Xinjiang update

Recent Events
In the days since the July 5 riots, Han Chinese have retaliated. Many attacked Uighurs with makeshift weapons. They did not disperse even when security forces sent tear gas their way. Uighur women have rioted, claiming their husbands and sons were illegally arrested. Small groups have protested outside hospitals, demanding the release of victims' bodies. A group of about 200 forced itself into one of Urumqi's major mosques on Friday, July 10, after police shut down all mosques for the day. Yesterday, police fired on a group of Uighurs carrying weapons, killing two.

International Reactions
There have been many protests at Chinese embassies around the world, mainly consisting of exiled Uighurs. Uighurs in Munich and Amsterdam vandalized Chinese embassies, and Islamic groups in Jakarta clashed with police while protesting in support of Uighurs. Few governments have reacted strongly to the recent unrest in western China, however. The UN, US, and most countries have simply called for restraint on both sides. Russia has come out strongly in defense of Beijing's actions. Almost no government has condemned Beijing, unlike during unrest in Tibet last year. Even Muslim countries have kept quiet. There is one major exception: Turkey. President Erdogan in a July 10 televised address labeled China's actions in Xinjiang a "genocide". That is quite the statement for a country that has refused to admit that its massacre of Armenians a century ago was genocide. It's also a pretty risky statement for a country in conflict with its own ethnic minority, the Kurds. Turkey also said that the Uighurs are Turkey's brethren, and that Ankara would use its temporary seat on the UN Security Council to push for international condemnation of the events (this would not accomplish much, since China and Russia have veto power- but never mind). Erdogan also said that Ankara would grant a visa to Rebiya Kadeer, leader of the World Uyghur Congress, who had previously been denied visas.

Turkey's harsh words towards China represent a major change in its foreign policy. Turkey has never supported Uighur separatism, and just last week, Turkey's President Abdullah Gul visited Urumqi and called it a "friendship bridge between Turkey and China". Even when the riots first broke out, Ankara issued a mild statement extending condolences to "the people of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in particular and to the people of China in general," and that necessary actions should be taken to make sure such violence does not happen again.

The shift is due to domestic politics. NGOs and religious groups have called for a boycott of Chinese goods. Many criticized Erdogan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) for its silence on the Uighur issue. The AKP's base is religious and rural. Domestic politics were also behind Ankara's uncharacteristically strong condemnation of Israel's actions in Gaza last year. Turkey's increasingly Islamic rhetoric have marginally helped its relations with the Arab world, though it has fallen on deaf ears in Central Asia.

Unrest in Xinjiang

I'm sure many of you have heard of the recent unrest in Xinjiang. On July 5 and 6, we saw clashes in Urumqi between Uighurs, Hans, and Chinese security forces. The official death toll of the riots in Urumqi has risen to 156, with more than 1,000 injured. Beijing claims that most of the dead were Han, while the World Uyghur Congress claims the number is much higher and most were Uighurs. 1,434 people have been arrested, almost all of them Uighur men. More than 20,000 security personnel have been deployed to Urumqi. Han Chinese, incensed at the violence against Hans by Uighurs, attacked them the next day- continuing even after police let off tear gas. Uighur women screamed at police, holding the identity cards of their husbands who had been arrested. Internet service has been cut in the capital city of Urumqi, and Twitter has been disabled across the country. Websites and message boards relating to Uighurs or the protests have also been blocked. In Kashgar, the second largest city in the region, a protest of 200 to 300 took place outside the Id Kah mosque, though no violence was reported. Chinese embassies in Germany and the Netherlands were attacked by exiled Uighurs.

The Chinese government has released a statement blaming Rebiya Kadeer, an exiled Uighur leader of the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), for the protests. These allegations are almost certainly false- the government has provided no evidence to support their statement, except for the fact that she made a phone call to her brother in Xinjiang a few days before the protests started. This sounds a lot like the government's spin during the Tibetan protests- they were all blamed on the Dalai Lama without evidence, and despite the fact that he supports peaceful protests only. Chinese newspapers have virulently attacked Ms. Kadeer, calling her the “Uighurs’ Dalai Lama” and “an ironclad separatist colluding with terrorists”. Posts on blogs call for revenge, saying the Uighurs will pay for their actions.

It is still unclear who began the violence and whether Chinese security personnel have used excessive force. Han witnesses claim that Uighurs attacked Han civilians unprovoked, while Uighur leaders claim that Chinese policemen attacked peaceful protesters.

The State Department has called for restraint on both sides, but has not said whether they believe excessive force was used. The only country to openly condemn China has been Turkey. Prime minister Erdogan has said that he will use Turkey's seat on the UN Security Council to push for an investigation into the events.

Many are asking what this means for Uighur independence. In my opinion, nothing. Beijing has mastered the art of quashing protests, and I am sure that in a few months everyone but the Uighurs will forget that this ever happened. Foreign governments are unlikely to come to the Uighurs' aid-- they have too much at stake, and the Uighurs don't have the excellent PR that the Tibetans do.

You can read a background of the tensions in Xinjiang here.

And in case you were wondering, Uighur (also spelled Uyghur) is pronounced "WEE-gur". Urumqi (the capital of Xinjiang) is pronounced "u-RUM-chee", and Xinjiang is pronounced "sheen-jyang".