People Power

The businesswoman accused by Beijing of starting the riots blames China for oppressing the Uighur people.

By Melinda Liu | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Jul 8, 2009

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  • Posted By: localmichael @ 07/14/2009 9:23:41 AM

    Whatever China does, it is doomed to collapse just like the Soviets did. Its not just Uighuristan and Tibet; Cantonese do not like the Mandarins either.

    • Posted By: FreedomWatch4all @ 07/14/2009 11:02:34 AM

      Whatever the Moslems try to do Will Definitely fail. The free people of the World Will Not allow this bunch of terror loving fanatics set Civilisation back 900 years. What is a Moslem society ? Women have no rights, females must be shrouded in a Burqa. Females Must not talk to non-related Males or they get Stoned. Females are discouraged from education. Men are permitted to practise polygamy whereas a woman will be stoned to death for the same offence.

      Now why are the world's major trouble spots all related to Moslems ?

      • Posted By: localmichael @ 07/27/2009 5:43:32 PM

        FreedomWatch4all: You do not seem to care about the Freedom of Moslems in general and Uighurs in particular. So why are you using that nickname with "4all" ? Your nickname is very misleading, just like your comments which are called "misinformation" in "Chinese secret service" jargon as well.

  • Posted By: whaleydaih @ 07/11/2009 12:55:48 PM

    The current situation in Xingjiang has absolutely nothing to do with religion and discrimination as claimed by Rebiya Kadeer. Their brutal killings and genocidal acts against the non-Uighur and non-muslin race, including the Han have everything to do with their separatist movements that have been going on for the past several hundred years.

    The Uighurs officially became a part of China in late 1100s. They were the FIRST to submit at the power of the Great Genghis Khan in late 1100s thus became the first member of Genghis Khan's unified China.

    The administrative control from the central government did not change over the Uighur region for another several hundred years, although the Uighurs had always had non-stop conflicts with all other non-Uighur groups throughout history.

    To further enforce the central power over the Uighur regions and maintain China's unity, two of the Qing Dynasty emperors (of Manchurian race) Kangxi and Qianlong conducted famous military campaigns in late 1600s and late 1700s. It was during the Qianlong reign that the current Uighur region was named as the modern day Xinjiang.

    In the 19th century, Xinjiang became the battle ground of the "Great Game" when the British instigated some violent separatist movements with the Xinjiang Uighurs from the central Chinese government which was still non-Han Chinese.

    In 1930s, the Uighurs conducted horrific genocide that wiped out more than 300,000 Chinese live Xinjiang. Large number of Chinese were not seen throughout Xinjiang until the 1950s.

    The violence and genocidal acts against non-Uighurs last week in Urumqi was certainly not an isolated event. The Uighurs' long history of violence and killings of other racial groups throughout their history has been rooted deeply in their blood generations after generations in the past and will be in the future, no matter who is in charge of the central government of China for as long as China does not become an Islamic state.

    • Posted By: froy1100 @ 07/13/2009 7:17:03 AM

      Please, stop the Chinese propaganda. The Uighurs were part of the Mongol great coalition that, under the leadership of Genghis Khan, conquered not only China, but most of the known world. Xinjiang didn't become part of China, it was part of the Mongolian Empire, and part of the conquerors, not the conquered. Quite a different concept. After the fall of the Mongol Empire, Xinjiang remained dominated by different Mongol and Turkic tribes, never by the Chinese. The Manchu emperors did annex Xinjiang into their empire, but they never allowed their Han subjects to settle the territory, just like happened in Manchuria, Mongolia and Tibet. By the fall of the Qing, Han Chinese represented less than 7% of the population of Xinjiang. It was the policies of massive immigration, first with Mao, and then in the 80s, that dramatically changed the demographic configuration of the Uighur homeland, fueling deep resentment among the locals, that periodically flares up in incidents like those of last week.

      Until Chna finally decides to address the root issues of the Uighur conflict, ending discrimination and repression, and granting true autonomy to the province, we'll see more violent episodes in the future.

      Check out this article in the NY Times about Xinjiang's top party leader, Wang Lequan: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/11/world/asia/11xinjiang.html?pagewanted=2&ref=weekinreview

      • Posted By: whaleydaih @ 07/13/2009 3:35:07 PM

        "The Uighurs were part of the Mongol great coalition??? conquered not only China, but most of the known world???" it's just too bad this fantasy was never realized!

        I am sure that you want to deny this authoritative book on Mongol history, called The Secret History of Mongols written by the Mongols themselves. Everyone should read this book because it tells how the Uighurs became the subject of the Mongols after Jamuqa's brutality in that region (read the book to see who he is), how the Uighurs submitted themselves at the foot of the Great Genghis Khan and became the first member of Genghis Khan's unified China. Later, how much the Mongols deeply despised and detested the Uighurs for mostly same reasons that modern day non-Uighurs feel, and the Uighurs call those reasons discrimination nowadays.

        Serious academia and all of the authoritative Mongolists in the world understand the above statements. Your spread of lies about the Uighurs' relations with the Mongols just discredited yourself of everything else you say. I guess it's hard to deal with the fact that the Uighurs have always been a subject of various great powers in China throughout history.

        • Posted By: froy1100 @ 07/14/2009 2:13:17 AM

          Whaleydaih, the Uighurs submitted themselves at the foot of Genghis Khan just like all the other nomad tribes north of the Great Wall to create the great Mongol Empire, NOT unified China. In fact, this great coalition of nomadic peoples was the one that, after unifying under Genghis's command set to conquer China. The Uighurs were among the warriors that conquered China and most of the then-known world. Unlike the Chinese emperors, the Uighurs were not defeated in war and submitted to a humiliating subjugation. They voluntarily joined Genghis Khan along with the other tribes (not that they had much choice) in his conquering quest. Actually, if you like so much Mongol history, you should know that it was the Uyghurs who taught their script to the Mongols, to create their very first written Mongolian script.

          I wonder where do you get your "serious academia and authoritative Mongolists" to support such notions as that "Mongols deeply despised and detested the Uighurs for mostly the same reasons that modern day non-Uighurs feel, and the Uighurs call those reasons discrimination nowadays". Probably from some Beijing university where they spend their time trying hard to prove Xinjiang's "inalienability" from China, and design domination policies, along with those in Tibet.

          Most probably, if Mongols distrusted in some way Uighurs, it was for the complete opposite reasons to the racist Chinese's: Mongol warriors respected strength and fighting skills above all, and literate people and scholars always looked to them suspicious. Uighurs at the time were "too Chinese" for the Mongols.

          • Posted By: whaleydaih @ 07/14/2009 10:35:58 AM

            I sympathize your identity complex which obviously interferes with your capability of learning and accepting your true cultural heritage. I guess I'd just waste my time to recommend even more serious history books to you as you will never accept them.

            By the way, I only read books in English that are written by serious academia, not some flashy charlatan with geopolitical agenda. Can you do that too? Maybe not.

            • Posted By: froy1100 @ 07/14/2009 11:12:25 PM

              Nice analysis, Freud, but you got all worked up for nothing. My cultural heritage has nothing to do with this. I'm not even Asian, so go figure.

              Feel free to recommend all the books you like, though.

              • Posted By: FreedomWatch4all @ 07/15/2009 11:38:47 AM

                You are a Clueless, moslem loving , terrorist symphathiser, froy. No if or buts. Explain wny the majority of trouble spots in the world are related to Moslems.

      • Posted By: ipfreak @ 07/13/2009 10:40:55 AM

        so your version of the history of xinjiang started in 12th century. have you heard of han dynasty? back then, there was not even the religion of islam...

        pathetic, at most...

        • Posted By: froy1100 @ 07/13/2009 12:54:11 PM

          Han dynasty just established a few military garrisons there. The population living there was ethnically closer to the Uighurs (altaic-speaking nomad tribes) than to the Han. Not exactly what I call "inalienable part of China". And in any case, the following dynasty (Jin) lost control of it, and China never truly regained it into until the Qing, which, as I said, kept it pretty much separated from the Han Chinese.

  • Posted By: jbz7879 @ 07/15/2009 11:25:02 AM

    this woman and her quandary is a disgrace to intellect -and the media that projects her is just as degenerate -
    THY CANNOT SEE THE MISERY AND TYRANNY OF INDIA ON MUSLIM KASHMIR YET A CIA CREATED RIOT BY A WICKED WENCH BECOMES WORTHY OF THY WASTE -
    WOEBEGONE -NEWSWEEK -WHISK AWAY

  • Posted By: ipfreak @ 07/14/2009 11:15:39 PM

    As The Times stood outside what is left of No 447 Zhongwan Street, a Han neighbour approached. She had watched the killings from her home in an apartment block overlooking the store.

    ???We saw hundreds of Uighurs running down the street on the afternoon of July 5. About ten suddenly rushed into the store. They began to hit the people inside, even the old mother, with bricks and stones. They tried to run outside. Then they were dragged back inside.

    ???There were terrible screams. Just wordless screams. But then very quickly they fell silent.???

    She said that the son tried to hide in a chicken coop but was dragged out and his head was cut off. All the victims were left to burn inside the building. The corpses of the boy and his father were found beheaded. Mr Yu said: ???Even the 84-year-old mother was stoned and then burnt. It was terrible, terrible. So cruel.???


    i guess those be headed han chinese were in the way of those "freedom longing" terrorists.

  • Posted By: whaleydaih @ 07/13/2009 5:55:44 PM

    I am confused by the Uighurs' claim of Han-Chinese discrimination because there is no one can dispute the following facts that are written within the Chinese government's minority policy:

    1) Any non-Han Chinese, including the Uighurs and the Tibetans, can have as many children as they want while the Han Chinese couples can have only one child. Rebiya Kadeer herself cannot even dispute this fact as she has dozens of children and grand children.
    2) With their birth rights, all ethnic (non-Han) Chinese children are all automatically entitled to massive additional score points added which put them way ahead of the Han Chinese children at college admissions.
    3) Once in college, again with their birth rights, all ethnic (non-Han) Chinese children are all automatically entitled to have living stipend throughout their college years.
    4) Upon college graduation, in provinces like Xinjiang, companies' hiring quota of the Uighurs must be 60% at the minimum which puts all other ethnics in the remaining 40%.
    5) If an ethnic (non-Han) Chinese operates a business, again with their birth rights, all ethnic (non-Han) Chinese are all automatically entitled to have certain tax and business loan privileges that the Han Chinese cannot have. As a former businesswoman, Rebiya Kadeer herself cannot even dispute this fact.
    6) The Chinese government has been providing financial support for massive construction of monasteries and mosques throughout China in recent years. Any Uighurs in Xinjiang can tell you this fact.


    Too often, many people at Corporate America use religion or play the race card for job advancement. Undoubtedly, what'd stop the Uighurs or the Tibetans of their political movements and violence?

    • Posted By: froy1100 @ 07/14/2009 2:37:55 AM

      Perhaps because:

      1) All top decision-making posts in Xinjiang's CCP are in the hands of Han Chinese, the general policies concerning Xinjiang are decided in Beijing and the common Uighurs don't have much say in that decision-making process.

      2) Uighur language is no longer taught in schools beyond grammar school (sometimes not even there)

      3) Ancient Uighur cities like Kashgar, Khotan and Ghulja are being demolished and supplanted by drab modern Chinese shopping centers. Over 80% of Kashgar ancient city has already vanished.

      4) Han businessmen control most big companies in Xinjiang, and tend to hire only Han Chinese

      5) Chinese authorities arrest, torture and publicly execute anyone daring to support Xinjiang's independence or confront local authorities (Xinjiang being one of the few places in China where public executions still take place, sometimes even forcing local people to assist to the show).

      6) Religious practice in Xinjiang is strictly monitored and controlled by the state.

      7) Chinese Han continuously treat Uighurs in a most despising and racist manner all around China.

      8) Turkic-speaking muslim Central-Asian Uighurs feel that they have absolutely nothing in common with Mandarin-speaking Buddhist/atheist/whatever east-Asian Chinese.

      I could go on, but I think the point is clear. It would be difficult to find out why Uighurs WOULD WANT to be Chinese.

  • Posted By: maxwill_ma @ 07/14/2009 2:15:57 AM

    hi man.now is in financial crisis,Uygur mobs take the chance to express greivance.it is just as simple as the riots happened in Paris and other reigns.

  • Posted By: Hamilton Dekoff @ 07/14/2009 1:52:06 AM

    Using Melinda Liu, an ethnic Chinese, to conduct this interview gives Newsweek the appearance of objectivity it so desperately seeks. This interview was framed in a way to cast China, or the Chinese government to be precise, as a villain, a usual ploy of western media.

    Melinda, you have a brother who was born and raised in China, and why don???t you ask his opinion about XinJiang. Perhaps he can even do an informal survey for Newsweek by asking his friends and acquaintances and Chinese people general in his hometown about their opinion on the XinJiang matter generally, and on the riot specifically. We want to hear unbiased and undistorted grass roots journalism, if there is such a thing, on the Uighur riot.

    Melinda, we know you have masters in New York who need to be please. They cannot accept a socialist country under the leadership of a communist government to be successful. They want to force their ideologies on the Chinese people, and have been trying since 1949. We know this.

    As a journalist, there will come a time when conscience and journalism ethics are paramount, and innocent lives will not succumb to political ideology. This is that time. Melinda, stand up to your masters, report the riot as is, and tell them that the American people deserve to know the truth, the whole truth, and selective truth.

    May the spirits of Han victims rest in peace!

  • Posted By: jpkou @ 07/13/2009 9:39:07 PM

    This woman is a LIAR. She gave false evidence to make her accusation. Shame on her!

    http://news.ifeng.com/mainland/special/wulumuqisaoluan/fenxipinglun/200907/0709_7230_1242040.shtml

  • Posted By: ipfreak @ 07/13/2009 6:02:27 PM

    two terrorists were killed by the cops. the chinese cops had strange and laughable rules of not allowing cops fighting back. it is the time for cops to neforce the laws, not matter who the criminals are!!!

    cops in china are too weak. they should have used force to stop those violent drunk drivers, violent street gangs and terrorist long time ago...

  • Posted By: ipfreak @ 07/13/2009 5:52:51 PM

    "There are calls for a bigger role for Asian countries, such as China", haha, you must be seriously delusional. G-8 club? where did you see china ever interested in that?

  • Posted By: lixsl20 @ 07/13/2009 1:10:41 PM

    There are calls for a bigger role for Asian countries, such as China, in international institutions to avert obscelescence e.g. the G-8. However, China needs to develop more politically and morally before it can take a leadership role in the world. Then again, exposing it to more international scrutiny may help the process. Have a look at www.asiachroniclenews.com for a good analysis.

  • Posted By: FreedomWatch4all @ 07/13/2009 11:45:42 AM

    Rush Limbaugh, the conscience of the Republican party said it best. Moslems CANNOT be trusted. Moslems are trying their darndest to take civilisation back 800 years. A case in point, is there an advanced moslem nation in the world today ? Their greatest contribution to modern society is Terror.

    • Posted By: FreedomWatch4all @ 07/13/2009 12:01:40 PM

      FRANCE and GERMANY prevented TURKEY from joining EU because the French and Germans did not Trust Moslems. 15% of France's and Germany's population are Moslems and they are nothing but trouble. Remember the riots in Paris and Marseilles ? or the rise of the neo-nazis against Turks and Moslems in Germany ?

  • Posted By: jbz7879 @ 07/13/2009 7:02:06 AM

    every single practicing muslim in -UK-USA AND FRANCE FEELS OPRESSED AND LIKE ME CAN TELL YOU HUNDREDS OF HORRIBLE STORIES OF DENIAL, OF BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS AND RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION -
    AND I AM WHITE AND BORN AND BRED WITH A SILVER SPOON -
    SO MISS QADEER

    U DO NOT MAKE ANY SENSE

  • Posted By: FreedomWatch4all @ 07/11/2009 11:44:13 AM

    Yea right, Moslems are peace loving people. Moslems Killing Moslems in Afghanistan, Pakistan, IRAQ, IRAN, Indonesia, Palestine, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, India, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia... The list goes on. Need i say more ?

    • Posted By: froy1100 @ 07/13/2009 6:58:28 AM

      Yes, nevermind the hundreds of moslems killed by American drones in Pakistan during wedding parties, the thousands of moslems killed by Israeli (actually American-made-and-paid) F-16 in Gaza, the moslems killed by American soldiers and mercenaries in Iraq, or the Uigur moslems killed by the Chinese. It surely is the moslem's fault, that they get killed en masse by these peace-loving non-moslems.

    • Posted By: judymac @ 07/12/2009 7:04:08 AM

      Some three-quarters of the victims of the violence in China's Xinjiang region were ethnic Han Chinese, official figures show according to BBC news. This must be another Chinese spin!

      • Posted By: FreedomWatch4all @ 07/12/2009 11:55:55 AM

        Judymac, clearly you are a moslem terrorist lover. Bet you enjoy being subjugated in a moslem society, where if you so much as glance or talk to an unrelated male, you get stoned. Bet you enjoy being 2nd class citizen too as all females are in an Islamic society. You also no doubt enjoy being shrouded in a Burqa since Islamic society demands it.

  • Posted By: whaleydaih @ 07/12/2009 11:21:39 AM

    The U.S public all know that there are still a number of Uighur terrorists currently in the lock up at Guantanamo Bay. The political and financial connections between the Uighur terrorists and their Uncle Osama are well known by Washington and the CIA.

    However, the fact that Rebiya Kadeer currently is allowed to live in Washington DC and directs her freedom fighters' terrorist movements in China provides an "interesting" view on the Sino-U.S. relations.

    The President of Turkey just offered Rebiya Kadeer a visa to live in Turkey which sends a clear signal that Rebiya Kadeer knows her days in the U.S. depend on the climate of Sino-U.S. relations. So just in case that the U.S. may just dump her for some material exchange with China she'd have a Plan B to relocate her Terrorist Command Center.

  • Posted By: Dainzin Gyaco @ 07/12/2009 10:15:50 AM

    The tile should be changed as " the evil power of the terrorists".

  • Posted By: Dainzin Gyaco @ 07/12/2009 10:11:23 AM

    I remebered there were 300-400 Ugihur terrorists in Al Quata troop who fighted with US troops during Afgan war years before. The predecessor of Rebiya was killed by Pakistan troops years ago. She is still useful to US, but they will break up sooner or later. Those terrorists are insatiable forever.

  • Posted By: mkf1 @ 07/11/2009 10:31:14 PM

    Rebiya Kadeer is clearly an instrument of the CIA, paid to provoke riots in China.

  • Posted By: karaswart @ 07/11/2009 11:39:34 AM

    Pakistan keeps harping on about Kashmir. But not a word in support of the Uighurs!!

  • Posted By: FreedomWatch4all @ 07/11/2009 11:12:06 AM

    Dana Rorabacher, Congressman from southern Californiia is now supporting the Head terrorist, Rebiya Kadeer. Folks if you must know something about Rohrabacher, he is one of the Most Corrupt politician in Washington. His closest ally was Jack Abramoff. Dana also referred to the Taliban as Peace Loving people. Dana also said 911 was Clinton's fault and Not Al Qaeda/Taliban. In summary, Dana is a moslem terrorist symphatiser.

    • Posted By: FreedomWatch4all @ 07/11/2009 11:19:19 AM

      Oh yea, Bill Delahunt, congressman from MA, another supporter of the Moslem terrorist, Rebiya Kadeer. Delahunt went to kiss Hugo Chavez's ass , dictator of Venezuela when Venezuela was on Bush's "terrorist nations" watch list .
      Read about what Limbaugh said about Delahunt.

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