Rukiye Turdush

“China should spend on the hospital infrastructure in Kashgar because it is in dire need of funding. China’s reason of funding these hospitals to equip them for terrorist attacks is groundless.”

As Kashgar is one of the Uyghur’s heavily populated cities, the Chinese government has largely ignored the public health service in this area. The hospital infrastructure did not get any government funding: public health first aid stations, ambulance equipments, beds and life support machines are extremely insufficient. Each year many Uyghur patients lose their lives because of improper health care due to having no access to emergency aid in Kashgar. It is difficult for Uyghur’s to access hospitals in the capital city of Urumchi because of the large distance as well as the financial costs. However, the Chinese government never took into account the situation of the health care facilities until today.

According to the Urumchi evening news paper report on January 9th, 2009, the Communist Party Representatives in Kashgar requested the investment of an emergency aid sector at the Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region in the 11th Congressional Second Meeting on January 8th, 2009. The Communist Party Representative’s proposal highlighted Kashgar as a danger zone since it was neighbored with Afghanistan. Representatives stated: “investing in emergency aid construction and hospitals in Kashgar is vital for counter terrorism, since all levels of hospitals in Kashgar do not have the ability to meet a biochemical terror attack, nuclear radiation detonation and emergency handling.” They also suggested for an arrangement of special funds to be used in administering first aid and the emergency apparatus construction.

The Chinese government used to link any peaceful democratic movement or any human rights activity of the Uyghur people to terrorism.Thus, justifying the countless security campaigns and China’s aggressive regime across the region since the September eleven attacks in the US. For instance, the Chinese State Press recently published that more than 1300 Uyghur’s were arrested for terrorism, religious extremism and for state security charges in East Turkistan (Xinjiang) prior to the Olympics last year. However, they have no evidence for most of these arrests other than exaggerated police imagination.

“Arbitrary arrests and torture have never been stopped in East Turkistan. For instance, the Olympics are over, but the so called Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous wise president, Nur Bekri, stressed again at the 11th Congressional Second Meeting on January 8th, 2009, to not stop the crack down on the three evil forces (terrorists, religious extremists and separatists),” said Abdujelil Karakash, President of ETIC. He also commented on China’s investment on hospital infrastructures and said, “China should spend on the hospital infrastructure in Kashgar because it is in dire need of funding. China’s reason of funding these hospitals to equip them for terrorist attacks is groundless.”

The Chinese government stressed the counter terrorism campaign in the Kashgar region using the August 4th, 2008, incidents as an excuse to do so. However, the Uyghur people seen in the August 4th, 2008, incidents are only a few scattered Uyghur individuals who are reacting against the oppressive Chinese government.
On August 4th, 2008, two Uyghur’s, one taxi driver and one vegetable seller, attacked 70 policemen and killed sixteen policemen using a truck, homemade grenades and machetes in the city of Kashgar. These two men were arrested and sentenced to death on December 17, 2008.

However, the Chinese government failed to show evidence that these two men belonged to any terrorist organization.

Uyghur activists have a very different stance on the issue. Regarding the Communist Party Representative’s suggestion of investing in the Kashgar’s emergency aid hospital infrastructure, they believe that there are no active terrorist organizations in Kashgar and it is not possible for the Taliban forces in Afghanistan to attack China, since China is secretly supporting them. Some of the Uyghur activists said: “China may worry about NATO forces lead by America in Afghanistan.”