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Anti-American Sentiment among
China's Muslims Growing
BEIJING, March 31 (AFP) - China's Muslims are becoming
increasingly anti-American as a result of the United
States' labeling of one Muslim group as terrorists
after the September 11 attacks and more recently its
war on Iraq, an expert said Monday.
"That kind of feeling, that they're such a small
minority, they're insignificant, is shortsighted,"
said Dru C. Gladney, a University of Hawaii professor
who has conducted extensive research on China's
20-million Muslim population.
"Those who have studied Chinese history know that
Muslims played a very important role in history and
they played a very important role in China's relations
with the Middle East," said Gladney who was speaking
at a gathering with foreign journalists in Beijing.
Gladney suggested that US policies' increasing
alienation of China's Muslims, namely the Turkic
speaking Uyghurs who are already not assimilated in
Chinese culture, risk pushing Muslims in China towards
closer unity with each other and to identity with
Muslims around the world.
"Now, there's a real disillusionment and growing anger,
not so much against China, but against the United
States. Mosques are now raising warriors to go and
fight," Gladney said.
To win China's support on its war against terrorism,
the United States last year classified the East
Turkestan Islamic Movement as a terrorist organization.
The group, based in western China's Muslim-majority
Xinjiang region, where a majority of Uyghurs live, was
accused by China of wanting to establish an
independent state of East Turkestan and of being
directly backed by Osama bin Laden.
"There is growing anti-American sentiment. One reason
is the ETIM (East Turkestan Islamic Movement)
labelling (is seen as being) against Uyghurs and
another is war against Iraq," said Gladney.
"There is no love or sympathy for Saddam Hussein ...
but there's certainly a lot more awareness of
international politics and they're certainly in touch
with Muslims around the world."
Unlike the first Gulf War in 1991, when Uyghurs were
divided about the war, they are "very much" against
this latest war, Gladney said.
"There's been a lot of requests from mosque
communities in China to the China Islamic Association
for permission to protest and my understanding from
talking to people in the Association is the requests
have come from all over China," said Gladney, who
recently returned from a trip to Xinjiang.
Mosques, including one in central China's Henan
province frequented by the Hui Muslim minority, have
also called for volunteers to go to Baghdad to fight,
Gladney said, something that has not been heard of
before from China.
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