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Saturday 17 October 2009
Beijing presents ‘evidence’ Kadeer was behind riots
Beijing has for the first time released a detailed report to back up its claim that the World Uygur Congress was behind the deadly ethnic riots in Xinjiang two months ago.
Beijing presents ‘evidence’ Kadeer was behind riots
Net messages, calls ‘prove Uygur congress instigated violence’
Kristine Kwok 17 October 2009
Beijing has for the first time released a detailed report to back up its claim that the World Uygur Congress was behind the deadly ethnic riots in Xinjiang two months ago.
The Uygur organisation condemned the allegations, aired in a lengthy report in the overseas edition of the People’s Daily yesterday and on a China Central Television programme, as “pure fabrication”.
For weeks, Beijing has claimed it has evidence of the World Uygur Congress’ involvement in the deadly clashes between members of the Uygur ethnic minority and Han Chinese, in which nearly 200 people were killed, but it has been reluctant to reveal details.
The People’s Daily yesterday accused the Germany-based Uygur group and its exiled leader, Rebiya Kadeer, of using the internet to instigate and drum up support for a rally in Urumqi on July 5, following which the deadly riots broke out. The rally in the Xinjiang capital was called to protest against a clash two weeks earlier between Han and Uygur workers in a Hong Kong-owned toy factory in Shaoguan, Guangdong, that left two people dead and more than 100 injured.
Without citing any sources for its information, the newspaper said the World Uygur Congress held an emergency meeting on July 1 at which it urged overseas-based supporters of the East Turkestan movement - meaning advocates of independence for Xinjiang, the Uygur homeland where they are now in a minority - to mobilise Uygurs through the internet and by mobile phone.
The meeting called on Uygurs in Xinjiang, particularly those in cities such as Kashgar that are a big source of migrant labour, “not to fear sacrifice and actively carry out activities”.
The report said Aihemaiti Tuerxun, a webmaster for Qing-Feng Net, a Uygur-language website, acted as a co-ordinator for the overseas-based groups and helped plan the rally on July 5. The newspaper said investigations had shown that Tuerxun briefed six other people about the rally in a meeting at an Urumqi restaurant at 4pm on June 30.
“They believed that the rally could attract a lot of people as it was on a Sunday, and they could make a mess because a lot of police would be off duty,” the report said.
Tuerxun allegedly asked his daughter Aidiya Tuerxun to send out messages about the rally through QQ, China’s most popular online instant messaging programme, on July 4.
His daughter reportedly sent out messages in Chinese reading: “There will be a protest on the square tomorrow at 5pm, are you going? If you are a Uygur you should go.” The messages, which it said also contained the phrase “an eye for an eye”, were accompanied by pictures of protests.
According to witnesses, protesters marched through the streets of the city on July 5 and converged on People’s Square, near the autonomous region’s Communist Party headquarters.
The report said 1,245 internet users spread the messages in 3,357 QQ groups and that more than 50,000 people had received the information by 5pm on July 5.
Similar information was also spread via the Xiaonei network, a Chinese version of Facebook, the report said.
The Uygur group was also accused of instigating several attacks on Chinese embassies and consulates.
Dilxadi Rexiti, a spokesman for the World Uygur Congress, denied yesterday that the group was involved in planning the rioting.
“The rally was an act of the Xinjiang people themselves. We had nothing to do with it,” he said.
“The Chinese government has very strict control on the use of the internet. If they had known about all these plans beforehand, why didn’t they do something?”
The group’s leader, Kadeer, has denounced the use of violence, yet since the rioting the central government has stepped up its accusations against the former Urumqi businesswoman.
The report comes days after courts in Xinjiang began trying suspects for murder and other crimes committed when Uygurs rioted on July 5 and Han staged revenge attacks two days later.
At least 10 Uygurs and one Han have been sentenced to death this week.
Several others were given long prison sentences, with some jailed for life, for their parts in the rioting.
2 comments:
Beijing presents ‘evidence’ Kadeer was behind riots
Net messages, calls ‘prove Uygur congress instigated violence’
Kristine Kwok
17 October 2009
Beijing has for the first time released a detailed report to back up its claim that the World Uygur Congress was behind the deadly ethnic riots in Xinjiang two months ago.
The Uygur organisation condemned the allegations, aired in a lengthy report in the overseas edition of the People’s Daily yesterday and on a China Central Television programme, as “pure fabrication”.
For weeks, Beijing has claimed it has evidence of the World Uygur Congress’ involvement in the deadly clashes between members of the Uygur ethnic minority and Han Chinese, in which nearly 200 people were killed, but it has been reluctant to reveal details.
The People’s Daily yesterday accused the Germany-based Uygur group and its exiled leader, Rebiya Kadeer, of using the internet to instigate and drum up support for a rally in Urumqi on July 5, following which the deadly riots broke out. The rally in the Xinjiang capital was called to protest against a clash two weeks earlier between Han and Uygur workers in a Hong Kong-owned toy factory in Shaoguan, Guangdong, that left two people dead and more than 100 injured.
Without citing any sources for its information, the newspaper said the World Uygur Congress held an emergency meeting on July 1 at which it urged overseas-based supporters of the East Turkestan movement - meaning advocates of independence for Xinjiang, the Uygur homeland where they are now in a minority - to mobilise Uygurs through the internet and by mobile phone.
The meeting called on Uygurs in Xinjiang, particularly those in cities such as Kashgar that are a big source of migrant labour, “not to fear sacrifice and actively carry out activities”.
The report said Aihemaiti Tuerxun, a webmaster for Qing-Feng Net, a Uygur-language website, acted as a co-ordinator for the overseas-based groups and helped plan the rally on July 5. The newspaper said investigations had shown that Tuerxun briefed six other people about the rally in a meeting at an Urumqi restaurant at 4pm on June 30.
“They believed that the rally could attract a lot of people as it was on a Sunday, and they could make a mess because a lot of police would be off duty,” the report said.
Tuerxun allegedly asked his daughter Aidiya Tuerxun to send out messages about the rally through QQ, China’s most popular online instant messaging programme, on July 4.
His daughter reportedly sent out messages in Chinese reading: “There will be a protest on the square tomorrow at 5pm, are you going? If you are a Uygur you should go.” The messages, which it said also contained the phrase “an eye for an eye”, were accompanied by pictures of protests.
According to witnesses, protesters marched through the streets of the city on July 5 and converged on People’s Square, near the autonomous region’s Communist Party headquarters.
The report said 1,245 internet users spread the messages in 3,357 QQ groups and that more than 50,000 people had received the information by 5pm on July 5.
Similar information was also spread via the Xiaonei network, a Chinese version of Facebook, the report said.
The Uygur group was also accused of instigating several attacks on Chinese embassies and consulates.
Dilxadi Rexiti, a spokesman for the World Uygur Congress, denied yesterday that the group was involved in planning the rioting.
“The rally was an act of the Xinjiang people themselves. We had nothing to do with it,” he said.
“The Chinese government has very strict control on the use of the internet. If they had known about all these plans beforehand, why didn’t they do something?”
The group’s leader, Kadeer, has denounced the use of violence, yet since the rioting the central government has stepped up its accusations against the former Urumqi businesswoman.
The report comes days after courts in Xinjiang began trying suspects for murder and other crimes committed when Uygurs rioted on July 5 and Han staged revenge attacks two days later.
At least 10 Uygurs and one Han have been sentenced to death this week.
Several others were given long prison sentences, with some jailed for life, for their parts in the rioting.
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