang population, but not all of them are Uighurs. The Uighutrs constitute only 45 per cent of the Xinjiang population and the Han Chinese 40 per cent. The remaining 15 per cent are Muslims of non-Uighur origin. These non-Uighur Muslims have kept away from the protests.
10.Moreover, during the uprising in Lhasa, the Tibetans did not indulge in the kind of physical brutalities against the Han Chinese similar to the brutalities allegedly inflicted by some Uighurs on the Han Chinese. From the latest reports received from Urumqi, it would appear that the protest movement was initially started by a group of secular Uighurs, owing loyalty to the Munich-based WUC, but subsequently some of the jihadi fundamentalist elements owing loyalty to the Islamic Movement of Eastern Turkestan, allied to Al Qaeda, infiltrated into their ranks and indulged in an orgy of violence against the Han Chinese. However, the Chinese authorities continue to project the Urumqi uprising as the handiwork of ethnic separatist terrorists. They are not talking of jihadi terrorists.
11. There is more than meets the eye in the Urumqi uprising. It took place a little more than a year after the Holland-based Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation, jointly with the WUC and the USA's National Endowment for Democracy (NED), had organised a training course----the second one--- for a group of Uighurs from the diaspora. The reported theme of the training course was "the right of self-determination". Annexed is a press statement issued on this subject at that time by the UNPO. The uprising took place less than two months after the WUC held its third world assembly in Washington DC in May,2009.
12. It is not clear why Hu had to cancel his participation in the G-8 summit and fly back almost in panic to Beijing. Was it because of the Han Chinese anger or was it because of differences in the party leadership over how to handle it? (9-7-09)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
ANNEXURE
TRAINING OF UIGHURS BY NED AND UNPO ( PRESS STATEMEMENT BY UNPO)
21 April 2008
The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) together with the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) and support of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) organized their second leadership training seminar in two years, which opened today the 21st of April 2008. Over 50 members of the Uyghur Diaspora from around the world together with prominent academics, government representatives and
members of the civil society gathered in Berlin Germany to discuss this year’s topic “Self-Determination under International Law”.
Mr. Dolkun Isa, Secretary General of the World Uyghur Congress, opened the occasion, welcoming participants to the training seminar, manyof whom traveled some distance to attend the event, including from Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan, Norway and the United States.
President of the WUC and internationally renowned advocate of the Uyghur cause, Ms. Rebiya Kadeer, warmly greeted the audience with great energy, enthusiasm and determination. Ms. Kadeer spoke on the lack of freedom afflicting Uyghurs since the communist clamp of power in 1949, including a constant constriction of human rights by Chinese authorities. People in East Turkestan cannot imagine the amount of freedom people in the western world enjoy, explained Ms. Kadeer, and individuals in the west cannot imagine the extent of suppression people in East Turkestan are experiencing.
The international community is very familiar with the situation of Tibet, however knowledge of the situation of East Turkestan is quite limited in comparison. Nonetheless, the last two years have seen many efforts to educate the world on the poor human rights situation in East Turkestan. It is therefore essential, reminded Ms. Kadeer, to continue to educate and inform all about the Uyghur situation.
Mr. Marino Busdachin, UNPO General Secretary, further noted that survival of the Uyghur culture and identity are vital issues Uyghurs arefaced with today. Introducing the topic of self-determination, Mr. Busdachin recognized the difficulty and controversy surrounding the subject. It is important to recognize that Chinese authorities are not willing to grant full autonomy or full federal solutions to East Turkestan, he explained, however we should stay positive in the situation and focus on means of raising awareness for the Uyghur cause and on the survival of their culture. Members of the Diaspora should be weary of tendencies towards radicalization and need to stay in constant dialogue with the people in East Turkestan so as not to become estranged by their position.
UNPO and WUC were thrilled to welcome multiple guests of honour on the opening day, including Mr. Günther Nooke, Federal Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid at the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Dirk Pleiter of Amnesty International, Ms. Frances Eqerer, representative of Mr. Margarete Bause from the Green Party of the Bavarian Parliament, and Mr. Feruk Unsal, Member of
Parliament in Turkey.
Mr. Nooke spoke of the importance of pursuing a nonviolent path and avoiding any further escalation within minority groups in China. He called for an analysis into the roots of recent uprisings in China and reminded China that it is in their interest to review their policies towards minority groups. These actions would then necessitate a dialogue between the government and minorities – the exact path which could nonviolently reach a solution.
Furthermore, Mr. Nooke touched upon the situation of the Uyghurs currently incarcerated in Guantanamo Bay, individuals who have been found not guilty of any charges and are ready to be released immediately. The Uyhgurs cannot however return to China, as they will undoubtedly suffer severe persecution. Ironically, Mr. Nooke points out, they are largely safer in prison than they would be in China. He therefore called for civil courage in Europe and the United States to grant these individuals immigration visas. Ms. Seema Saifee, pro bono attorney for several Uyghurs at Guantanamo, confirmed this argument, underlining that they could be released tomorrow as long as a
country will admit them.
Following a lively and well-attended press conference, to which members of various media sources including Deutsche Welle TV, WDR and the Associated Press attended, participants dove right into their training material.
With the aid of moderators Mr. Ulrich Delius of the Society for Threatened Peoples and Senator Marco Perduca, newly elected Member of the Italian Parliament, participants were guided through an introductory series of lectures on the concepts of international law, avenues of self-determination and case studies of such.
Ms. Anna Batalla, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Hans-Joachim Heintze, Institute of International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict, Mr. Michael Gibb, Oxford University, Mr. Pedro Pinto Leite, International Platform for Jurists for East Timor, and Mr. Mohamoud Daar, Somaliland Ambassador to the European Union provided participants with a series of insightful and informative lectures which sparked dynamic discussion from all present.
The situation in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Province of China, continues to be tense with sporadic acts of violence of a
minor nature as compared to what happened on the night of July 5,2009, and the next day. The violent incidents reported on July 8 were mainly in the form of small groups of angry Han Chinese trying to attack individual Uighurs.
2.In all instances, the police promptly intervened and persuaded the Han Chinese to disperse and not to take the law into their own hands. The police have mobilised the support of some members of the Han Chinese community, who are in a preponderant majority in Urumqi, to go round the Han Chinese areas and appeal to them not to take the law into their own hands. They have also been promising the Han Chinese that all Uighurs who were involved in the attacks on the Han Chinese will be prosecuted and promptly executed if found guilty of violent crimes.
3. More Army reinforcements have been moved into Urumqi and other areas of the province from Sichuan. They have undertaken a vigorous patrolling of the areas in order to help the police maintain law and order. Helicopter patrols have also been pressed into service. While violence is down, tension and nervousness continue. Many shops remained closed on July 8 and there was a rush at the local airport due to the anxiety of many Han Chinese to leave Xinjiang. All flights going out of Urumqi are packed and Han Chinese, not able to get a seat in the flights, have been staying in hotels near the airport, hoping to get a place in subsequent flights.
4. Meng Jianzhu, State Councillor, who is the Minister for Public Security and in that capacity is the chief of China's internal intelligence and homeland security set-up, has flown into Urumqi from Beijing and has been going round the city along with officials of the local Government and party appealing for calm and assuring the Han Chinese that the laws will be applied firmly against those who indulged in violence. In an unusual move, the People's Daily of China, owned by the Chinese Communist Party, asked its readers in advance to look out for an editorial
on July 9 in which it would call for the strict application of the laws against those found guilty and for strict measures to restore social order.
5. Even after the surprise return of President Hu Jintao from Italy on the morning of July 8 after cancelling his participation in the G-8 summit, the Chinese have continued with their policy of transparency in order to let the world know about the kind of brutalities allegedly committed by the Uighurs on July 5 and 6,2009.This would probably show that the policy of transparency, which was reportedly ordered by Prime Minister Wen Jiabao in the absence of Hu in Italy, had the support of Hu.
6.The way the Chinese have handled the aftermath has been refreshingly different from the way they reacted after the Lhasa uprising of March 2008. After the Lhasa uprising, they ordered all foreign journalists and tourists in Tibet to leave and stopped permitting foreign journalists to visit Tibet for nearly three months. Now, the Chinese Foreign and Information offices in Beijing have been taking the initiative in contacting foreign journalists and requesting them to go to Urumqi to report on the situation. It has been reported that many journalists are already in Urumqi.
7. The only common factor in the way the Chinese handled the aftermath of the Lhasa uprising and are now handling the Urumqi uprising is the virulent demonisation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Youth Congress last year and a similar demonisation of the World Uighur Congress (WUC) and its leaders.
8. The immediate priority for the Chinese, as seen by them, is to address the Han Chinese anger over the alleged failure of the Police to protect them on July 5 and 6,2009. The next priority is to arrest and prosecute all those involved in acts of violence.
9. The ground situation in Xinjiang is qualitatively different from that in Tibet. In Tibet, the Tibetans are in a decisive majority still despite the settlement of a large number of Han Chinese. In Xinjiang, the Uighurs are not in a decisive majority. Muslims constitute about 60 per cent of the Xinjiang population, but not all of them are Uighurs. The Uighutrs constitute only 45 per cent of the Xinjiang population and the Han Chinese 40 per cent. The remaining 15 per cent are Muslims of non-Uighur origin. These non-Uighur Muslims have kept away from the protests.
10.Moreover, during the uprising in Lhasa, the Tibetans did not indulge in the kind of physical brutalities against the Han Chinese similar to the brutalities allegedly inflicted by some Uighurs on the Han Chinese. From the latest reports received from Urumqi, it would appear that the protest movement was initially started by a group of secular Uighurs, owing loyalty to the Munich-based WUC, but subsequently some of the jihadi fundamentalist elements owing loyalty to the Islamic Movement of Eastern Turkestan, allied to Al Qaeda, infiltrated into their ranks and indulged in an orgy of violence against the Han Chinese. However, the Chinese authorities continue to project the Urumqi uprising as the handiwork of ethnic separatist terrorists. They are not talking of jihadi terrorists.
11. There is more than meets the eye in the Urumqi uprising. It took place a little more than a year after the Holland-based Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation, jointly with the WUC and the USA's National Endowment for Democracy (NED), had organised a training course----the second one--- for a group of Uighurs from the diaspora. The reported theme of the training course was "the right of self-determination". Annexed is a press statement issued on this subject at that time by the UNPO. The uprising took place less than two months after the WUC held its third world assembly in Washington DC in May,2009.
12. It is not clear why Hu had to cancel his participation in the G-8 summit and fly back almost in panic to Beijing. Was it because of the Han Chinese anger or was it because of differences in the party leadership over how to handle it? (9-7-09)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
ANNEXURE
TRAINING OF UIGHURS BY NED AND UNPO ( PRESS STATEMEMENT BY UNPO)
21 April 2008
The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) together with the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) and support of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) organized their second leadership training seminar in two years, which opened today the 21st of April 2008. Over 50 members of the Uyghur Diaspora from around the world together with prominent academics, government representatives and
members of the civil society gathered in Berlin Germany to discuss this year’s topic “Self-Determination under International Law”.
Mr. Dolkun Isa, Secretary General of the World Uyghur Congress, opened the occasion, welcoming participants to the training seminar, manyof whom traveled some distance to attend the event, including from Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan, Norway and the United States.
President of the WUC and internationally renowned advocate of the Uyghur cause, Ms. Rebiya Kadeer, warmly greeted the audience with great energy, enthusiasm and determination. Ms. Kadeer spoke on the lack of freedom afflicting Uyghurs since the communist clamp of power in 1949, including a constant constriction of human rights by Chinese authorities. People in East Turkestan cannot imagine the amount of freedom people in the western world enjoy, explained Ms. Kadeer, and individuals in the west cannot imagine the extent of suppression people in East Turkestan are experiencing.
The international community is very familiar with the situation of Tibet, however knowledge of the situation of East Turkestan is quite limited in comparison. Nonetheless, the last two years have seen many efforts to educate the world on the poor human rights situation in East Turkestan. It is therefore essential, reminded Ms. Kadeer, to continue to educate and inform all about the Uyghur situation.
Mr. Marino Busdachin, UNPO General Secretary, further noted that survival of the Uyghur culture and identity are vital issues Uyghurs arefaced with today. Introducing the topic of self-determination, Mr. Busdachin recognized the difficulty and controversy surrounding the subject. It is important to recognize that Chinese authorities are not willing to grant full autonomy or full federal solutions to East Turkestan, he explained, however we should stay positive in the situation and focus on means of raising awareness for the Uyghur cause and on the survival of their culture. Members of the Diaspora should be weary of tendencies towards radicalization and need to stay in constant dialogue with the people in East Turkestan so as not to become estranged by their position.
UNPO and WUC were thrilled to welcome multiple guests of honour on the opening day, including Mr. Günther Nooke, Federal Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid at the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Dirk Pleiter of Amnesty International, Ms. Frances Eqerer, representative of Mr. Margarete Bause from the Green Party of the Bavarian Parliament, and Mr. Feruk Unsal, Member of
Parliament in Turkey.
Mr. Nooke spoke of the importance of pursuing a nonviolent path and avoiding any further escalation within minority groups in China. He called for an analysis into the roots of recent uprisings in China and reminded China that it is in their interest to review their policies towards minority groups. These actions would then necessitate a dialogue between the government and minorities – the exact path which could nonviolently reach a solution.
Furthermore, Mr. Nooke touched upon the situation of the Uyghurs currently incarcerated in Guantanamo Bay, individuals who have been found not guilty of any charges and are ready to be released immediately. The Uyhgurs cannot however return to China, as they will undoubtedly suffer severe persecution. Ironically, Mr. Nooke points out, they are largely safer in prison than they would be in China. He therefore called for civil courage in Europe and the United States to grant these individuals immigration visas. Ms. Seema Saifee, pro bono attorney for several Uyghurs at Guantanamo, confirmed this argument, underlining that they could be released tomorrow as long as a
country will admit them.
Following a lively and well-attended press conference, to which members of various media sources including Deutsche Welle TV, WDR and the Associated Press attended, participants dove right into their training material.
With the aid of moderators Mr. Ulrich Delius of the Society for Threatened Peoples and Senator Marco Perduca, newly elected Member of the Italian Parliament, participants were guided through an introductory series of lectures on the concepts of international law, avenues of self-determination and case studies of such.
Ms. Anna Batalla, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Hans-Joachim Heintze, Institute of International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict, Mr. Michael Gibb, Oxford University, Mr. Pedro Pinto Leite, International Platform for Jurists for East Timor, and Mr. Mohamoud Daar, Somaliland Ambassador to the European Union provided participants with a series of insightful and informative lectures which sparked dynamic discussion from all present.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
URUMQI RIOTS FORCE HU TO CANCEL G-8 PARTICIPATION
B.RAMAN
The seriousness of the situation in the Xinjiang province of China would be evident from the fact that President Hu Jintao, who was on a state visit to Italy before participating in the G-8 summit in Italy starting on July 8,2009,has flown back to Beijing after cancelling his participation and his state visit to Portugal, which was to follow the summit.
2. There is considerable concern in Xinjiang as well as in Beijing over the dangers of a communal conflagration between the Uighurs and the Han Chinese following large demonstrations by the Han Chinese in Urumqi on July 7. The Han Chinese, who are in a majority in Urumqi but in a minority in the rest of the province, have been enraged not only over the alleged attacks by young Uighurs on Han Chinese on the night of July 5, but also over the alleged failure of the security forces to protect them. What has been worrying the Chinese leadership is that the
anger of the Han Chinese, which was initially against the Uighurs, has started taking an anti-Government turn.
3. In an attempt to inform the rest of the world about the extent of the violence indulged in by Uighur students and others allegedly at the instigation of the Munich-based World Uighur Congress (WUC), the Chinese for the first time gave details of what was happening in Urumqi. They did not give such details during the Lhasa uprising of Tibetan youth and monks in March,2008. They were unusually transparent giving
details of the number of dead and injured and allowed their media to disseminate photographs of the scenes from the riot-hit Urumqi The despatches from the correspondents of the State-controlled Chinese media used expressions such as " a catastrophe", "horror", "chaos" in reporting on what happened on July 5.
4. A Xinhua despatch quoted Li Zhi, the chief of the Urumqi branch of the Communist Party of China, as saying as follows: "The casualty rate and loss from this incident are the most severe in Xinjiang since the establishment of the People's Republic of China." It also quoted Jerla Isamudin, the Urumqi Mayor, as saying as follows: "This is not a single, ethnic issue. The violence has not only impeached the peace and order of Xinjiang, it has also ignited anger among people."
5.These details of the situation as disseminated by the media have ignited anger among the Han Chinese not only in the Xinjiang province, but also in adjoining Tibet and in the Sichuan province. Many of the Han Chinese living in Urumqi had migrated from the Sichuan province. Throughout July 7, police vans fitted with loudspeakers moved around Urumqi appealing for calm and saying: "Uighur people and Han Chinese are brothers and sisters, we are a family." The local Mayor and party chief went round the city appealing to the Han Chinese for calm. Despite this, some Han Chinese beat up Uighurs. The police had to use tear-smoke to disperse them. Urumqi continued to be under curfew for the
third night.
6. In a belated attempt to mollify the Uighurs, the Chinese authorities have announced the arrest of 13 Han Chinese workers of a Guangdong factory for allegedly attacking their Uighur co-workers on June 26 during which two Uighurs were killed. If they had taken this step immediately after June 26, Urumqi might have been spared the outbreak of violence seen since July 5.
7. In a demonisation campaign reminiscent of the campaign mounted against His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) after the Lhasa uprising of March 2008, the Chinese continue to blame the World Uighur Congress and organisations associated with it as well as its President Rebiya Kadeer for the violence. The Chinese media have come out with articles describing her as the Uighur Dalai Lama, highlighting her professed admiration for His Holiness and projecting the Urumqi uprising as a copycat of the Lhasa uprising of March 2008. A Chinese court had sentenced Kadeer, a 59-year-old former business tycoon from Xinjiang, to nine years in prison on charges of instigating and engaging in secessionist activities in 1999. But she was allowed to go to the US for medical treatment in March 2005 after promising to keep away from any separatist activities. She became the President of the WUC.
8. The linkages alleged by the Chinese between the Lhasa and Urumqi uprisings may cause Han Chinese anger against the Tibetans and His Holiness, thereby creating fresh tensions in the Tibetan-inhabited areas.
9. The Urumqi uprising, like the Lhasa uprising of March 2008, has been a rude wake-up call for the Chinese leadership in Beijing. It shows dramatically in the 60th year of the People's Republic of China how unpopular are the Han Chinese and the CCP among the non-Han minorities. They also show that the use of brutal methods of suppression have only added to the feelings of alienation. China's non-Han periphery is a simmering volcano blowing up from time to time.
10. These uprisings have also demonstrated how out of touch the Beijing leadership is with the ground situation in the peripheral areas and how inadequate are the Chinese intelligence capabilities.
11. Will heads roll after Hu's return? Will the rolling heads be confined to Urumqi or will they cover Beijing too? Is the situation in Xinjiang likely to weaken Hu's leadership of the CCP? These are questions for which one has to look for answers in the days to come. (8-7-09)
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently,Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies.E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
The seriousness of the situation in the Xinjiang province of China would be evident from the fact that President Hu Jintao, who was on a state visit to Italy before participating in the G-8 summit in Italy starting on July 8,2009,has flown back to Beijing after cancelling his participation and his state visit to Portugal, which was to follow the summit.
2. There is considerable concern in Xinjiang as well as in Beijing over the dangers of a communal conflagration between the Uighurs and the Han Chinese following large demonstrations by the Han Chinese in Urumqi on July 7. The Han Chinese, who are in a majority in Urumqi but in a minority in the rest of the province, have been enraged not only over the alleged attacks by young Uighurs on Han Chinese on the night of July 5, but also over the alleged failure of the security forces to protect them. What has been worrying the Chinese leadership is that the
anger of the Han Chinese, which was initially against the Uighurs, has started taking an anti-Government turn.
3. In an attempt to inform the rest of the world about the extent of the violence indulged in by Uighur students and others allegedly at the instigation of the Munich-based World Uighur Congress (WUC), the Chinese for the first time gave details of what was happening in Urumqi. They did not give such details during the Lhasa uprising of Tibetan youth and monks in March,2008. They were unusually transparent giving
details of the number of dead and injured and allowed their media to disseminate photographs of the scenes from the riot-hit Urumqi The despatches from the correspondents of the State-controlled Chinese media used expressions such as " a catastrophe", "horror", "chaos" in reporting on what happened on July 5.
4. A Xinhua despatch quoted Li Zhi, the chief of the Urumqi branch of the Communist Party of China, as saying as follows: "The casualty rate and loss from this incident are the most severe in Xinjiang since the establishment of the People's Republic of China." It also quoted Jerla Isamudin, the Urumqi Mayor, as saying as follows: "This is not a single, ethnic issue. The violence has not only impeached the peace and order of Xinjiang, it has also ignited anger among people."
5.These details of the situation as disseminated by the media have ignited anger among the Han Chinese not only in the Xinjiang province, but also in adjoining Tibet and in the Sichuan province. Many of the Han Chinese living in Urumqi had migrated from the Sichuan province. Throughout July 7, police vans fitted with loudspeakers moved around Urumqi appealing for calm and saying: "Uighur people and Han Chinese are brothers and sisters, we are a family." The local Mayor and party chief went round the city appealing to the Han Chinese for calm. Despite this, some Han Chinese beat up Uighurs. The police had to use tear-smoke to disperse them. Urumqi continued to be under curfew for the
third night.
6. In a belated attempt to mollify the Uighurs, the Chinese authorities have announced the arrest of 13 Han Chinese workers of a Guangdong factory for allegedly attacking their Uighur co-workers on June 26 during which two Uighurs were killed. If they had taken this step immediately after June 26, Urumqi might have been spared the outbreak of violence seen since July 5.
7. In a demonisation campaign reminiscent of the campaign mounted against His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) after the Lhasa uprising of March 2008, the Chinese continue to blame the World Uighur Congress and organisations associated with it as well as its President Rebiya Kadeer for the violence. The Chinese media have come out with articles describing her as the Uighur Dalai Lama, highlighting her professed admiration for His Holiness and projecting the Urumqi uprising as a copycat of the Lhasa uprising of March 2008. A Chinese court had sentenced Kadeer, a 59-year-old former business tycoon from Xinjiang, to nine years in prison on charges of instigating and engaging in secessionist activities in 1999. But she was allowed to go to the US for medical treatment in March 2005 after promising to keep away from any separatist activities. She became the President of the WUC.
8. The linkages alleged by the Chinese between the Lhasa and Urumqi uprisings may cause Han Chinese anger against the Tibetans and His Holiness, thereby creating fresh tensions in the Tibetan-inhabited areas.
9. The Urumqi uprising, like the Lhasa uprising of March 2008, has been a rude wake-up call for the Chinese leadership in Beijing. It shows dramatically in the 60th year of the People's Republic of China how unpopular are the Han Chinese and the CCP among the non-Han minorities. They also show that the use of brutal methods of suppression have only added to the feelings of alienation. China's non-Han periphery is a simmering volcano blowing up from time to time.
10. These uprisings have also demonstrated how out of touch the Beijing leadership is with the ground situation in the peripheral areas and how inadequate are the Chinese intelligence capabilities.
11. Will heads roll after Hu's return? Will the rolling heads be confined to Urumqi or will they cover Beijing too? Is the situation in Xinjiang likely to weaken Hu's leadership of the CCP? These are questions for which one has to look for answers in the days to come. (8-7-09)
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently,Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies.E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
Monday, July 6, 2009
DANGERS OF BALTICISATION OF CHINA'S PERIPHERY
B.RAMAN
There has been an uneasy calm in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Province of China, after nearly 36 hours of bloody rioting by over 3000 Uighur students, supported by others. No fresh incident of violence was reported on the night of July 6, 2009.
2. A curfew is in force and reinforcements have been rushed to Urumqi from the Sichuan province. Fearing fresh unrest in Tibet, the Chinese have stepped up security measures in the Tibetan-inhabited areas.
3.The Chinese provincial authorities have admitted that 156 people---129 men and 27 women--- were killed in the riots and that the security forces in Urumqi have taken 1434 persons into preventive custody.
4.While there is uneasy calm in Urumqi, there are reports of spreading demonstrations from the rural areas, including Kashgar, which has been a hotbed of the activities of Islamic fundamentalist elements supporting the Islamic Movement of Eastern Turkestan, which is allied with Al Qaeda.
5. While the protest demonstrations in Urumqi, which led to the violent riots due to over-reation by the Chinese security forces,
were largely led by liberal human rights elements with no links to the IMET and other fundamentalist organisations, reliable reports indicate that the protest demonstrations in Kashgar and other interior areas are being led by jihadi elements close to the IMET. The protesters have been shouting "Allah Is Great" slogans. This slogan was reportedly absent during the demonstrations in Urumqi. The protest demonstrations in Kashgar started from a local mosque.
6. The Chinese intelligence agencies have once again been taken by surprise as they were by the Tibetan uprising of March,2008. While they had been taking routine security precautions in view of the forthcoming 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, they had not anticipated the kind of violence which Urumqi saw on the night of July 6.
7.The Chinese security agencies, which generally tend to blame jihadi terrorists of the IMET for all their problems in Xinjiang, have thus far refrained from doing so in respect of the violence in Urumqi. They have been blaming it on "ethnic separatist terrorism" and not on "jihadi terrorism."
8.They are blaming the Munich-based World Uighur Congress (WUC) for the Urumqi violence just as they blamed the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) for the violence in Lhasa last year. A campaign for the demonisation of the WUC has already been started by the provincial authorities similar to the campaign for the demonisation of the TYC witnessed last year. Just as they projected the TYC as no different from Al Qaeda in its methods, they are projecting the WYC similarly.
9. Their suspicions and fears have been aggravated by the close links allegedly maintained by the WUC with the USA's National Endoment for Democracy (NED) and the Unrepresnted Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO) based in Holland. The UNPO had played an active role in promoting the separation of the Baltic States from the erstwhile USSR. It had trained people from the Baltic States for many years. It has a similar active programme for the training of Uighurs from the diaspora. This training programme is allegedly being funded by the NED. At least two training camps have already been held.
10.Leaders of the WUC, including its President Ms. Rebiya Kadeer, who lives in the US, have strongly denied Chinese allegations that the WUC had instigated the Urumqi riots, but it is intriguing that the unprecedented outbreak followed less than two months after the WUC held its Third General Assembly in Washington, DC from May 21-25, 2009 . Delegates and observers from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Norway, Sweden, Turkey and the the US attended the Assembly. Ms. Rebiya Kadeer was re-elected as the President of the WUC.
11.The WUC was established on April 16, 2004 in Munich, Germany, by merging the East Turkestan National Congress and the World Uighur Youth Congress. It describes its main objective as to promote the right of the Uighur people to use peaceful, nonviolent, and democratic means to determine the political future of East Turkestan.
12.The Lhasa uprising of March,2008, and the Urumqi uprising of July 2009 have brought home a rude lesson to the Chinese ---- namely, that they cannot take China's unity and stability for granted. What happened in the Baltic States of the USSR can happen in China's periphery inhabited by non-Han minorities if they do not pay attention to their grievances, anger and political and cultural aspirations. (7-7-09)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and ,presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
There has been an uneasy calm in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Province of China, after nearly 36 hours of bloody rioting by over 3000 Uighur students, supported by others. No fresh incident of violence was reported on the night of July 6, 2009.
2. A curfew is in force and reinforcements have been rushed to Urumqi from the Sichuan province. Fearing fresh unrest in Tibet, the Chinese have stepped up security measures in the Tibetan-inhabited areas.
3.The Chinese provincial authorities have admitted that 156 people---129 men and 27 women--- were killed in the riots and that the security forces in Urumqi have taken 1434 persons into preventive custody.
4.While there is uneasy calm in Urumqi, there are reports of spreading demonstrations from the rural areas, including Kashgar, which has been a hotbed of the activities of Islamic fundamentalist elements supporting the Islamic Movement of Eastern Turkestan, which is allied with Al Qaeda.
5. While the protest demonstrations in Urumqi, which led to the violent riots due to over-reation by the Chinese security forces,
were largely led by liberal human rights elements with no links to the IMET and other fundamentalist organisations, reliable reports indicate that the protest demonstrations in Kashgar and other interior areas are being led by jihadi elements close to the IMET. The protesters have been shouting "Allah Is Great" slogans. This slogan was reportedly absent during the demonstrations in Urumqi. The protest demonstrations in Kashgar started from a local mosque.
6. The Chinese intelligence agencies have once again been taken by surprise as they were by the Tibetan uprising of March,2008. While they had been taking routine security precautions in view of the forthcoming 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, they had not anticipated the kind of violence which Urumqi saw on the night of July 6.
7.The Chinese security agencies, which generally tend to blame jihadi terrorists of the IMET for all their problems in Xinjiang, have thus far refrained from doing so in respect of the violence in Urumqi. They have been blaming it on "ethnic separatist terrorism" and not on "jihadi terrorism."
8.They are blaming the Munich-based World Uighur Congress (WUC) for the Urumqi violence just as they blamed the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) for the violence in Lhasa last year. A campaign for the demonisation of the WUC has already been started by the provincial authorities similar to the campaign for the demonisation of the TYC witnessed last year. Just as they projected the TYC as no different from Al Qaeda in its methods, they are projecting the WYC similarly.
9. Their suspicions and fears have been aggravated by the close links allegedly maintained by the WUC with the USA's National Endoment for Democracy (NED) and the Unrepresnted Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO) based in Holland. The UNPO had played an active role in promoting the separation of the Baltic States from the erstwhile USSR. It had trained people from the Baltic States for many years. It has a similar active programme for the training of Uighurs from the diaspora. This training programme is allegedly being funded by the NED. At least two training camps have already been held.
10.Leaders of the WUC, including its President Ms. Rebiya Kadeer, who lives in the US, have strongly denied Chinese allegations that the WUC had instigated the Urumqi riots, but it is intriguing that the unprecedented outbreak followed less than two months after the WUC held its Third General Assembly in Washington, DC from May 21-25, 2009 . Delegates and observers from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Norway, Sweden, Turkey and the the US attended the Assembly. Ms. Rebiya Kadeer was re-elected as the President of the WUC.
11.The WUC was established on April 16, 2004 in Munich, Germany, by merging the East Turkestan National Congress and the World Uighur Youth Congress. It describes its main objective as to promote the right of the Uighur people to use peaceful, nonviolent, and democratic means to determine the political future of East Turkestan.
12.The Lhasa uprising of March,2008, and the Urumqi uprising of July 2009 have brought home a rude lesson to the Chinese ---- namely, that they cannot take China's unity and stability for granted. What happened in the Baltic States of the USSR can happen in China's periphery inhabited by non-Han minorities if they do not pay attention to their grievances, anger and political and cultural aspirations. (7-7-09)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and ,presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
SITUATION IN URUMQI WORSENS
B.RAMAN
In a report disseminated at 2-30 PM Beijing time ( 12 noon Indian Standard Time) on July 6,2009, the State-controlled Xinhua news agency of China has admitted that normalcy has been only partially restored in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang province, which saw the outbreak of violent protests by Uighur students on July 5,2009, who demanded the arrest and prosecution of the Han Chinese workers who attacked Uighur workers in a toy factory of Guangdong in Southern China on June 25,2009, killing two Uighurs. The Han Chinese had attacked the Uighurs
following the circulation of a report through the Internet alleging that some Uighur workers had raped two Han Chinese women. According to the Chinese authorities, the report of the rape was found to be false.
2. According to Uighur exile sources, the protesting students carried the Chinese national flag in order to highlight that theirs was a human rights demand and that they had nothing to do with the Islamic Movement of Eastern Turkestan and other Islamic fundamentalist groups. According to these sources, the protesters did not even shout "Allah is Great" in order not to give a religious colour to their protest.
3. The exiles allege that despite the peaceful nature of the protest, the Chinese security forces lost their nerves and attacked the protesters. Initially, they attacked them with electrically-charged batons. The protesters then went out of control and started attacking Han Chinese passers-by and shops owned by Han Chinese. They also attacked the public transport system and set fire to a large number of buses and some vehicles of the security forces.
4. The Chinese authorities moved reinforcements of special police units in armoured personnel carriers into Urumqi. The exiles allege that these units indiscriminately fired on the protesters in many places in the city. In the clashes between the students and the security forces, which continued throughout the night of July 5, many were killed. The Xinhua has admitted at least 140 fatalities.
5. The Xinhua report was based on a press briefing on the situation held by the Urumqi authorities on the afternoon of July 6,2009. In the briefing, Liu Yaohua, the police chief of the Xinjiang province, stated as follows:
·
The death toll has risen to 140 and was still climbing.Fifty-seven dead bodies were retrieved from Urumqi's streets and lanes, while all the others were confirmed dead at hospitals.
·
At least 828 people were injured.
·
The rioters set fire to 261 motor vehicles, including 190 buses, 10 taxis and two police cars.
·
A preliminary investigation showed 203 shops and 14 homes were destroyed in the riot.
·
The Police have arrested several hundred in connection with the riot, including at least a dozen who were suspected of fanning the unrest.
·
The police are still searching for about 90 other key suspects in the city. "Police have tightened security in downtown Urumqi streets and at key institutions such as power and natural gas companies and TV stations to prevent large-scale riots."
·
More than 100 ethnic officials from adjacent areas have been transferred to Urumqi for interrogating the suspects according to law.
6. The World Uighur Congress has strongly denied Chinese allegations that it had instigated the violent incidents by disseminating through the Internet exaggerated accounts of the Guangdong incident. In a statement issued from Munich, it has stated as follows: " Instead of addressing the legitimate demands of the peaceful Uighur protesters, the Chinese authorities responded to quell the protest with the deployment of four kinds of police (regular police, anti-riot police, Special Police and the People's Armed Police (PAP)). The Special Police and PAP used tear gas, automatic rifles and armored vehicles to disperse the Uighur protesters. During the crackdown, some were shot to death, and some were beaten to death by the Chinese police. Some demonstrators were even crushed by armored vehicles near Xinjiang University, according to eyewitnesses."
7. While the Chinese authorities have admitted only 140 fatalities, Uighur exile sources allege that there were at least 600 fatalities as a result of the indiscriminate firing by the security forces.
8.On July 6,2009, there were reports of protest demonstrations in other towns of Xinjiang too, but the violence has remained confined to Urumqi.
9. Till now, the local Chinese authorities in Urumqi have been blaming “ethnic separatists” for the riots and not jihadi fundamentalist elements.(6-7-09)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
In a report disseminated at 2-30 PM Beijing time ( 12 noon Indian Standard Time) on July 6,2009, the State-controlled Xinhua news agency of China has admitted that normalcy has been only partially restored in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang province, which saw the outbreak of violent protests by Uighur students on July 5,2009, who demanded the arrest and prosecution of the Han Chinese workers who attacked Uighur workers in a toy factory of Guangdong in Southern China on June 25,2009, killing two Uighurs. The Han Chinese had attacked the Uighurs
following the circulation of a report through the Internet alleging that some Uighur workers had raped two Han Chinese women. According to the Chinese authorities, the report of the rape was found to be false.
2. According to Uighur exile sources, the protesting students carried the Chinese national flag in order to highlight that theirs was a human rights demand and that they had nothing to do with the Islamic Movement of Eastern Turkestan and other Islamic fundamentalist groups. According to these sources, the protesters did not even shout "Allah is Great" in order not to give a religious colour to their protest.
3. The exiles allege that despite the peaceful nature of the protest, the Chinese security forces lost their nerves and attacked the protesters. Initially, they attacked them with electrically-charged batons. The protesters then went out of control and started attacking Han Chinese passers-by and shops owned by Han Chinese. They also attacked the public transport system and set fire to a large number of buses and some vehicles of the security forces.
4. The Chinese authorities moved reinforcements of special police units in armoured personnel carriers into Urumqi. The exiles allege that these units indiscriminately fired on the protesters in many places in the city. In the clashes between the students and the security forces, which continued throughout the night of July 5, many were killed. The Xinhua has admitted at least 140 fatalities.
5. The Xinhua report was based on a press briefing on the situation held by the Urumqi authorities on the afternoon of July 6,2009. In the briefing, Liu Yaohua, the police chief of the Xinjiang province, stated as follows:
·
The death toll has risen to 140 and was still climbing.Fifty-seven dead bodies were retrieved from Urumqi's streets and lanes, while all the others were confirmed dead at hospitals.
·
At least 828 people were injured.
·
The rioters set fire to 261 motor vehicles, including 190 buses, 10 taxis and two police cars.
·
A preliminary investigation showed 203 shops and 14 homes were destroyed in the riot.
·
The Police have arrested several hundred in connection with the riot, including at least a dozen who were suspected of fanning the unrest.
·
The police are still searching for about 90 other key suspects in the city. "Police have tightened security in downtown Urumqi streets and at key institutions such as power and natural gas companies and TV stations to prevent large-scale riots."
·
More than 100 ethnic officials from adjacent areas have been transferred to Urumqi for interrogating the suspects according to law.
6. The World Uighur Congress has strongly denied Chinese allegations that it had instigated the violent incidents by disseminating through the Internet exaggerated accounts of the Guangdong incident. In a statement issued from Munich, it has stated as follows: " Instead of addressing the legitimate demands of the peaceful Uighur protesters, the Chinese authorities responded to quell the protest with the deployment of four kinds of police (regular police, anti-riot police, Special Police and the People's Armed Police (PAP)). The Special Police and PAP used tear gas, automatic rifles and armored vehicles to disperse the Uighur protesters. During the crackdown, some were shot to death, and some were beaten to death by the Chinese police. Some demonstrators were even crushed by armored vehicles near Xinjiang University, according to eyewitnesses."
7. While the Chinese authorities have admitted only 140 fatalities, Uighur exile sources allege that there were at least 600 fatalities as a result of the indiscriminate firing by the security forces.
8.On July 6,2009, there were reports of protest demonstrations in other towns of Xinjiang too, but the violence has remained confined to Urumqi.
9. Till now, the local Chinese authorities in Urumqi have been blaming “ethnic separatists” for the riots and not jihadi fundamentalist elements.(6-7-09)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
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