Word: uighur
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...first days after the riot, China's state media was filled with scenes of young Uighur men smashing buses and attacking pedestrians. After thousands of Han gathered to retaliate on Tuesday, the official press has shifted to a narrative of racial harmony, running stories of Uighurs who protected Han during the rioting. But despite the façade of unity, many fear the anger will inevitably bubble up again. "Of course it will continue," says a 71-year-old Han retiree who lives near Xinjiang University in the far south of Urumqi, where Uighur rioters smashed shops and cars...
...Uighur residents also fear further hostility. "There will be more conflict in the future," says a 25-year-old Uighur man sitting by a mosque in the Nanmen district, where the southern Uighur district abuts Urumqi's downtown. "Everyone has seen the images of Uighur attacking Han, but no one knows about Han attacking Uighur...
...Chinese officials blame the violence on Rebiya Kadeer, a Uighur businesswoman and rights activist who now lives in the U.S. False rumors that Uighur workers raped Han women at a factory in coastal Guangdong province led to a riot there in late June, during which two Uighur workers were killed. The Chinese government says Kadeer used Uighur anger over that incident to foment the riot in Urumqi. She denies the charge and says a heavy-handed police response to a peaceful Uighur protest calling for a speedier investigation into the Guangdong deaths on Sunday led to the violence. (Read...
...Blaming an overseas figure - a strategy that was also employed after the deadly riots in Tibet in March 2008, which China says were masterminded by the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader - helps authorities dissipate anger that might be directed at Uighur citizens in Xinjiang. When thousands of revenge-minded Han formed on Tuesday, Urumqi's Communist Party Secretary Li Zhi rushed to the scene and led them in chants against Kadeer. But while she makes a good target, Kadeer's significance to the average Uighur is limited. "They talk about Rebiya, but what does she have...
...Uighurs across Xinjiang complain about job discrimination and the influx of Han migrants. But in Urumqi, where they are outnumbered 5-to-1 by Han Chinese, their most immediate concern is safety. Thousands of paramilitary troops are preserving an unsteady peace, but for some that is not enough. "I'm afraid of people fighting each other," says a 22-year-old Uighur college student. He longs to go to another city in Xinjiang where the Uighur population is larger. "I want to go to Kashgar, Khotan or Aksu where it is safe. Right now a lot of people are leaving...