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".