Uighur leader says 10,000 people went missing in one night: China

by mtippett | July 29, 2009 at 08:25 am

358 views | 58 Recommendations | 14 comments

The Chinese government is expressing it's unhappiness toward the Japanese government after a Chinese dissident made charges in Tokyo of mass disappearances.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Nearly 10,000 Uighurs involved in deadly riots in China's northwestern Xinjiang region went missing in one night, exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer said Wednesday, calling for an international investigation.

Although the population in the Xinjiang region is relatively small, the region's size is colossal. According to Wikipedia:

It is a large, sparsely populated area, spanning over 1.6 million km2 (comparable in size to Iran), which takes up about one sixth of the country's territory.

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Barbara McPherson

at 10:12 on July 29th, 2009

Perhaps now people can understand why the Uighurs caught up in Guantanamo had left East Turkestan.

Roy C

at 12:15 on July 29th, 2009

But, Sir, for such a statement to be true, then your side would have to be included as well.

a211423

at 14:25 on July 29th, 2009

Whether it's 10,000 or 10 doesn't matter. What matters is genocide, and this is whats happening to the Uighurs and the Tibetans by the Chinese. One is to eradicate the Muslims and the other is to eradicate the Buddhists.

Pythiian1

at 15:08 on July 29th, 2009

I think Human Rights Watch should investigate the disappearance of the Uighurs.

158

at 15:39 on July 29th, 2009

China will never allow an independent investigation of this

Rory Cripps

at 17:01 on July 29th, 2009

158: You got that right! I hope this doesn't affect the price of goods in Walmart!

Paschen

at 16:21 on July 29th, 2009

If true this would be a crime as atrocious as the Holocaust.

If not true it would be an attack and insult to China.

I think what may have happen here is a mistake in translating numbers.

English, Cantonese, Japanese number systems are very different and can easily lead to mistakes such saying 1000 when meaning 10.

The Original CT (not verified)

at 16:23 on July 29th, 2009

My,my, we seem to have the attention spans of insects these days. Though really, really upsetting, this is by no measure surprising. The chinese government has been openly accused of things like gene experimentaion, organ harvesting of prisoners, forced abortions, and mass killings of dissidents for years. The last news regarding China that surprised me was when I heard that they were hosting the Olympics! Lo and behold, I have not, to this day, met another person who boycotted the Olympics as I did.

Within these frivolous spectacles, and commercial opportunities, we so quickly allow ourselves to intermittently lose focus on who we are and what we passively support. The former being said for lack any popular effort of the people to question our associations, be they related to commerce, entertainment, or otherwise. We're only as good as the friends that we keep..

a211423

at 16:58 on July 29th, 2009

I boycotted the Olympics with this thought: If they rebuild the 10, 000 Buddhist monastiers that they destroyed, then I might consider it.

JUSTBLOODY (not verified)

at 16:38 on July 29th, 2009

Needs an international investigation.To find out whether these allegations that Uighur leader is saying have occurr.This is something that needs to be taken very serious by the United Nations.Cause this is a very serious allegation that has been made.Cause if these people have been murdered then this is genocide.Even if there placed in concertration camps somewhere in the middle of nowhere we need to find out where they are and whether they are in good health.When you hear about storys like this it brings you back to when Hitlar killed the Jews.An if this is some made up story.Then we need to find out why Uighur Leader would make these allegations. An say something like this.My opinion if genocide has occurred through out history.Then it wouldn't surprise me this has occurred.GOD HELP US ALL

a211423

at 17:10 on July 29th, 2009

I guess all of us Americans who got our stimulus check and cashed it are hypocrits if we condemn China. How can we reconcile that China is now our ATM, but we are repulsed by their politics. This is a tough one. If anyone has some insight to share, I would like to hear it.

duo

at 22:20 on July 29th, 2009

Another country where citizens come up "missing."

Mary Neal
http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com

t k kidwai

at 01:16 on July 30th, 2009

Why should we beleive a dissident?A dissedent is one who stays in his own country and raises his/her voice against whatever wrong is being done by authorities.Dissidents who flee their country and are used by anti-China forces to exegerate atrocities committed by the regime.Cuban refugees in Hawai,a gang of robbers and theives,were utilised by US authorities to lauch attack on Cuba.

All is not well in China.Human rights voilation is a state policy.But the next question is:how voilence can be tolerated by any state?There are other means to ventilate greivances other than resorting to voilence which is deplorable but not pardonable.Uighurs,who are Muslims have been impacted by storm of radical Islam,in fact most unislamic,which teaches voilence and no respect for human life,dignity and honour.

Tables are not only for dining,people can sit across and negotiate.If one concerned party is not willing to abandon belligerence,what US does in most of the cases,then voilence is rendered only available means but in spite of that can not be justified.

Any veto power can scuttle demand for an impartial and unbiased enquiry,this is one more problem international community and human rights activists face.The dissident has levelled serious charges which must be probed,that is my personal opinion.There is a million $ question:will China allow investigations?

a211423

at 08:34 on July 30th, 2009

http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/107521.html

The following is from History News Network by James Milford Professor of the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. You can view the entire article at the link above. He offers historical and current insight.

What Urumchi experienced was what Americans, recalling our own troubled history, might call a race riot. The reasons underlying it were likewise familiar: mundane prejudice including easy use of racial slurs by both Han and Uyghur about the other; a widespread perception by the minority Uyghurs, with some justification, that the political, legal and economic system, especially job opportunities, are stacked in favor of the majority Hans; and a simple lack of understanding or empathy for the different cultures of fellow citizens.

Diversity in the US is the result of the colonization of North America by northern Europeans, our proximity to parts of the Americas first colonized by Spain, subsequent migration from other parts of the world, and of course the African slave trade. Though China is of continental dimensions and has long been diverse, the most pressing ethnic issues today largely stem from the 17th and 18th century expansion of the Qing empire which brought Xinjiang, Tibet, Inner Mongolia and Taiwan under Beijing’s rule. Regardless of the different historical background, however, China shares with the US, and, for that matter, with India, Great Britain, France, Canada, Australia, Russia and other large nations, the strengths and challenges of an ethnically diverse population. Economic growth, urban development, political evolution, globalization and other processes can exacerbate tensions among ethnic communities in any country.

The proximate cause of the Urumchi troubles was labor migration, both of Uyghurs from Xinjiang to Guangdong, and of Han from other parts of China to Xinjiang, all associated with China’s super-charged market economy and state program to develop western parts of the country. But the deeper problem is essentially the same as that in any large, modern state: how to incorporate ethno-cultural diversity into the national vision. Chinese official rhetoric and policies in the past—especially in the early 1950s and late 1980s—were directed at this goal, but more recent approaches have too often depicted Uyghurs and Tibetans as ungrateful “others,” and even as threats to security. Both Uyghurs and Han have absorbed this message from state media. It has fueled Uyghur frustration and violence, and instilled in Hans a sense of grievance against minorities, their fellow Chinese.

China faces problems of interethnic tension and civil rights all too familiar to other countries in the world. Chinese leaders could enjoy international sympathy and support should they address these issues directly. But claiming that all ethnic problems at home arise from the conspiracies of exiles or machinations of foreigners will only elicit more international sympathy for Chinese minorities and criticism of China's human rights record.