An electronic newsletter Produced by the Eastern Turkistan Information Center No: 30 21 March 1997 In this issue: (1) AMNESTY CALLS FOR RESTRAINT FROM CHINA OVER XINJIANG UNREST
(2) ETHNIC TENSION BARES STATE'S FAILURE IN REGIONALISM ISSUE
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(ADDS detail on arrests, warning to Turkey) BEIJING - Amnesty International Saturday called for restraint from China as it puts down a spate of racial rioting and bomb attacks in the troubled Moslem-majority region of Xinjiang. "We call on the Chinese authorities to refrain from using the death penalty against anybody tried in connection with the recent ethnic unrest in the northwest region of Xinjiang," the London-based organization said in a fax received in Beijing. "The authorities should disclose the names of and charges against all detainees, ensure they are not subject to torture and provide a public and fair trial." Long-standing racial tension in Xinjiang exploded into violence in early February when around 1,000 ethnic Uighurs took to the streets in a town bordering Kazakhstan and called for independence from China. Official sources say nine people were killed and 300 initially detained, but unofficial sources put the death toll as high as 70, with more than 1,000 detained. Three weeks later, three bombs exploded on public buses in the regional capital of Urumqi, and killed nine, according to official figures. Chinese authorities have only admitted to 15 arrests, nine involving the bus bombings and six involving the riots. But the United Revolutionary National Front (URNF), a Uighur separatist organization in exile in Kazakhstan, said Chinese authorities were set to execute 10 young Uighur sympathisers on March 20 in Urumqi. The 10 were involved in the riots that rocked the border town of Yining in February, it said. Sources in Yining earlier said Chinese retribution for the rioting had been swift and around 100 people had been executed almost immediately following summary trials. "Amnesty International is calling on the Chinese authorities to release anyone who is not to be charged for a recognisable criminal offence in accordance with international standards," the group said. "It does not condone violence and recognises the right of governments to punish people involved in criminal and violent activities, but it believes that this rule should be applied equally to people in positions of authority," it added. According to exiled opposition groups quoted by Amnesty, the ethnic rioting in Yining was sparked by an incident in the Ayden district of the town when several armed policemen stormed a mosque on January 27 and attempted to disperse a group of 15 Moslem women who had gone there to pray. Police said the meeting was an "illegal gathering," local residents started to fight with the police and tensions spread through the town over the next week until a full-scale riot ensued. Other local sources said the unrest was triggered by the execution of 30 young Uighurs on January 31. Turkey has already expressed its concern at the scale of China's retribution and urged Beijing to "act prudently" over racial unrest. "We have told them (China) that many living there are our relatives and that we will always be interested in those people's welfare," Turkish Defense Minister Turhan Tayan said. "Our government is and will continue to be sensitive over the plight of our Turkic and Moslem brothers throughout the world," Tayan added. But China responded swiftly by warning Turkey to stop interfering in its internal affairs. "The affairs of Xinjiang are purely China's internal affairs," a foreign ministry spokesman said. "There is no need for others to make any irresponsible remarks about this." Some 37 percent of Xinjiang's population is made up of ethnic Han Chinese, nearly all of whome have been moved to the region since the communist party took control of China in 1949. (2) ETHNIC TENSION BARES STATE'S FAILURE IN REGIONALISM ISSUE
(Provided by Bill Mitchell) By Willy Wo-Lap Lam While ethnic tension is a root cause of the Xinjiang imbroglio, recent convulsions in the autonomous region have exposed Beijing's failure to hammer out a thorough solution to the scourge of regionalism. The long-standing struggle between the zhongyang ("central party and government leadership") and the regions topped the agenda of the just-ended National People's Congress, which provided the backdrop for marathon series of meetings between Beijing leaders and the "warlords". Given the Xinjiang troubles, it is understandable the local chieftains should have openly toed the party line about the "absolute imperative" of maintaining order and abiding by the zhongyang's instructions. In internal sessions with central leaders, however, the representatives from ethnic-minority areas had made proposals which could be characterized as "you give us autonomy and we guarantee you stability". The boldest of the warlords' demands was that members of ethnic minorities be appointed heads of Communist Party committees. In the Chinese hierarchy, the party boss of a province or city outranks the governor or mayor. In areas such as Xinjiang, Tibet and Inner Mongolia the positions of the party secretaries of these autonomous regions have, except for a few instances, never gone to a native Uighur, Kazakh, Tibetan or Mongolian. This is despite the fact that especially at the middle echelons, strides have been taken in grooming members of minorities for both party and government positions. Particularly in the tinderbox regions of Xinjiang and Tibet, a key task of the Han-Chinese party secretary -- together with the Han Chinese heads of the local army and People's Armed Police regiments -- is to fight "splittist" activities. Much of the classified information and intelligence about Beijing's game-plan against pro-independence groupings is privy only to the party bosses -- who are also responsible for liaison with the politburo and other top cadres in the capital. This archaic system, however, has resulted in sloppy decision making and communication hold ups. Advocates for vesting more power in ethnic-minority officials have alleged that this would not only raise morale but promote efficiency in administration, including the "struggle against splittism". Also in recent conclaves in the capital, leaders from several western and northwestern provinces pressed Beijing for "Hong Kong style autonomy". According to a party source, these brash cadres were telling the zhongyang: "If Beijing is willing to give Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy under 'one country, two systems', we should have comparable powers." The warlords contended that the central and western areas had become laggards in development because of "decades of neglect" from the zhongyang -- and only a radical solution such as giving them Hong Kong-style autonomy could bridge the gap between coast and hinterland. The source pointed out the western regions' bid for power was first made last year, when the party secretaries of seven provinces wrote a petition to the politburo asking for a radical devolution of authority. Beijing, however, is hard put to cede the warlords more leeway. A Chinese source said the politburo standing committee was considering giving the party secretaries of Xinjiang and Tibet more authority to handle the anti-splittist campaigns on the spot. However, he said, this had made it even more difficult for the leadership to consider breaking with tradition and appointing a Uighur or Tibetan to be party boss. As for requests for a socio-economic new deal, zhongyang leaders claimed that the central and western areas were already vouchsafed the bulk of national development funds -- as well as aid dollars from international agencies. On a per capita level, Tibet was the biggest recipient of such largesse last year. Beijing has continued to turn down applications to set up special economic zones in interior areas. However, officials have alleged that major cities in the western areas exercise practically the same autonomous powers in doing business or forming ventures with foreign corporations. Beijing has also liberalised border trade for most cities along the frontier. Until the ethnic problems boiled over in early 1996, Xinjiang had enjoyed more latitude in trading and other links with Middle Eastern countries as well as former members of the Soviet Union. Moreover, family planning authorities have largely relaxed the one-child stricture for Uighurs, Kazakhs and Tibetans. An internal publication recently pointed out Xinjiang had the highest birth rate among all provinces last year. At this stage, said diplomatic analysts in Beijing, the leadership was at a loss on how to untangle the knot. As with past crises affecting stability, the gut reaction of the senior cadres was to play hardball. After all, the late party chief Hu Yaobang received flak for the series of anti-Beijing protests that rocked Tibet in 1986 and 1987. A few years earlier, Hu had proposed a more benign policy towards Tibetans, including monks with "anti-government attitudes". The analysts said the leadership of President Jiang Zemin was not swayed by arguments that the upsurge of violence in Xinjiang had been triggered by a Beijing order in 1996 to "kill off the splittist terrorists". That get-tough instruction had reportedly exacerbated Han-Uighur tension because of the large numbers of separatists that had been arrested -- and in many cases executed -- in the interim. Moderate scholars working on issues of regionalism and ethnic minorities in units such as thinktanks under the party Central Committee and the Central Party School have contended that Beijing must bite the bullet by putting together formal laws and institutions on power-sharing between the zhongyang and the province. Owing to the spate of unrest in Xinjiang and Tibet, a long- standing proposal to write into law the exact powers to which the autonomous regions of Tibet, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Guangxi are entitled has been shelved. The scholars pointed out while the concept of "federalism with Chinese characteristics" was too sensitive, a Law on the powers of autonomous regions could dispel hostility between Han Chinese and minorities in areas including migration and economic aid. Such a statute would oblige Beijing to give local leaders a big say on contentious issues such as the numbers of Han-Chinese settlers in the regions; the share of profits from the exploitation of oil and other minerals; and the level of transfer payments and development funds from the capital. Prepared by: Abdulrakhim Aitbayev (rakhim@lochbrandy.mines.edu) WUNN newsletter index*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= The World Uyghur Network News electronic newsletter is produced by the Eastern Turkistan Information Center (ETIC) in cooperation with the Taklamakan Uighur Human Rights Association (USA), and is devoted to the current political, cultural and economic developments in Eastern Turkistan and to the Uyghur people related issues. Eastern Turkistan (Sherqiy Turkistan in Uyghur) is a name used by the indigenous people of the region for their motherland located in what is at present the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic China. The World Uyghur Network News brings information on situation in Eastern Turkistan from the Uyghur and other sources to the attention of the international community. *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= EASTERN TURKISTAN INFORMATION CENTER |