Post by Teddy Bear on Jul 7, 2009 20:08:52 GMT
When I read this story in The Times about the 158 people killed in ethnic violence in China , I was sure when I read the same story on the BBC website that certain details would be omitted - and I was right.
Here's some extracts from the Times: (the Uighurs are Muslims, and the Han are ethnic Chinese)
Bear these disturbing paragraphs in mind as you read through the BBC report, distorted completely to make the Muslim Uighurs appear as the 'poor victims'. Bear in mind too that the BBC actually has a reporter there.
Here's some extracts from the Times: (the Uighurs are Muslims, and the Han are ethnic Chinese)
Blood stained the roads, burnt-out cars and buses littered the city and few people dared to venture on to the streets after thousands of members of the Uighur ethnic group rampaged through the city attacking Han Chinese late on Sunday.
State television showed several people near a bus station kicking a woman as she cowered on the ground. One man slumped against a railing, one side of his face swollen from beatings. Another lay dead, his throat cut. Most appeared to be Han.
One resident told The Times: “Two Han and two Kazakhs took refuge near the bazaar. They saw a girl with one hand chopped off and her face slashed so that the flesh was almost cut off.” He said many of the victims were trapped on buses by knife-wielding Uighurs. “They chopped at people like crazy. They didn’t seem to care if you were Han or not.”
One young Han shopkeeper said. “They used hammers to break the windows. I was so afraid that I hid under the bed with my sister-in-law. When they had taken everything they set fire to the store. We hid, covered by our quilt for three hours. Finally even the quilt caught fire.” However, both escaped with their lives.
Bear these disturbing paragraphs in mind as you read through the BBC report, distorted completely to make the Muslim Uighurs appear as the 'poor victims'. Bear in mind too that the BBC actually has a reporter there.
Restive Chinese city under curfew
A curfew has been imposed on the city of Urumqi in western China for a second night after ethnic riots on Sunday which left 156 people dead.
Correspondents say a heavy security presence has restored an uneasy calm to the capital of Xinjiang province.
Riot police fired tear gas to break up groups of Han Chinese armed with clubs, who said they were angry at violence carried out by ethnic Muslim Uighurs.
More than 1,400 people have been arrested over Sunday's violence.
Uighur women rallied against the arrest of family members, saying the men had been detained arbitrarily in a massive police sweep through Urumqi's Uighur districts.
There are many armed military police standing around, also a few remnants of those Han Chinese demonstrators, still people wandering around the city carrying poles and batons and some carrying knives.
There's a great air of trepidation here as to how this night will play out.
I wouldn't have thought today that I would have seen Uighur men and women acting so defiantly in the face of Han Chinese authority, but they did.
I wouldn't have thought that thousands of Han Chinese would be able to walk freely through a Chinese city and march and shout slogans.
Xinjiang is one of the most tightly-controlled parts of the country. Those controls seem to have slipped quite considerably.
Chinese media bullish over riots
Later hundreds of Han Chinese marched through the streets of Urumqi smashing shops and stalls belonging to Uighurs.
The BBC's Quentin Sommerville, in Urumqi, says some of the protesters were shouting "down with Uighurs" as they rampaged through the streets armed with homemade weapons.
Police attempted to block access to the bazaar and other Uighur districts of the city and fired tear gas as the Han Chinese confronted groups of Uighurs.
The Han Chinese said they were angry at the failure of security forces to protect their community on Sunday.
One protester, clutching a metal bar, told the AFP news agency: "The Uighurs came to our area to smash things, now we are going to their area to beat them."
Xinjiang's Communist Party chief Wang Lequan announced during a televised address that a curfew would run from 2100 until 0800.
State-run news agency Xinhua quoted him as saying any ethnic violence was "heart-breaking" and blaming "hostile forces both at home and abroad" for the trouble.
'Deadliest riot'
As night fell, correspondents said there was a heavy security presence in People's (Renmin) Square in the city centre and at major intersections elsewhere.
Officials say 156 people - mostly ethnic Han Chinese - died in Sunday's violence. Uighur groups say many more have died, claiming 90% of the dead were Uighurs.
The unrest erupted when Uighur protesters attacked vehicles before turning on local Han Chinese and battling security forces.
They had initially been protesting over a brawl between Uighurs and Han Chinese several weeks earlier in a toy factory thousands of miles away in Guangdong province.
Urumqi's Mayor, Jierla Yishamudin, said on Tuesday that a "life and death" struggle was being waged to maintain China's unity.
"It is neither an ethnic issue nor a religious issue, but a battle of life and death to defend the unification of our motherland and to maintain the consolidation of all ethnic groups, a political battle that's fierce and of blood and fire," he told a news conference.
China's authorities have repeatedly claimed that exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer is stirring up trouble in the region.
But she told the BBC she was not responsible for any of the violence.
Tensions have been growing in Xinjiang for many years, as Han Chinese migrants have poured into the region, where China's Uighur ethnic minority is concentrated. Many Uighurs feel economic growth has bypassed them and complain of discrimination and diminished opportunities.
Some Uighurs support the notion of an independent state and there have been a number of bombings and some attacks on security forces.
Chinese authorities say the Xinjiang separatists are terrorists with links to al-Qaeda and receive support from outside the country.
Campaigners accuse China of exaggerating the threat to justify tough security clampdowns in the region.
A curfew has been imposed on the city of Urumqi in western China for a second night after ethnic riots on Sunday which left 156 people dead.
Correspondents say a heavy security presence has restored an uneasy calm to the capital of Xinjiang province.
Riot police fired tear gas to break up groups of Han Chinese armed with clubs, who said they were angry at violence carried out by ethnic Muslim Uighurs.
More than 1,400 people have been arrested over Sunday's violence.
Uighur women rallied against the arrest of family members, saying the men had been detained arbitrarily in a massive police sweep through Urumqi's Uighur districts.
There are many armed military police standing around, also a few remnants of those Han Chinese demonstrators, still people wandering around the city carrying poles and batons and some carrying knives.
There's a great air of trepidation here as to how this night will play out.
I wouldn't have thought today that I would have seen Uighur men and women acting so defiantly in the face of Han Chinese authority, but they did.
I wouldn't have thought that thousands of Han Chinese would be able to walk freely through a Chinese city and march and shout slogans.
Xinjiang is one of the most tightly-controlled parts of the country. Those controls seem to have slipped quite considerably.
Chinese media bullish over riots
Later hundreds of Han Chinese marched through the streets of Urumqi smashing shops and stalls belonging to Uighurs.
The BBC's Quentin Sommerville, in Urumqi, says some of the protesters were shouting "down with Uighurs" as they rampaged through the streets armed with homemade weapons.
Police attempted to block access to the bazaar and other Uighur districts of the city and fired tear gas as the Han Chinese confronted groups of Uighurs.
The Han Chinese said they were angry at the failure of security forces to protect their community on Sunday.
One protester, clutching a metal bar, told the AFP news agency: "The Uighurs came to our area to smash things, now we are going to their area to beat them."
Xinjiang's Communist Party chief Wang Lequan announced during a televised address that a curfew would run from 2100 until 0800.
State-run news agency Xinhua quoted him as saying any ethnic violence was "heart-breaking" and blaming "hostile forces both at home and abroad" for the trouble.
'Deadliest riot'
As night fell, correspondents said there was a heavy security presence in People's (Renmin) Square in the city centre and at major intersections elsewhere.
Officials say 156 people - mostly ethnic Han Chinese - died in Sunday's violence. Uighur groups say many more have died, claiming 90% of the dead were Uighurs.
The unrest erupted when Uighur protesters attacked vehicles before turning on local Han Chinese and battling security forces.
They had initially been protesting over a brawl between Uighurs and Han Chinese several weeks earlier in a toy factory thousands of miles away in Guangdong province.
Urumqi's Mayor, Jierla Yishamudin, said on Tuesday that a "life and death" struggle was being waged to maintain China's unity.
"It is neither an ethnic issue nor a religious issue, but a battle of life and death to defend the unification of our motherland and to maintain the consolidation of all ethnic groups, a political battle that's fierce and of blood and fire," he told a news conference.
China's authorities have repeatedly claimed that exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer is stirring up trouble in the region.
But she told the BBC she was not responsible for any of the violence.
Tensions have been growing in Xinjiang for many years, as Han Chinese migrants have poured into the region, where China's Uighur ethnic minority is concentrated. Many Uighurs feel economic growth has bypassed them and complain of discrimination and diminished opportunities.
Some Uighurs support the notion of an independent state and there have been a number of bombings and some attacks on security forces.
Chinese authorities say the Xinjiang separatists are terrorists with links to al-Qaeda and receive support from outside the country.
Campaigners accuse China of exaggerating the threat to justify tough security clampdowns in the region.