China's Urumqi city in chaos

[GoFlyKiteNow]

China's Urumqi city in chaos as mobs vow revenge

Agencies
Published: July 07, 2009, 13:37

Urumqi: Riot police on Tuesday fired tear gas to try to break up rock-throwing Han and Uighur protesters who clashed in the capital of China's Muslim region of Xinjiang two days after bloody clashes killed 156 and wounded more than 1,000.

Authorities ordered a night curfew and thousands of heavily armed police deployed across Urumqi, the capital of China's remote northwest Xinjiang region.

Hundreds of protesters from China's predominant Han ethnic group, many clutching meat cleavers, metal pipes and wooden clubs, smashed shops owned by Uighurs, a Turkic largely Islamic people who share linguistic and cultural bonds with Central Asia.

Some Han Chinese protesters shouted "attack Uighurs" as both sides hurled rocks at each other.

Police used tear gas to try to disperse the crowd, but it only emboldened the demonstrators, caught between two sets of anti-riot police 600 metres apart.

Some used water to wash the gas out of their eyes as they pressed towards police at the mainly Uighur end of the street.

"They attacked us. Now it's our turn to attack them," a man in the crowd told Reuters. He refused to give his name.

Along with Tibet, Xinjiang is one of the most politically sensitive regions in China and in both places the government has sought to maintain its grip by controlling religious and cultural life while promising economic growth and prosperity.

Meanwhile, authorities confirmed they had cut off Internet access in parts of Urumqi in an attempt to control the flow of information.

"We cut Internet connection in some areas of Urumqi in order to quench the riot quickly and prevent violence from spreading to other places," the city's top Communist Party official, Li Zhi, told state media.

 

[longbow]

This is a test for the Chinese Gov. Hopefully none of that send in the tanks approach. As China tries to move to a developed nation (will take them another 30 years) it needs to improve its ability to respond to its citizen's demands. I picked this up from latest CNN written by CNN Beijing Chief.

It shows restrain, pragmatism and surprisingly little censorship (police was more concerned for the reporter's safety). Blocking internet and cell phone is understandable to prevent some instigators on both sides to organize and inflame the situation. The situation is obviously tense but the officials are doing their best. Also we have not seen the police taking sides.

Looks like Beijing needs to go back to the drawing boards and inject another boat load of $$$$ into the region - a good thing that what Beijing has is $$$$.


URUMQI, China (CNN) -- Han Chinese protesters were out in the streets, not far from our hotel near the People's Square, on Tuesday. A lot of the Han Chinese own shops in the area and there are some hospitals in the vicinity.
Chinese troops stand guard in Urumqi, July 8, 2009.

Chinese troops stand guard in Urumqi, July 8, 2009.

When we saw the protesters marching in the streets, we simply followed them. It was, in a way, a little dicey, because obviously there was raw emotion among them. There is also raw emotion on the part of the Uyghurs. So, we had to keep in mind safety and security. In fact, while we were shooting pictures for our report, some of the protesters turned to us and told us, "stop shooting, stop shooting."

We saw hundreds of Han Chinese holding sticks and pipes basically calling for severe punishment of the Uyghurs, who they say committed serious crimes during Sunday's deadly rioting.

The Han Chinese protesters also say they are out to defend themselves if they have to. I saw policemen and local officials trying to talk to them and convince the crowd to disperse. We haven't heard about any serious confrontations between the Han Chinese protesters and Uyghurs, but we heard that the police dispersed protesters in some places using tear gas.Video Watch how tensions remain high in Xinjiang »

When we got close to the Uyghur-populated area, we were stopped by the police and told to get in their jeeps. They said it was for our own safety. They probably were right. We may have been pushing our luck and could have gotten caught in potential confrontations and clashes.

Before that, we stopped and talked with a doctor in front of a small traditional Chinese hospital close to the People's Square. The doctor said the Han Chinese are trying to defend themselves. He was very angry about the violence reported on Sunday.

He said that they are fed up with what they saw, they felt that it was unspeakable that young people, old people and women were beaten up, helpless people who just happened to be in the wrong place. So there is this very visceral anger among many Han Chinese.

During the march on Tuesday, there were different groups, kind of in waves, marching through the streets. A few times they converged. I would say it was pretty spontaneous. Pent up emotions, boiling over.

Ethnic tensions run deep in this region, with minority groups such as the Uyghur Muslims complaining they are subjected to discrimination by the majority Han, despite government guarantees of equal rights. The Uyghurs say they've been victimized and that many of those killed in the recent violence were Uyghurs.

Local officials on Tuesday organized a press conference and they called in three ethnic Uyghur religious leaders who condemned Sunday's violence. The vice chairman of the Muslim Association said what happened on Sunday was against the spirit of the Quran, the holy book of Islam, and of Uyghur tradition and religion.
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Right now (Wednesday morning), we are driving around Urumqi in a taxi and we see fairly light traffic. On our way we have seen anti-riot police taking positions in major intersections. This is a build-up from yesterday -- the arrival of reinforcements of People's Armed Police. I talked with a local official Wednesday morning. She told me that it is very important that they show they are in charge and that they are taking measures to ensure the safety of residents.

The local official told me this morning that, in a way, the protests on the part of the Han Chinese were probably unavoidable because people were looking to blow off steam, especially since the Internet has been down.
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The Internet, in other circumstances, has played a role in allowing people to release pent-up anger. But without the Internet, many of the Chinese, especially the young, have bottled-up rage stoked by the images of violence they've seen in the Chinese media. The local authorities are urging residents to show restraint.

Wednesday morning, I saw a few people holding sticks but there were no signs of organized protests. I didn't see the kind of violence or antagonism I saw on Tuesday, but I think it is still a very fluid situation.

 

[dysentry]

life back to normal liao...

 

[banova888]

life back to normal liao...

Cool. Are you reporting this from China! Han chinese!

 

[longbow]

Indeed majority in China are Han Chinese. That is why there is unity. Furthermore everyone in China communicates using written Mandarin so again there is a common thread.

My question is what are Indians? I know Tamils are from the south and there are the Bengali. Then there is the Hindi Speaking Northern Indians that control political power. Each of these groups speak their own language. Thanks to the Brit, they are somewhat united under the English language but that is if they are literate. On top of that you throw in the disgusting practice of the caste system and i am totally confused. From my understanding, if you want to know people in power or do business, better to learn Hindi.

 

[GoFlyKiteNow]

This is a test for the Chinese Gov. Hopefully none of that send in the tanks approach. As China tries to move to a developed nation (will take them another 30 years) it needs to improve its ability to respond to its citizen's demands.

30 years..hmm...
And what would be your definition of a 'developed nation' ?
Thanks.

 

[GoFlyKiteNow]

Indeed majority in China are Han Chinese. That is why there is unity. Furthermore everyone in China communicates using written Mandarin so again there is a common thread.

My question is what are Indians? I know Tamils are from the south and there are the Bengali. Then there is the Hindi Speaking Northern Indians that control political power. Each of these groups speak their own language. Thanks to the Brit, they are somewhat united under the English language but that is if they are literate. On top of that you throw in the disgusting practice of the caste system and i am totally confused. From my understanding, if you want to know people in power or do business, better to learn Hindi.

Common factors can be anything.
Either race, religion, language etc.
In India's case it is religion..80% are Hindus.

Incidentally, for sake of stability, a certain level of diversity is desired.
It minimizes the chances of the creation of populist equilibrium within the population against the government and any subsequent civil war / anarchy within the society.

 

[longbow]

Definition of developed country - Depends on who you ask. IMF has an answer - stable banking system, WHO - no more childhood diseases, vaccination program, infant mortality, adult life span, CIA - modern weaponry, military training,....

How I would define it is:

Modern infrastructure - good road and train system (none of this people sitting on top of the train riding in danger), financial and legal systems (strong banks, good reserves, a system of consumer credit), Education for all and high literacy rates, middle class as a majority of population, good system of health care, a form of retirement system.

Free and democratic elections base on a strong middle class with politicians that respond to the voters. India democratic model is bogus since the poor consist of majority of the population and are thus easily manipulated by the politicians.

 

[longbow]

Thanks for the answer. So the common denominator is religion.

Common factors can be anything.
Either race, religion, language etc.
In India's case it is religion..80% are Hindus.

Incidentally, for sake of stability, a certain level of diversity is desired.
It minimizes the chances of the creation of populist equilibrium within the population against the government and any subsequent civil war / anarchy within the society.

 

[GoFlyKiteNow]

Definition of developed country - Depends on who you ask. IMF has an answer - stable banking system, WHO - no more childhood diseases, vaccination program, infant mortality, adult life span, CIA - modern weaponry, military training,....

How I would define it is:

Modern infrastructure - good road and train system (none of this people sitting on top of the train riding in danger), financial and legal systems (strong banks, good reserves, a system of consumer credit), Education for all and high literacy rates, middle class as a majority of population, good system of health care, a form of retirement system.

Free and democratic elections base on a strong middle class with politicians that respond to the voters. India democratic model is bogus since the poor consist of majority of the population and are thus easily manipulated by the politicians.

IMF defines developed country in current terms..it must and have to do it that way..it is a monetary institution that has a global monetary role.

A country takes decades to reach developed nation status, if it has no credible judiciary and legislative systems evolved by democratic process. The USA took 150 years to be where it is today. It is not an easy process. Because it evolves sloppily and sluggish but it endures , it is enduring by strength due to passage of time.

Which is what is hapening in India. The USA and other western nations did have their fair share of turmoil and mishaps along the way. But then , history will tell us that is how democracy evolves before it finally deliver its enduring rewards.

You cannot plant or wish for democracy like instant coffee. History can explain this. Today the most developed nations in the world are all democratic ones with a history of over 100 years of political social evolution.

 

[annexa]

The best case study, is Isreal. Know how Isreal "queal" the Palestine people? Ignore them and starve them. Cut off water and food. Soon they hungry and thirsty, they will come out to beg for peace.

 

[Ah Guan]

Thanks for the answer. So the common denominator is religion.

Not by a longshot

Islam is very prominent in India

You can call them a major minority group

 

[johnsgp1]

China's Urumqi city in chaos as mobs vow revenge

Agencies
Published: July 07, 2009, 13:37

Urumqi: Riot police on Tuesday fired tear gas to try to break up rock-throwing Han and Uighur protesters who clashed in the capital of China's Muslim region of Xinjiang two days after bloody clashes killed 156 and wounded more than 1,000.

Authorities ordered a night curfew and thousands of heavily armed police deployed across Urumqi, the capital of China's remote northwest Xinjiang region.

Hundreds of protesters from China's predominant Han ethnic group, many clutching meat cleavers, metal pipes and wooden clubs, smashed shops owned by Uighurs, a Turkic largely Islamic people who share linguistic and cultural bonds with Central Asia.

Some Han Chinese protesters shouted "attack Uighurs" as both sides hurled rocks at each other.

Police used tear gas to try to disperse the crowd, but it only emboldened the demonstrators, caught between two sets of anti-riot police 600 metres apart.

Some used water to wash the gas out of their eyes as they pressed towards police at the mainly Uighur end of the street.

"They attacked us. Now it's our turn to attack them," a man in the crowd told Reuters. He refused to give his name.

Along with Tibet, Xinjiang is one of the most politically sensitive regions in China and in both places the government has sought to maintain its grip by controlling religious and cultural life while promising economic growth and prosperity.

Meanwhile, authorities confirmed they had cut off Internet access in parts of Urumqi in an attempt to control the flow of information.

"We cut Internet connection in some areas of Urumqi in order to quench the riot quickly and prevent violence from spreading to other places," the city's top Communist Party official, Li Zhi, told state media.

i just wander how long can communist last in China?? First we have Tibet, then now Xinjiang, and i also wander if China cannot even address those ever increasing unrest, what makes want to take back Taiwan???
In another 30 yrs, HK will be the next in line...

 

[johnsgp1]

The best case study, is Isreal. Know how Isreal "queal" the Palestine people? Ignore them and starve them. Cut off water and food. Soon they hungry and thirsty, they will come out to beg for peace.

Beg for peace??? guess where are those human bombs coming from ??

 

[cowbehcowbu]

30 years..hmm...
And what would be your definition of a 'developed nation' ?
Thanks.

Xinjiang was under the central chinese rule for 600+ years.......there has been many conflicks..especially instigated by FOREIGN power as they know Xinjiang is a resource rich region...Russian was the chief instigator in the early days...even the word UIgers was couned by the Russians.....Uigers was a collections of many minorities..who used to roan the grasslands.....NOT a single tribes per se....they were totally defeated by the Hans 400 years BC during the Hans dynasty.......many small kingdoms were annilated then and after,,,,,,,,,
They remain backwards and not so willing to progress with the Hans...and that is the real problems........The Uigers are notorious in all cities in china..as many are unskilled and lowly educated..most become thieves and robbers in big cities.......
A COLLECTION OF DEFEATED MINORITIES WILL TAHES A LONG TIME TO INTEGRATE..ESPECIALLY THEY HAVE A DIFFERENT RELIGIONS...unlike the HUi tribes who are deeply inter-married witht the Hans..and lived very peacefully with the Hans...
The Uigers are decendents of the horseman...tends to be wild and ferocious when they felt they are left out in the fast pace of progress in china........

 

[665 Neighbor of the Beast]

Uighurs are a Turkish race. Same family, same linguistic family & to some extent affinity with Turkish races like Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Kyrgyz. Thus will take longer time to integrate into China.

 

[kchunjeng]

Singapore will be like Yugoslavia, when the most powerful man General Josip Broz Tito is gone.

 

[jim007jimmyboy]

where there this muslim there will be trouble!

 

[Leegimeremover]

Hanism is the precursor to Nazism, National Shintoism and no different from Christian fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalism or Sikh fundamentalism. Hanism is a hoary myth created for people in the South and West of China are not Han so to speak of. It is a concept of you either with us or against us, mobilized by the ruling and the fed on by the oppressed ruled to escape the realities of misery. Many who have ruled China were
never Han and many ruled in China were never Han. If not careful, the greater worry of the next international scuffle will not be the Nazis, Islamists nor Japanese. Remember China was never one entity tilll after the 2nd World War as a convenience against external treat. One China was a detente and strategy against external powers. The recent incidents have shown China as ugly as any other nation namecalled for being nationalistic. This is a fact and you do not need foreign press to blow it up. Problem is how far will this be let to go unchecked.
History has repeated before. It is just the names, places and time are different

 

[cowbehcowbu]

Uighurs are a Turkish race. Same family, same linguistic family & to some extent affinity with Turkish races like Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Kyrgyz. Thus will take longer time to integrate into China.

the turks first came to china after the HAN dynasty open up the silk routes...they cami in and start to settle AMONG the many minorities races ,,like the Kazark, Ubezk. mongol.,,Hans..also..over the centuries they inter married with each others....so the Uigers you see today ..are to a lesser or greater degree ,,MIXED bloods...seldoms pure breed turks....they do retain the Turkisk culture and customs......
THE FACT IS XINJIANG WAS AND STILL IS A MIXED POT OD SOME 39 RACES!!!!!!!!,never a pure breed Uigers ....who have just over 50% in populations......