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Round The World
Unrest in China
AFTER TIBET, ITS XINJANG
By Monika Chansoria
(School of International Studies, JNU)
New Delhi, April 15, 2008
However much the Chinese government may disagree, but the
crisis in Tibet appears to be gradually spreading to other
parts of the country. The sensitive Xinjiang province too is
experiencing the turbulence of political and social unrest in
the weeks following the violence incurred due to
anti-government protests led by the monks in Tibet.
Signs of ethnic unrest in China’s northwestern region of
Xinjiang have begun to emerge in the past few days with
incidents of sporadic protests by Muslim separatists in the
Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and of police crackdowns in
numerous locales of the province.
In addition to Xinjiang, there were fresh incidents of
violence in the Tibetan-inhabited autonomous region of Garze
in southwest China’s Sichuan province on April 4, when Chinese
police opened fire during ‘rioting’ in the area, as reported
by the Xinhua news agency. Moreover, the riots that broke out
first in Lhasa and spread to other Tibetan-inhabited areas in
neighbouring Sichuan and Gansu provinces have left scores of
people dead and injured.
China has accused Muslims in the nation’s northwest region of
trying to initiate a rebellion after protests broke out in the
Xinjiang province a few days back. The incident comes at a
time when a beleaguered Chinese government has been occupied
in curbing and restricting the Tibetan agitation.
Moreover, as the Olympic torch relay kick-started in Beijing
amidst tight security fearing possible violent disruptions by
the Tibetan agitators, the Turkish police detained at least
six Uighur Muslims on April 3 at an anti-China protest during
the torch relay near one of Istanbul’s most famous tourist
sites.
The demonstrators were detained after they broke away from a
larger group of protesters and shouted slogans just a few feet
away from a Turkish figure skater who had just started to run
with the torch. Around 200 Uighur Muslims had converged ahead
of the ceremony near the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sofia
church. Some members of the Uighur expatriate community in
Turkey have reiterated calls for the independence of Xinjiang
from China.
Meanwhile, in the western Xinjiang city of Kashgar, a
traditionally vital center of Islam in the region, Chinese
police went on to arrest 70 Uighurs in recent days in a move
aimed at safeguarding the city before the arrival of the
Olympic torch, scheduled to pass through Kashgar in June.
It appears that the World Uighur Congress, an organization of
the Muslim Uighur people, that has always been sympathetic to
the cause of the Tibetans seeking an independent Tibet, is
making every effort to cash in on the embarrassment caused to
the Chinese government. The Tibetan issue has clearly grabbed
international focus since the past month.
In a statement, the Congress said that the Uighur
demonstrators were seeking the release of their leaders held
in prison, an end to the alleged religious repression and
halting the transfer of Uighur girls as labourers to other
parts of China.
Like the Tibetans, Uighurs too constitute a form of a
predominant ethnic group in Xinjiang and aspire political
independence while holding profound umbrage vis-à-vis Chinese
control. Religious freedom has been a constant source of
tension in Xinjiang. The Chinese government has been accused
of banning students and party members from practicing Islam,
and tightly controls and polices the Muslim clergy.
Beijing has long claimed to be confronting “religious
extremist forces” and “violent terrorism” in the Xinjiang
province. China faces an ongoing separatist insurgency
movement among the ethnic Uighur minority—a Turkic-speaking,
predominantly Muslim community—in the sensitive and remote
northwestern Chinese province of Xinjiang, abutting the
Central Asian republics.
Much like the Tibetans, the Uighurs in Xinjiang, too have
struggled for their cultural survival and distinct identity in
the face of a government-supported influx of Chinese migrants,
as well as harsh repression of political dissent or any other
expression, however, lawful or peaceful.
Significantly, Xinjiang is very critical to the economic
ambitions of the PRC, in that the province makes up more than
one-sixth of China’s landmass, but more importantly has rich,
untapped deposits of oil, natural gas and minerals. In
addition, China also perceives Xinjiang as its gateway to the
huge oil and gas reserves of Central Asia with Chinese
companies already seeking foreign partners to construct
pipelines from fields in Kazakhstan and Russia.
The Chinese authorities have not discriminated between
peaceful and violent dissent and their fight against
“separatism” and “religious extremism” has been used to
justify widespread and systematic human rights violations
against Uighurs, including many involved in non-violent
political, religious, and cultural activities.
Beijing, in the 90s was very apprehensive about the emergence
of unrest and terrorism in Xinjiang, since the Uighurs share
more cultural affinity with Central Asia than with rest of
China. The Uighurs, who look and sound more like Turks than
Han Chinese, advocate and support the creation of an
independent State for Xinjiang’s Muslims, much to China’s
antagonism.
Furthermore, questions crept up yet again on China’s human
rights record when a Chinese court on April 3 sentenced one of
China’s most prominent dissident and activist Hu Jia to
three-and-half years in jail on charges of subversion.
Apparently, Hu spoke out for greater autonomy and religious
freedom for Tibet. However, through its actions, Beijing is
sending out a clear message that it is not overtly concerned
about the harsh condemnation from various human rights groups
in the West.
Reacting to the arrest of Hu Jia, European Union spokesman in
Beijing William Fingleton said, “We said very clearly before
the trial that he should not have been detained in the first
place and that he should be released immediately and this
remains our position. We believe that the charges of
subversion against peaceful expression of opinion are not in
line with the (UN) Convention on Civil and Political Rights
which the Chinese government has committed to respect. ”
On its part, the Chinese authorities are seeking to
demonstrate to the outside world that the situation in Tibet
is under their control by announcing that foreign tourists
would be allowed to visit the region from this May 1. The ban
had been imposed on foreign tourists and journalists from
visiting Tibet since the outbreak of violence last month.
In this Olympic year, the world community prospectively looks
towards Beijing with expectations that it takes initiative to
improve its human rights and religious freedom record. As for
China, it is walking a very tight rope and would want to aim
at putting its best foot forward too. Indubitably, Beijing is
standing on the edge as the Olympics inch closer. For the
protestors, the timing is ideal to draw global attention to
long-standing political and social issues prevailing in
numerous parts of China.---INFA
(Copyright India News & Feature Alliance)
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