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UAA Statement Issued on December
15, 2001, in front of the Uyghur exhibits in the
Splendid China Theme Park in Kissimi, Florida.
UAA Statement Issued on December 15, 2001, in front of
the Uyghur exhibits in the Splendid China Theme Park
in Kissimi, Florida.
The direction of China's misdirection is to rely on
stereotypes and pray that their excesses will be
justified, legitimized and maybe even forgotten.
Recent statements by officials of the Communist
Chinese government must be set in the proper context
to provide a concise and detailed summary of their
motivation and ultimate goals. The recent remarks in
the United States General Assembly by Tang Jiaxuan,
the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs on November
11, 2001, mentioned, "China is also threatened by
terrorism. The "Eastern Turkestan" terrorist forces
are trained, equipped and financed by international
terrorist organizations. The fight against the
"Eastern Turkestan" group is an important aspect of
the international fight against terrorism."
To substantiate these claims, Foreign Ministry
spokesman Zhu Bangzao cited four examples of bombings
blamed on separatist incidents in the past nine years.
Furthermore, thousands of the separatists were said to
be trained in terrorism by Osama bin Laden's camps,
thereby providing a tenuous link to an international
terrorism network.
Violence is not a new phenomena to East Turkestan,
Tibet, Inner Mongolia or probably any part of the
People's Republic of China, however, Chinese Communist
Party officials were very selective in their
recounting of the violence. The Chinese government
assertion of terrorist 'forces' and links to
international networks is extreme overstatement, even
if you just examine the incidents alleged perpetrated
by Uyghur separatists. Another new aspect of the
Chinese government propaganda is the use of 'East
Turkestan' instead of Xinjiang. The Chinese government
is massing a propaganda offensive to mask the complete
subjugation of the people of East Turkestan and deal a
death blow to the aspirations for freedom and justice
of peace-loving people. The Chinese government has
been unable to contain this thirst for freedom for 52
years and is willing to gamble that they can crush
them during the current crisis. The following
paragraphs paint this sinister picture. The task to
avert this disaster falls to those that cherish
freedom and liberty.
It is most certain that our words are not to be taken
as approval or apology for violent acts. Out of the
four alleged terrorist acts, one is a riot in a
Chinese prison. The victims of the other incidents
when counted, total 16 lives prematurely and violently
extinguished.
The perpetrators were most certainly executed when
found. Such actions are not representative of the
people of East Turkestan, they exist as a
manifestation of desperation among a small minority of
the ten million Uyghur people. The authoritarian rule
of the Chinese government is backed up and enforced by
local communist party officials, the People's
Liberation Army, the People's Armed Police, and the
Bing Tuan, the XPCC. Amnesty International signalled
the severity of the problem in April 1999 in which
they had determined through investigation, that
Xinjiang was the only part of the People's Republic of
China that still executed political prisoners.
The ancient city of Kashgar boasts the largest
standing statue of the 'Great Oarsman' and in May 1997
five young Uyghur men were apprehended after hanging a
large Republic of East Turkestan flag on
Mao. As a gesture to instill fear and demand
conformity, they were summarily executed in a large
stadium in front of a large crowd.
Executions are large public affairs and are painfully
used to break the will of the Uyghur people. After the
secret trials, they are drugged, chained onto the
backs of stake trucks and paraded through the streets,
like some not-so-subtle threat. The truck finally
reaches the sports stadium where they are forced to
kneel to accept the state's bullet. From April to July
2001, Amnesty International documented 1781 executions,
more than the known executions in the world over the
past three years. Other incidents, left
unmentioned,where large scale displays of dissent
threatened the iron-fisted control of the Chinese
Communist Party, extra-ordinary measures were employed.
In two instances documented by Amnesty International,
Hotan in 1995 and Ghulja in 1997, the populace
gathered to demonstrate their disapproval of the
arrest of those engaged in non-government sanctioned
religious activity. In each case, the Chinese
government sent in paramilitary troops, had violent
confrontations against unarmed civilians and then
started mass arrests. Tens of thousands were rounded
up and, as documented by Amnesty International,
thousands have been executed. The outrageous
application of torture of those confined has been
documented in US Congressional testimony and again
violence is the governmental policy to respond to the
legitimate right to redress of grievances. The recent
documented cases of Chinese government interference in
the observance of Ramadan come during a time when a
long jail term could result if he/she chooses to obey
the tenets of his/her faith. There is violence in East
Turkestan and the Chinese government inflicts the vast
majority of this violence on the people of a land who
believe their land to be occupied by a foreign power.
The small daily assaults on civil liberties and the
indigenous culture and customs are punctuated with the
display of the cold calculated murder of those that
dare speak out. Let there be no uncertain works or
terms; the Chinese government owns the monopoly on
power in East Turkestan through their various armed
and unarmed agencies and they are continuing to use
violence as a an element of state power on it's own
citizens to crush dissent.
The Chinese government, through the statements of
their Foreign Minister, imply that there are ''East
Turkestan terrorist forces." This phrase has been
carefully crafted, but when examined closely, becomes
a vague, worthless generalization. The obvious aim of
the statement is to flatly state the Chinese
government's position that:
a. Anyone connected with the name 'East Turkestan' is
a terrorist, b. That there is an organized 'force' (armed
and militarily active)involved in this effort, and c.
That there is an conspiracy that links two or more of
these
'forces' and they are engaged in organized campaign of
terror.
East Turkestan is a term that has been used for
hundreds of years, well before the Manchu Empire's
invasion of this region in the 18th century. The name
refers to both a geographical location and became part
of the names of the two independent Republics set up
in the 20th century. The Chinese government's position
is that 'Xinjiang has been part of China since ancient
times' (although the term was first given to the
region in the late 19th century by the Manchu emperor.)
The legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party's rule
over the region depends upon the impression of a long
record of Chinese rule. Both their credibility and
legitimacy for the continued occupation of East
Turkestan/Xinjiang is damaged when the truth is told,
therefore, it is in their best interest to link East
Turkestan to 'terrorism' and hopefully sideline any
support from freedom-loving peoples. There are many
organizations that legally and peaceably support the
people of East Turkestan in their aspirations for
freedom and the Chinese government would hope that
linking them with terrorism will dry up that support
or maybe even make it illegal. The Chinese
government's implication
that any group that recognizes the right of
self-determination for the people of East Turkestan is
a 'terrorist force' is an outright distortion and
patently untrue. Likewise, the implication that a
large-scale conspiracy links these groups into
terrorist cells is simple nonsense. As mentioned
before, only three of the incidents cited by the
Chinese government were directed against the public,
the other deaths were the result of a prison riot.
Three incidents occurring over a nine-year period and
linked only by the use of explosives, do not indicate
the involvement of 'forces.' They do indicate that
some people facing desperate conditions are capable of
committing acts of violence. However, given that the
non-Chinese population of East Turkestan is greater
than 10 million, if there were large scale support for
these terrorist acts, one might expect more than three
examples of violence, more acts of sabotage or a
higher level of civil disobedience. Furthermore, the
Chinese government monitors and controls all
communications, whether it is a phone call, fax, or
the Internet. Despite the inability of geographically
separate groups or individuals to openly communicate,
the Chinese government asserts there are organized
terrorist forces operating in East Turkestan. Some
might argue that the 'forces' can just move about, but
there are travel restrictions and an ID card system
that keeps track of everyone. Therefore, the Chinese
government's claim that there are 'terrorist forces'
threatening China is an overexagerated, worthless
generalization. The idea supports the Chinese
government's goals to vilify and condemn any support
for the right of the East Turkestan people for
self-determination, and obscures the truth.
Also mentioned in the Foreign Minister's remarks were
references to the 'international' nature of the East
Turkestan 'terrorist forces.' Again, the Chinese
government uses vague generalizations and paints with
a broad brush to portray support for the right of the
people of East Turkestan for self-determination as 'terrorism.'
To be sure, there have been people that have escaped
from East Turkestan to other countries because of the
deteriorating situation there. However, the Chinese
government, using the Shanghai Cooperation Group, is
co-opting foreign police forces to arrest dissidents
and escapees. So far, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia,
and Pakistan have bowed to Chinese pressure to send
people back and many have not been convicted of any
crime the US would recognize. Reports of Chinese
embassy personnel in direct contact with local law
police and officers of the legal system are common.
One suggested purpose, to influence the that
countries'jurisprudence towards persons that the PRC
considers a 'threat.' The Chinese government has also
exerted official pressure on the European
Union and Lithuania to stop meetings of East
Turkestani exiles. The total range of 'diplomatic'
activities is suggested in the (in)famous document #7,
"Through diplomacy, urge these countries to limit and
weaken the activities of separatist forces inside
their border. Take full advantage of our political
superiority to further develop the bilateral friendly
cooperation with these countries. At the same time,
always maintain pressure on them."
Chinese Communist Party Central Committee Document
Central Committee (1996) No. 7 Record of the Meeting
of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of
the Chinese Communist Party concerning the maintenance
of Stability in Xinjiang. March 19, 1996.
The international effort is being waged against the
people of East Turkestan by the Chinese government,
the only link to international terrorism is to a very
few that have escaped to Afghanistan. According to our
sources, those East Turkestanis that were inside
Afghanistan were maintained almost as prisoners in
their own camp with the Chinese government paying to
keep them down. Allegations of Chinese government
support for the Taliban are nothing new and young men
have escaped to Pakistan to tell what they have seen.
The nature of East Turkestan's struggle for freedom
does not encompass the creation of a theocratic regime
in the style of other Islamic movements. The general
label of 'international terrorist' implies a warped,
extremist view of religious fervor. The international
nature of Al-Qeada, formerly capable of backing
governments and controlling assets around the globe,
is without dispute. The same can be said of other
groups, but there are no East Turkestan organizations
in this category. The struggle for freedom in East
Turkestan has democratic roots as demonstrated by the
East Turkestan Republic(ETR). The ETR government
included members of all the ethnic groups and there
was no imposition of Islamic law. The same aspirations
exist today for a free, democratic East Turkestan.
Of course, this support for democratic ideals is in
direct opposition to the aforementioned terrorist
groups. Although the Chinese government would have you
believe in the international terrorist nature of the
East Turkestan freedom movement, it simply does not
exist. Respect for human righst and dignity is the
marker that guides the struggle for freedom in East
Turkestan.
Uyghur American Association
Contact:
Turdi Ghoja
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