Press Release Brussels, 19 October 2001. As President George W. Bush met with Chinese and other Asian and Pacific leaders in Shanghai, the East Turkestan National Congress (ETNC), meeting in Brussels on 18 and 19 October, appealed to world leaders to stop China from unleashing a new wave of repression in East Turkestan. East Turkestan (re-named Xinjiang, or 'New Territory' by the Chinese) has been under Chinese Communist rule since 1949, when the Communist armies invaded this Central Asian country. The Uyghur people have never accepted the occupation of their country and continue to resist Chinese attempt to destroy their cultural, religious and national identity. While strongly condemning terrorism and the savage attacks in New York and Washington of September 11, the representatives of the Uyghur people urge the world leaders not to let China use the coalition again terrorism as a cover to unleach a new violent wave of repression on the people of East Turkestan, as Chinese leader have suggested. Chinese officials have labeled the Uyghurs 'Islamic fundamentalists' and 'terrorists' amidst sign they are launching a new violent attack on political activists. The East Turkestan National Congress is the legitimate representative body of the Uyghur people. Delegates travelled to Brussels to take part in its third General Assembly. At a conference held in the European Parliament on 17 October and co-hosted by the Transnational Radical Party, the Uyghur delegates reaffirmed their conviction that change in East Turkestan must be brought about by peaceful and democratic means but warned that ignoring the plight of their people would only serve to increase tensions and violence in the region. The conference, which included numerous scholars as well as Members of the European Parliament, called on the European Union and other government to persuade China to enter into political negotiations with Uyghur representatives to bring to an end the violation of the Uyghur people's human rights, including its right to self-determination. Further Information: Third General Assembly - Brussels, 18-19 October 2001