Ethnic strife in Chinese Xinjiang region

China does not have the strongest record of treating the ethnic minorities of its country with much respect.  Many of the violations either border on human rights abuses or cross that line.  One of these minorities is the native people of Xinjiang, the Uighur.  This time the mistreatment has led to a death toll of 21.

As per the “official” story, the trouble began when officials were searching homes within an Uighur community of Xinjiang.  Their apparent goal was the finding of weapons that were believed to be hidden there.  The task force reported back to their higher-ups that they’d found some suspicious people.  After this, the group was taken hostage by suspected terrorists.  Afterward, police showed up to investigate the issue and a fight ensued.  Three Uighur and the hostages were killed and the police were chased into a house that was then set on fire.

The Chinese government and media are reporting the incident as a planned terrorist attack, though the official account is somewhat questionable.  Conflict between the Muslim Uighur, who make up approximately 45 percent of the population in Xinjiang, and Chinese living in the region is nothing new. 

The year 2009 saw nearly 200 people dead during one riot.  It would be no surprise if the violence of this last week was a spontaneous incident that was coming to a head for some time and triggered by police searching the houses of disgruntled citizens.  According to a representative of the Uighur community, this was likely a result of a previous incident in which a young Uighur was killed by Chinese police.

For now, the blame game continues, although the Chinese government has their state-run media on their side.  The government will persist in blaming Uighur extremists, lest the true measure of the troubles in the region be exposed.  This is not a new tactic, as the Uighur have been consistently linked to terrorism in China. 

Reports from elsewhere on the globe say that the Uighur have problems getting even their basic freedoms under Chinese law.  This sort of treatment will not only encourage individual dissent, but creates a prime breeding ground for organized terrorism as well.  It’s the familiar story of an oppressed people turning to desperate solutions and a government that prefers the use of violence to solve the problem rather than relying on diplomacy.

Uighur girls photo courtesy of The Gimp via Wikicommons