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Thursday, February 09, 2012
July 7, 2009

Our Man in Xinjiang

BAGnewsNotes contributer Alan Chin, who has been in China for the past month, filed these photos and brief report this afternoon on the ethnic violence in Xinjiang.


Urumqi, Xinjiang, China

7/7/09 AM

I caught up with a government press tour this morning at the same time a group of several hundred Uighur women were protesting against their men being detained. It was a tense scene with the women screaming and yelling and the police deploying in force. It seemed to disperse peacefully but it was unclear what would happen next as we were herded away.

The amount of property damage and destroyed vehicles seems very small compared to the government claim of 150+ dead and 800+ wounded. Of course there may be worse areas that I haven’t been able to access. But compared to aftermath of other riots (with much less loss of life), the destruction here seems slight.

Saw some young men being searched and ID’d outside Xinjiang University where there were apparently many arrests.

7/7/09 PM

The sense of almost-normalcy disappeared by afternoon as thousands of Han Chinese with metal and wood sticks and clubs headed to attack the Uighur neighborhood.

I could only get as far as the edge of the Muslim Quarter where the PAP and police turned the crowd pack with tear gas, truncheons, and somewhat friendly entreaties to go home. General Secretary of the Urumqi Communist Party Li Zhi spoke with a loudspeaker to the mob standing on top of a SUV, blaming the crisis on exiled Uighur activists and stressing Chinese unity.

Some of the crowd had gotten into the Uighur area before though; unknown how much damage they were able to cause before police dealt with them. I did not see police arrest or disarm anybody; they just wanted to disperse the crowd.

What was odd about the crowd was that it included young women as well as young men, brandishing makeshift weapons.

Don’t know what tomorrow will be like; night curfew is about to start soon.
(images: Alan Chin 2009, Xinjiang, China. See photo gallery for captions.)

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  • http://www.gongshangfa.com Rhodo Zeb

    Please be careful Alan, the situation there is so disorganized and dangerous. I would not be surprised if the authorities don’t go way, way overboard. In multiple ways, of course.
    I suppose it is not necessary to mention that. I am just very concerned about where this is going. With the 60th anniversary coming and all…it is always a sensitive time, you know. Always.
    And when you get back to Shanghai, please do look me up.

  • 何健（China）

    　　我（何健）不是个纯民族主义者。中华民族从来都不是一个真正的民族。中国是多民族的国家。我（何健）同情被压迫的少数民族。作为汉人，我（何健）尊重少数民族的民族自决权。我（何健）也是国际主义者。我（何健）绝不是一个空想家！
    ——摘自《何健语录》，欢迎转载，谢谢支持！

  • Alan Chin

    translation of above comment, from the http://www.mdbg.net translator:
    　I (Arthur) is not a pure nationalists. The Chinese nation has never been a true nation. China is a multi-ethnic country. I (Arthur) was in sympathy with the oppressed minority. As a Chinese, I am (Arthur) Respect for national self-determination of ethnic minorities. I (Arthur) is internationalist. I (Arthur) is not an ideologue!
    - Excerpt from “Quotations from Chairman Arthur”, welcome to reprint, I would like to thank the support!

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