Posted on 07/06/2009 12:04:50 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
140 slain as Chinese riot police, Muslims clash in northwestern city
Eight hundred people are injured and hundreds are reported arrested in Urumqi. The Uighur demonstrators were protesting against racial discrimination. By Barbara Demick
July 6, 2009
Firefighters are seen dousing a bus in Urumqi, the main city in Xinjiang, where China's ethnic Uighur minority is concentrated. Eight hundred people were injured and hundreds held as demonstrations against racial discrimination erupted into street violence. (Shen Qiao / New China News Agency / July 5, 2009)
Reporting from Beijing - China's worst ethnic violence in years broke out Sunday in the northwestern city of Urumqi, leaving 140 people dead and more than 800 injured.
Images from the city of 2 million showed flames raging from overturned cars and black smoke billowing over downtown. Urumqi was virtually closed down today, with vehicles barred in much of the city, telephone lines and the Internet down.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Ping!
A closer look at Uighurs and the Xinjiang province:
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/uighurs/index
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/xinjiang/index
Uighurs...pronounced “wiggers”
Uighurs...pronounced “wiggers”
ooooops....the can walked on the keyboard and pressed “enter” (joking)
yitbos
I know, its a sad commentary on our times isn’t it? She used to run around the garden, chase mice, climb up the curtains...now she spends all day on the computer...
:)
Death toll in Xinjiang riot rises to 140, still climbing
www.chinaview.cn 2009-07-06 13:28:24 Print
Firemen put out a fire in Dawannanlu Street in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on July 5, 2009. (Xinhua/Shen Qiao)
Photo Gallery>>>
URUMQI, July 6 (Xinhua) — The death toll has risen to 140 following Sunday night's riot in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the regional government said Monday.
Fifty-seven dead bodies were retrieved from Urumqi’s streets and lanes, while all the others were confirmed dead at hospitals, said Liu Yaohua, the region's police chief, at a press conference midday Monday.
He said the death toll would still be climbing.
At least 828 people were injured in the deadly violence that erupted Sunday night.
Rioters burned 261 motor vehicles, including 190 buses, at least 10 taxis and two police cars, said Liu.
As of 9 am, several vehicles were still seen ablaze on Urumqi’s streets he said.
A preliminary investigation showed 203 shops and 14 homes were destroyed in the riot.
Police have arrested several hundred in connection with the riot, including at least a dozen who were suspected of fanning the unrest, Liu said.
He said police are still searching for about 90 other key suspects in the city. “Police have tightened security in downtown Urumqi streets and at key institutions such as power and natural gas companies and TV stations to prevent large-scale riots.”
Checkpoints have been set up in Urumqi’s key areas as well the neighboring Changji and Turpan prefectures to prevent the rioters from fleeing, Liu said.
He said more than 100 ethnic officials from adjacent areas have been transferred to Urumqi for interrogating the suspects according to law.
What about the Uighurs’ point of view?
From Uyghur source:
http://www.uyghurcongress.org/En/News.asp?ItemID=1246487096
WUC calls all Uyghur organizations around the world to organize protests in front of the Chinese embassies
For immediate release
July 01, 2009,
Contact: World Uyghur Congress, Tel +49 89 54321999, Fax 089 54349789, email: contact@uyghurcongress.org
Munich: In the early morning of Friday, June 26, 2009, thousands of Han Chinese workers attacked the ethnic Uyghur workers in an electric toy factory in Guangdong province, southern China. By carrying metal pipes, knives and bricks in their hands, the Han Chinese workers in mass numbers entered the Uyghur workers dormitory to attack the Uyghurs, who have been newly recruited to the factory. According to official Chinese media, a massive mob attack on Uyghur at the factory in the city of Shaoguan, Guangdong, China; on June 26, left two Uyghur workers dead and 118 workers injured. By the news reports, the majority of the injured were Uyghurs. Unconfirmed reports indicate that more Uyghurs were killed in the attack than the two reported in the official media. In addition, according to a report posted on a Shaoguan (in Guangdong Province ), government website which report now has been taken down, 81 Uyghur workers were injured, 66 of whom were in critical condition in the hospital.
During the racist mob attack, the Chinese government failed to protect the Uyghurs from violent perpetrators. Adding to this concern are unverified reports that local security forces did not take an active role in stopping the violence. The Chinese workers were able to raid the dormitories of Uyghur workers.
The riot at the Xuri Toy Factory in Shaoguan owned by Hong Kong tycoon Francis Choi, was reportedly started after rumors were spread among Han Chinese factory workers that Uyghur men working at the factory had harassed Chinese female workers. Some reports indicate the existence of rumors that Uyghur men had sexually molested Chinese female workers. These allegations remain unverified and unsubstantiated. According to a report from the official Xinhua News Agency, a man surnamed Zhu fabricated the rape allegations to express his discontent after failing to get re-hired after quitting his job at the factory. Guangdong authorities have said they have found no evidence that ethnic Uyghur laborers had raped two Chinese women.
Several amateur videos about the bloody attack were circulated in the internet world. In some of these shocking videos, it is clearly seen that an Uyghur girl tried but was unable to escape from attacks of hundreds of Han Chinese, who held metal pipes in their hands, and later the Uyghur girl was beaten to unconsciousness. In another one, we can also see that a Uyghur man was laid unconscious in blood, and the Han Chinese around him were cheering for their “successes”. The unbelievable fact is that there was not a single one among the thousands of Han Chinese including the “spectators” and the security personel; none of them had sympathy or willingness to stop these barbaric acts of their fellows but joined the cheer of the perpetrators.
We are in deep shock by witnessing the Han Chinese barbarism, which never discriminates between men and women. We cannot believe the level of hatred that is deeply rooted among the Han Chinese against the Uyghurs.
Commemorating the innocent lives destroyed by the Chinese barbarism and protesting against the Chinese government’s biased ethnic policies, which we believe to cause and fuel this kind of bloody racist attack on innocent Uyghurs, the WUC calls all Uyghur organizations around the world to organize protests in front of the Chinese embassies and consulates.
the protests will be in following locations:
in Germany
in front of the Chinese General Consulate in Munich,
(Romanstr.107, 80639 München)
At 15:30, on 3 July 2009 (Friday)
In Norway, Belgium, Sweden, Holland, Canada, USA, France, Turkey and Japan,
the demonstrations will be staged in following days.
From another Uyghur source:
http://www.uygur.org/wunn09/07_05.htm
ETIC CALL WORLD COMMUNITY TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST THE RACISM
2009-07-05
In June 29, 2009 more than 8000 Chinese workers attack 600 young Uyghur men and women at midnight wile Uyghurs were sleeping in their dormitory, killed 26 including women and injured 118 in Guang Dong toy factory. Those Uyghur men and women were brought to the Chinese factories for forced, cheap and slavery labor under the Chinese government forced relocation policy on Uyghurs. Each year millions of Uyghurs were forced transferred to inland China, mostly women and they replaced with millions of Han Chinese. Those Han Chinese were brought to Uyghur land was offered with free housing, cash and immediate job opportunity with good salary.
ETIC is closely monitoring human rights situation of Uyghurs in China through variety of Chinese state media and Uyghur sources. In June 29, Han Chinese workers attacked innocent Uyghur workers with metal pipes. The excuse for the attack was an unsubstantiated rumor posted on the Internet of the rape of two ethnic Chinese women.
“This is an example of how racial profiling leads to oppression of innocents Uyghurs” said Abdujelil Karakash , the president of ETIC “ Uyghurs relize this time, the Chinese communist government and Chinese people has no difference. They were both racist!”
Uyghurs in East Turkistan were uninformed by the truth of the news. Most of Uyghurs have no excess for the internet under the Chinese government strict internet control policy.
Chinese government is worrying Uyghurs revenge and intensified pressure again on Uyghurs. However, some Uyghur intellectuals who find out the truth, posted messages on Uyghur web sites in East Turkistan and call Chinese people to shame on their inhuman behavior. They also wrote that Uyghurs will not going to do such crime against humanity to take revenge.
ETIC strongly condemn China’s racist system that encouraged racism among Han Chinese against the Uyghurs and call world community to take action to protect Uyghur nation that in danger of being attack both Chinese government and Chinese people.
Bush didn’t say anything and neither will Obama. Too much money at stake — considering the Chinese are bankrolling the Iraq War as well as the stimulus package by buying our treasury notes. Of course, someday they may just want their money back.
I bet the Palestinians in Lebanon couldn't understand why nobody liked them either.
I have a hunch that the Uyghurs have not been good guests: just as muslims have not been good guests in Malmo, Beirut, hell anywhere. This whole thing could well be (brutal) push-back against Muslim depredations, and I'm going to suspend judgement.
Sounds a little like the 68 riots in Washington DC only with a government that isnt frightened to put it down.
I dont know the right and wrong of it, but rioting in China wont be tolerated. like it was here.
I know people who have met Uyghers and it’s pronounced more like “yoogers” or “ooogers”. Kind of inbetween those two pronunciations.
I was deployed to Uzbekistan; the Uzbeks regard Uighurs as a kindred people; both are Turkic and speak a language similar to modern Turkish.
They pronounce Uighur as “wee-goor”. I would have to agree that Uighurs are not the worst kind of Muslims; they are largely secularized like the Uzbeks and have suffered racist persecution at the hands of Han Chinese chauvinists who regard their own culture as superior to all others, including our own.
I once asked a lovely young Uzbek woman whether her hip hugger jeans and sleeveless top conformed to the dictates of Islam.
She replied, “We’re Muslims, but we’re not jerks about it!”
Felt very safe in Uzbekistan after that.
I don’t know who to root for in this one. On one hand, I love seeing Muzzies get waxed. On the other, this strengthens the ChiComs.
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