Xinjiang riots: official version v Internet version

140 people have been reported killed in clashes between Chinese police and protesters from the Uighur Muslim ethnic minority in the north-western region of Xinjang yesterday.

Like each time this kind of unrest occurs in the country, two versions have emerged: the state television shows only images of Han victims, while on the Internet the story is one of a bloody crackdown against the Uighur people.

The initial death count, released by the Chinese state news agency on Sunday, counted only three dead — all of whom were Han. Alongside this information, the state media played images of Uighur people burning cars and the Hans with bloody faces. On 6 July, the authorities came up with quite another number: 140 dead and 816 injured.

Images: Boxun News. On 5 July in Urumqi.

Images: Boxun News. On 5 July in Urumqi

Posted by ufreeus.

“They cut the telephone line. I can no longer get hold of anyone in my family”

Rachida (not her real name) is a student in France of Uighur origin.

It all started after an incident in a toy factory on 26 June in Shaoguan, Guangdong province.

The authorities decided to send young Uighur labourers to work in factories in the centre of the country. They said it was to raise our living standards. But for the Uighurs, the policy is perceived as a kind of forced migration, a cultural genocide. Especially since, at the beginning, they were only recruiting young unmarried women.

Nearly 800 Uighurs were working in this toy factory in Shaoguan. One evening, the Hans came to beat them up . There were a lot of rumours about the reason for the tensions between the two communities.

People say, for example, though it’s not confirmed, that a Han raped a Uighur girl. But what is certain is that the Hans don’t appreciate the Uighurs taking their jobs. We see the way in which the Uighurs were beaten up on the video.

According to the authorities, two people were killed that evening, but we think there were more than that.

The Uighurs of Xinjiang didn’t react at first. They were waiting for the authorities to punish those responsible. But when they realised that nothing had been done, they organized a demonstration in Urumqi [the regional capital of Xinjiang]. According to the witness accounts that I’ve heard, the demo was peaceful. The Uighurs had even brought out red Chinese flags to show that it wasn’t a demo in favour of independence.

I am not surprised to see that the official Chinese media have only showed images of Han victims. It’s always like that; we saw the same thing during the riots in Tibet.

They control the information. Since this morning, for example, the telephone lines have been cut off, I can no longer get hold of anyone in my family. They also blocked the Internet and closed Uighur sites, for example Xjtsnews, which is actually the official site of the region".