Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang say that women are banned from wearing headscarves
Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang Province have been accused by the Chinese government of posing a terrorist threat to the Olympics
Posted on 04/03/2008 2:49:57 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
April 3, 2008
Tibet unrest spreads to Muslim separatists in China who demand home rule
Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang say that women are banned from wearing headscarves |
Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang Province have been accused by the Chinese government of posing a terrorist threat to the Olympics |
Jane Macartney in Beijing
Muslim separatists demanding independence for China’s westernmost region have massed in a southern Silk Road oasis to protest against Beijing rule, stirred up by recent riots in Tibet.
Officials in Khotan said that about 100 people had been detained after several hundred members of the Uighur Muslim minority staged a demonstration in a marketplace in the city on March 23. The local government gave no reason why the unrest had not been revealed for so many days, but it is not unusual for the Chinese authorities to try to prevent news of disruptions entering the public domain.
Muslim extremists trying to start a rebellion were to blame, the authorities said. “A small number of elements tried to incite splittism, create disturbances . . . and even trick the masses into an uprising.” There are 8 million Uighur Muslims among a population of 19 million in Xinjiang province. The latest sign of pro-independence unrest among ethnic minorities in China comes only weeks after Beijing revealed that it was facing a serious threat to the Olympics from terrorists among the Uighurs.
Radio Free Asia, funded by the US Government, said that several hundred Uighurs had staged a demonstration in Khotan to protest against limits on the wearing of headscarves by local women and demanding the release of political prisoners and an end to the torture of Uighurs. Fu Chao, an official with the Hotan Regional Administrative Office, said that the protest involved people who wanted to establish an Islamic nation and to separate Xinjiang from China. He said that the Government discouraged Uighur women from wearing scarves while they worked because it was inconvenient, but that the practice was accepted otherwise.
Mr Fu said that the demonstration had been incited apparently by unrest in Tibet, where anti-Chinese rioters rampaged through the capital, Lhasa, on March 14, leaving at least 18 people dead. Sources in Lhasa said yesterday that the Government had issued 11 most-wanted lists, broadcasting photographs on state television, for 69 people.
The Khotan government said that the Uighurs involved in demonstrations adhered to the “three evil forces”, a Chinese expression that refers to separatism, religious extremism and terrorism. “Our police immediately intervened to prevent this and are dealing with it in accordance with the law,” it said. Another local official said that several of those taken into custody had been released after being “educated”.
Ping!
Conflicted, do ya root for the mooselimbs in commie china to raise hell and cause trouble for the chi-coms or do ya root for the chi-coms to go in and beat hell out of the mooselimbs within china?
Hard choice on a win win situation.
Keeps me laughing. The chinese government starts to get a lot of what it deserves. It’s looking like the pos it is to the rest of the world.
Easy choice. Let the Chinese clobber the goatlovers. We backed the wrong horse in Afghanistan back in 1979-89. Let’s not make the same mistake here.
Hehe, if we play our cards right, we could easily get them to do the bulk of the fighting. Heaven knows they would easily (and happily) wipe out the terrorists in Iraq if we gave them half a chance.
Stupidest post I've read all week.
Sounds like choosing between whether to root for the Nazis or the Communists at Stalingrad. We know the Communists will win eventually because the Nazis are greatly outnumbered.
Al Qaida played the same role in Afghanistan that the ChiComs played after the defeat of Imperial Japan after World War II: They moved in to fill a power vacuum when Quislings in the State Department refused to support the Pro-American alternative.
Both parties sure paid a high price at Stalingrad.
Love to see a similar outcome.
The assassination of Massoud was a great tragedy for Afghanistan, and for us. Do I remember correctly that he was killed two days before 9/11? If my memory is correct, then the Bush administration had some time to correct any deficiencies in Clinton administration support.
There is probably no danger to Olympic visitors from China’s muslim separatists, except possibly demonstrations as there may be by the Tibetans.
Bring on the Mongols too!
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