![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/a5.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The Uyghur American Association (UAA) calls on Chinese authorities to
\nguarantee the safety of all people in East Turkestan, also known as
\nXinjiang, in the wake of fresh unrest in the regional capital of
\nUrumchi.<\/p>\n
According to a report[i] issued by Reuters quoting an eyewitness, up
\nto 3,000 Han Chinese gathered in People?s Square in Urumchi on
\nSeptember 3, 2009 to demand the resignation of Xinjiang Communist
\nParty Secretary, Wang Lequan. The protest was prompted by rumors of a
\nspate of stabbings in Urumchi, in which victims have been allegedly
\ninjured by syringes. The assembled protestors were upset that
\nCommunist officials had done little to protect citizens against such
\nattacks. According to the eyewitness interviewed by Reuters,
\nprotestors shouted slogans such as: ?Resign Wang Lequan, the
\ngovernment is useless!? and ?Wang Lequan apologize to the Xinjiang
\npeople?. Mr. Wang was seen to address the protestors and to reassure
\nthem that action was being taken. Mr. Wang stated that 30 arrests had
\noccurred in relation to the alleged stabbings, a figure which
\ncontradicts numbers[ii] from the official Chinese media. Protestors
\nwere also reported to have thrown objects, such as bottles, at Mr.
\nWang as he spoke.<\/p>\n
The Reuters report also related eyewitness accounts which described
\nthe beating of Uyghurs, as well as the destruction of Uyghur-owned
\nbusinesses in Urumchi by Han Chinese during the day of the protest. A
\nUyghur, who was suspected of carrying out one of the alleged
\nstabbings, was beaten so severely that he was taken to the hospital
\naccording to a resident. Officials at the regional health office
\nstated that in the past two weeks 476 people, of which 433 are Han
\nChinese, have gone to hospitals in Urumchi with complaints stemming
\nfrom the alleged stabbings. However, a lack of confirmable information
\nsurrounds the reports of stabbings and Human Rights Watch expert,
\nNicholas Becquelin, is quoted in the Reuters report as stating that
\n[t]hese kinds of rumors do happen in China after unrest?[t]here?s
\nalways bizarre rumors that spread after violence.?<\/p>\n
In a statement, Uyghur democracy leader, Rebiya Kadeer, said: ?I call
\non Chinese officials to guarantee the security of all people living in
\nEast Turkestan, including Uyghurs and Han Chinese. I also call on the
\nChinese Communist Party to act quickly so as to prevent the escalation
\nof Han Chinese attacks against Uyghur civilians.? She added: ?It is
\ndisappointing that Wang Lequan did not listen to the legitimate
\ngrievances of Uyghur protestors when asked to on July 5th. Such a move
\nwould have significantly eased tensions in East Turkestan. Wang
\nLequan’s public apology to Han Chinese protestors and the mere fact
\nthat Han Chinese protestors were permitted to voice their concerns
\nshows that the Chinese authorities are applying a double standard. A
\nprecondition for peaceful coexistence between Uyghurs and Han Chinese
\nis the resignation of Wang Lequan, leading to the appointment of
\nmoderate officials, who understand the legitimate grievances of the
\nUyghur people and the needs of the Han Chinese.?<\/p>\n
The unrest in Urumchi comes during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in
\nwhich a number of restrictions have been placed on Uyghur worshippers.
\nUAA believes that the restrictions imposed by Chinese authorities have
\nonly exacerbated tensions in East Turkestan. The restrictions[iii]
\ninclude restaurants forced to open during the daylight fasting period,
\npressure exerted on government workers of Uyghur ethnicity to sign
\n?letters of responsibility? promising to avoid fasting, and a state-
\nled campaign to offer free food to government employees during the
\nhours of the fast.<\/p>\n
The imposition of restrictions on religious activity during Ramadan is
\na recurring source of tension among Uyghurs. The Uyghur Human Rights
\nProject reported[iv] that 2008 saw ?an unprecedented tightening of
\nreligious control throughout East Turkestan. Students and government
\nemployees were not permitted to fast during Ramadan or attend mosques
\nin general. Restaurants were also forced to open during fasting hours.?<\/p>\n
UAA urges Chinese authorities to remove the restrictions placed upon
\nUyghurs during Ramadan as a first step in addressing Chinese
\ngovernment policy failures towards Uyghurs and in improving the
\npolitical climate in East Turkestan. UAA also urges the Chinese
\ngovernment to talk with Uyghur democracy leader, Rebiya Kadeer, and
\nwith the World Uyghur Congress to seek ways to ease current tensions
\nin East Turkestan and to discuss the realization of human rights and
\ndemocracy in the region.<\/p>\n
ttp:\/\/tibettruth.wordpress.com\/2009\/09\/05\/1890\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Uyghur American Association (UAA) calls on Chinese authorities to guarantee the safety of all people in East Turkestan, also known as Xinjiang, in the wake of fresh unrest in the regional capital of Urumchi. According to a report[i] issued by Reuters quoting an eyewitness, up to 3,000 Han Chinese gathered in People?s Square in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":14592,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[146,922],"tags":[2180,1874,2174,2181,1856,1878,1884,2175,2179,2176,2182,370,2177,2160,2178],"class_list":["post-14591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-china","category-world","tag-beating-of-uyghurs","tag-chinese-authorities","tag-chinese-protestors","tag-destruction-of-uyghur-owned-businesses","tag-east-turkestan","tag-han-chinese","tag-rebiya-kadeer","tag-syringes","tag-the-protest","tag-the-uyghur-american-association","tag-uaa","tag-uighurs","tag-urumchi","tag-wang-lequan","tag-xinjiang-communist-party-secretary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}