A lot of the issues that have caused the recent protest turned riots have been going on in China for decades. The oppression of a people especially by their own countrymen is the fuel that allows the fires of Civil Wars to rage through a country. Sowing hatred and intolerance. What is more valuable a country’s front of unity or the happiness and pride of its countrymen? As a way of providing the world with a united front China has stooped to silencing any and every feeling of dissent by whatever means ”necessary”. Xinjiang (East Turkistan) is a region in western China that consist mainly of Uyghur Muslims living in a predominantly Hans Christian area. Over the past couple of decades there have been increased tensions between these two ethnic groups. While the Hans Christians make up the larger majority that is in control of the region, the Uyghur Muslims make up the poor minority. Economic tensions as well as religious differences especially those brought about by the strictly communist laws of the land have lead to the escalating violence. Here is an article that I read that opened my eyes to the larger issues at stake in China:
The root cause of unrest in Muslim China by LaughingPlanet Share this on Twitter Sat Jul 11, 2009 at 04:13:32 PM PDT
Chinese developers have been using deception, deceit, and lies to raze Uyghur homes in Xinjiang for decades. Potentially millions of Uyghur minority people will have lost their homes due to the ongoing systematic gentrification condoned by the Communist Chinese government. Below the fold is a detailed vignette I wrote in 2004 about the appalling methods of the Chinese in Urumqi after a visit there. The blueprint described therein is being used all over western Muslim China (Xinjiang). LaughingPlanet’s diary :: :: Urumqi, Xinjiang China June 29, 2004 In this city on the fringe of the vast, sweltering Taklamakan Desert, not everyone was pleased with an unseasonably temperate mid-summer afternoon. A local woman and her parents stood vigil in front of an office building in a country where protests have been known to be suppressed with deadly force. “Azatgul” (she refused to give even her first name for fear of reprisal) has several jobs – nurse, teacher, translator – the last of which proved useful for the day’s task. Signs bearing statements in Chinese, Arabic and English decry the predicament their family has endured at the hands of the building’s tenant, Baoheng Construction. One of many large companies seizing seemingly endless opportunity presented by China’s booming economy, Baoheng Construction controls large contracts which add to Urumqi’s ever-expanding skyline. Of course, under China’s brand of Communism, larger businesses often get a helping hand from party cadres, in this case at the expense of poor local families.
The disturbing trend that is now widespread in the Xinjiang province involves the displacement of local people in the name of developing China’s western frontier. Big businesses headed by China’s majority ethnic Han population seek land occupied by the local Uyghur people for larger building projects. These highrises are usually subsequently rented to opportunity-seeking Han Chinese who migrate from the dangerously overpopulated areas of China’s eastern provinces. Although this may sound like the typical result of development, there is one unusual element. The businesses never bother to pay the previous owners of the land. Azatgul’s family and others like hers were convinced to sign a contract arranging for the purchase of their homes and the land on which they were built decades ago. Pressure is applied by government authorities to make the decision feel less like a choice and more like going along with what we call “eminent domain” in the U.S. So instead of facing the consequences of obstructing the booming Chinese economic machine, these families signed away the only homes they’ve ever known and move out.
In Azatgul’s case, ten people now share an apartment less than half the size of their former home at a cost of 800 Yuen ($100)/month. After waiting 4 years for the payment agreed upon in the contract to no avail, Azatgul’s family first went to the local government officials. “There’s nothing we can do,” was the response to their desperate inquiry. They next showed up at the company president’s office to request a meeting. They patiently waiting all day after which the meeting was denied. They received only one comment regarding their situation from the CEO, Mr. Baoheng himself. “Go to a lawyer.” Stunned, they indeed heeded the advice but were further shocked by what the lawyer told them. A retainer of 20,000 Yuen ($2500) would be required before he would take the case. Other lawyers stated similar requirements. For people in a region where the average annual salary is less than half that amount, producing this exorbitant sum is virtually impossible.
Azatgul’s family’s last-ditch effort to draw attention to their seemingly hopeless situation was to hand-draw a couple signs & stand peacefully on the street in front of the company which appears to have accomplished what sounds to western ears to be the logically impossible. Baoheng Construction appears to have stolen the family’s home. The efforts to picket the dishonoring of their contract was quickly thwarted by the local police. Several passers-by, myself included, were even interrogated and detained for over 7 hours for happening upon these scene and inquiring what it was all about. Azatgul’s eyes filled with tears as she relayed her story. She told of situations identical occurring in other cities in Xinjiang such as Kashgar and Hotan. And unless word travels to those who are willing and able to get involved and make a difference, these types of practices will remain business as usual in modern-day Communist China.
Please share this with as many people as you can. The plight of the oppressed must be heard!!!!!!!!! As Malcom X said: “Truth is on the side of the oppressed.” Spread the word. If you could please leave the name, number and email if possible of your local masjids I would really appreciate it.
