Analysis - NYT 7/6 report "Deadly Riot in China"

  Dec 2, 2009 1:08 PM

 

Analysis - NYT 7/6 report "Deadly Riot in China"

This is an internet version of the original article that I am going to discuss in depth below.

Riots in Western China Amid Ethnic Tension Associated Press A photograph taken by a local citizen. Protesters clashed with the police Sunday in a Uighur part of Xinjiang. July 6, 2009 Riots in Western China Amid Ethnic Tension By EDWARD WONG BEIJING — At least 1,000 rioters clashed with the police on Sunday in a regional capital in western China after days of rising tensions between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese, according to witnesses and photographs of the riot. The rioting broke out Sunday afternoon in a large market area of Urumqi, the capital of the vast, restive desert region of Xinjiang, and lasted for several hours before riot police officers and paramilitary or military troops locked down the Uighur quarter of the city. The rioters threw stones at the police and set vehicles on fire, sending plumes of smoke into the sky, while police officers used fire hoses and batons to beat back rioters and detain Uighurs who appeared to be leading the protest, witnesses said. At least 3 Han Chinese and one police officer were killed in the rioting and 20 were injured, according to Xinhua, the official news agency. Dozens of Uighur men were led into police stations with their hands behind their backs and shirts pulled over their heads, one witness said. Early Monday, the local government announced a curfew banning all traffic in the city until 8 p.m. The riot was the largest ethnic clash in China since the Tibetan uprising of March 2008, and perhaps the biggest protest in Xinjiang in years. Like the Tibetan unrest, it highlighted the deep-seated frustrations felt by some ethnic minorities in western China over the policies of the Communist Party. Many Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim group, resent rule by the Han Chinese, and Chinese security forces have tried to keep oil-rich Xinjiang under tight control since the 1990s, when cities there were struck by waves of protests, riots and bombings. Last summer, attacks on security forces took place in several cities in Xinjiang; the Chinese government blamed separatist groups. Early Monday, Chinese officials said the latest riots were started by Rebiya Kadeer, a Uighur human rights advocate who had been imprisoned in China and now lives in Washington, Xinhua reported. As with the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, Chinese officials often blame Ms. Kadeer for ethnic unrest; she denies the charges. The clashes on Sunday began when the police confronted a protest march held by Uighurs to demand a full government investigation of a brawl between Uighur and Han workers that erupted in Guangdong Province overnight on June 25 and June 26. The brawl took place in a toy factory and left 2 Uighurs dead and 118 people injured. The police later arrested a bitter ex-employee of the factory who had ignited the fight by starting a rumor that 6 Uighur men had raped 2 Han women at the work site, Xinhua reported. There was also a rumor circulating on Sunday in Urumqi that a Han man had killed a Uighur in the city earlier in the day, said Adam Grode, an English teacher living in the neighborhood where the rioting took place. “This is just crazy,” Mr. Grode said by telephone Sunday night. “There was a lot of tear gas in the streets, and I almost couldn’t get back to my apartment. There’s a huge police presence.” Mr. Grode said he saw a few Han civilians being harassed by Uighurs. Rumors of Uighurs attacking Han Chinese spread quickly through parts of Urumqi, adding to the panic. A worker at the Texas Restaurant, a few hundred yards from the site of the rioting, said her manager had urged the restaurant workers to stay inside. Xinhua reported few details of the riot on Sunday night. It said that “an unknown number of people gathered Sunday afternoon” in Urumqi, “attacking passers-by and setting fire to vehicles.” Uighurs are the largest ethnic group in Xinjiang but are a minority in Urumqi, where Han Chinese make up more than 70 percent of the population of two million or so. The Chinese government has encouraged Han migration to the city and other parts of Xinjiang, fueling resentment among the Uighurs. Urumqi is a deeply segregated city, with Han Chinese there rarely venturing into the Uighur quarter. The Uighur neighborhood is centered in a warren of narrow alleyways, food markets and a large shopping area called the Grand Bazaar or the Erdaoqiao Market, where the rioting reached its peak on Sunday. Mr. Grode, who lives in an apartment there, said he went outside when he first heard commotion around 6 p.m. He saw hundreds of Uighurs in the streets; that quickly swelled to more than 1,000, he said. Police officers soon arrived. Around 7 p.m., protesters began hurling rocks and vegetables from the market at the police, Mr. Grode said. Traffic had ground to a halt. An hour later, as the riot surged toward the center of the market, troops in green uniforms and full riot gear showed up, as did armored vehicles. Chinese government officials often deploy the People’s Armed Police, a paramilitary force, to quell riots. By midnight, Mr. Grode said, some of the armored vehicles had begun to leave, but bursts of gunfire could still be heard. Huang Yuanxi contributed research.

Analysis - NYT 7/6 report "Deadly Riot in China"

  (1)

At least 1,000 rioters
clashed
with police and paramilitary troops
after days of rising tensions
between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese,
in the largest ethnic clash in China
since the Tibetan uprising of March 2008.

Source: NYT July 6, 2009
Deadly Riots in China - by Edward Wong
---------------------------------------------------------------

• 1,000 rioters ?  or protesters ? 
• clashed with police and paramilitary troops after days of rising tensions
  between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese ? or clashed with police and paramilitary troops in order to provoke police and troops to answer the protest with force and violence ?
  

• in the largest ethnic clash in China since the Tibetan uprising of March 2008 ? or the largest mass-mobilization of separatist terrorism to challenge authorities ?
  

.

 (2)

The rioters threw stones at the police and set vehicles on fire, sending plumes of smoke into the sky,

while police officers used fire hoses and batons to beat back rioters and detain Uighurs who appeared to be leading the protest, witnesses said.

Source: NYT July 6, 2009
Deadly Riots in China - by Edward Wong
---------------------------------------------------------------

Note :

• He used "rioters"instead of "Uighurs" when it's about "threw stones at the police and set vehicles on fire, sending plumes of smoke into the sky",

• and then when it comes to the police fighting back, these suddenly are not "rioters" any more but are "Uighurs"

.

 (3)

At least 3 Han Chinese and one police officer were killed in the rioting and 20 were injured,
according to Xinhua, the official news agency.
Dozens of Uighur men were led into police stations
with their hands behind their backs and shirts pulled over their heads, one witness said. 
(Source: NYT July 6, 2009 Deadly Riots in China - by Edward Wong)

Comments :

At least 3 Han Chinese and one police officer were killed in the rioting and 20 were injured, according to Xinhua, the official news agency.
v.s.
Dozens of Uighur men were led into police stations with their hands behind their backs and shirts pulled over their heads, one witness said. Early Monday, the local government announced a curfew banning all traffic in the city until 8 p.m.

Notes:

• This is to create an impression that only 3 Han Chinese and a police were killed but DOZENS of Uighurs were being taking to the police stations.  Note that the author carefully avoided using "suspects" but he used "Uighurs" to identify the men being taken to the police stations for further investigation. 

• When he talked about the Hans, he used 1 verb only, such as "killed" "injuries to describe what happened to the Hans in order to minimize the image When he talked about the Uighurs,  he used long phrases instead of only saying "arrest"

.

 (4)


The riot was the largest ethnic clash in China since the Tibetan uprising of March 2008, and perhaps the biggest protest in Xinjiang in years. Like the Tibetan unrest, it highlighted the deep-seated frustrations felt by some ethnic minorities in western China over the policies of the Communist Party.
(Source: NYT July 6, 2009 Deadly Riots in China - by Edward Wong)
-----------------------------------------------------

Comments:

(1)
The riot was

• the largest ethnic clash in China since the Tibetan uprising of March 2008, 

Notes: ===>>> this is to reassert the definition of the riot as "ethnic clash" that the author had put down at the very opening sentence and at the same time exclude other definitions, such as an act of terror, a provocation to test how far the police would put up with their violence and aggression.  In the future when this riot became history, people who research for today's western newspaper, they will see everywhere defining the riot as "ethnic clash" and rule out other explanation to today's history.  This is how they rob China's right to explain Chinese history !

(2)

and perhaps

• the biggest protest in Xinjiang in years.

Like the Tibetan unrest, it

• highlighted the deep-seated frustrations felt by some ethnic minorities in western China over the policies of the Communist Party.
  

Notes:

• the excuse of rioting from a bunch of outlaws who happened to be Uighurs has been polished by the author in a fancy manner >>>>  "deep-seated frustrations felt by some ethnic minorities in western China over the policies of the Communist Party. 

• This is a bunch of outlaws who happened to be Uighurs suddenly became "some ethnic minorities in western China"

• and their acts of terror is actually not caused by their nature of evilness but it is associated with "the deep-seated frustrations".... "over the policies of the Communist Party."
  

.

 (5)
Many Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim group, resent rule by the Han Chinese, and Chinese security forces have tried to keep oil-rich Xinjiang under tight control since the 1990s, when cities there were struck by waves of protests, riots and bombings. Last summer, attacks on security forces took place in several cities in Xinjiang; the Chinese government blamed separatist groups.

Notes:
(a)

• Many Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim group, resent rule by the Han Chinese, 

It is politically correct to say "Many Uighurs resent rule by the Han Chinese"
because

how many is "Many" ?  Their is no law to supervise such kind of statement. 

• However, think it over ! Why did the author emphasize that the Uighurs are "Turkic-speaking" "Muslim group"? 
  

That's because he intended to provoke the Turks and the Muslims around the world to stand up against China !  This can be proven through another article in the Philadelphia Inquirer,written by the director of the NED (National Endowment for Democracy), Mr. Moisés Naím. 

NG HAN GUAN / Associated Press Uighurs, a Chinese Muslim minority group, gather behind a barricade built against majority Han attackers in Urumqi, China. The Chinese government has practiced harsh policies against the group since the '90s but stepped them up after the Sept. 11 attacks. Posted on Sun, Jul. 19, 2009 Muslim world's rage missing over Uighurs' plight Moisés Naím is editor in chief of Foreign Policy magazine Where are the fatwas? The angry marches in front of embassies, the indignant speeches? Where are al-Qaeda's videos? In short, what does China have that Denmark did not? China has been actively discriminating against Muslims, and recently a number of them have been killed in violent street riots. In Denmark a newspaper printed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, and the Muslim world erupted in anger. Today that same Muslim world seems to be mute, deaf, and blind, and is oblivious to the violence and discrimination suffered by the Uighurs, a Muslim minority group, at the hands of the Chinese government. The reaction to the cartoons was swift and furious. Eleven ambassadors from Muslim countries formally protested to the Danish government. The Danish Consulate in Beirut was burned, and several people died in street riots in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Somalia. Newspapers in Norway and elsewhere decided to print the cartoons in an act of solidarity, which fueled the wave of violence. Al-Qaeda's videos and Web sites explained that the offensive cartoons were simply another example of the West's crusade against Islam. Meanwhile . . . Since the 1990s, the Chinese government has been carrying out systematic policies that discriminate against Uighurs. Their language is forbidden in schools; government employees cannot have long beards or head scarves and are not allowed to pray or fast during working hours. Uighurs also face strong discriminatory practices in education, health care, housing, and employment. Young Uighurs are often forced to work in faraway provinces, while Han Chinese - who are about 90 percent of China's population - are encouraged to move to Xinjiang, the autonomous region where Uighurs are the largest ethnic group. More than two million have settled there. Any protests against these practices are harshly repressed. The repression of the Uighurs intensified after the Sept. 11 attacks, when many of their political leaders were jailed, accused of having links with foreign Islamist terrorists. Since then, any individual or group convicted of terrorism, religious extremism, or separatism has received draconian sentences. The recent troubles in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, have left 184 dead, about a thousand injured, and thousands more detained. These are official figures; Uighurs claim the real numbers are much larger. What have Muslim leaders worldwide said or done so far? Not much. Mullahs, imams, and assorted clerics found time to issue fatwas condemning among other practices, Pokémon cartoons, total nudity during sex for married couples, and the use of polio vaccines, not to mention Salman Rushdie. They have yet to find the time to say anything about China's practices toward Uighurs. The same applies to the Arab League, governments of Muslim countries (where are the 11 ambassadors who protested to the Danish government?), and Muslim organizations in Europe and Asia. They have either been mute or their reaction has been too little, too late. Take, for example, the case of Turkey. Although the Uighurs have close ethnic, cultural, and linguistic ties with the Turkish people, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has not deemed their plea as urgent. At the same time that Erdogan was trying to get the international community to recognize Hamas, his government was denying a visa to Rebiya Kadeer, the exiled leader of the Uighurs (though recently Erdogan softened his posture and said that she would be allowed to visit Turkey). Only recently has Erdogan's government expressed concern about the situation in Xinjiang. Ahmet Davutoglu, the new foreign affairs minister, said this month that Turkey "cannot remain silent in the face of what is happening [in Xinjiang]." This did not go well in Beijing. On July 10, Global Times, an official Chinese press outlet, published an article titled "Turkey, another axis of evil!?" It noted: "After the riots in Xinjiang, many governments around the world are very cautious making comments, including the American government. But the Turkish government is an exception. As Urumqi is on its way to recovery, this arrogant country has never stopped lashing out at China. In fact, both the Turkish government and its nongovernmental organizations were harsh on China. . . . Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, 'We have always seen our Uygur [as] brothers, with whom we have historical and cultural ties . . .' " The article concluded: "Turkey's support for the Uygur separatists and terrorists can only cause public indignation in China. If it does not want to ruin the relationship between two peoples, please stop standing behind those mobs and separatists, stop being an axis of evil!" In politics, blindness and deafness are often induced by an acute awareness of where one's main interests really lie. China will clearly make efforts to clarify to the governments that express too much concern for the Uighurs what their real interests are. And the continuous silence about the situation of the Uighurs that may ensue in coming months and years will offer an eloquent demonstration of Beijing's ability to persuade. This article originally appeared in the Spanish newspaper El Pais.

(b)

• and Chinese security forces have tried to keep oil-rich Xinjiang under tight control since the 1990s, when cities there were struck by waves of protests, riots and bombings.

Note :  now he used "oil-rich" to describe Xinjiang because he wanted to the readers to have an impression that this OIL is the reason that the Chinese seucrities forces had tried to keep Xinjiang "under tight control since the 1990s when cities there were struck by waves of protests, riots and bombings."

• Last summer, attacks on security forces took place in several cities in Xinjiang; the Chinese government blamed separatist groups.

This sentence is to show readers that

• not only in the 1990s but even last year, there were attacks on security forces took place in several cities in Xinjiang

The author said that "the Chinese government blamed separatist groups" (for these attacks. ) The same author also covered the attack on security forces in Kashgar last year. In his report last year, he claimed that there were tourists witnessing the attack was done by a uniformed man IMPLYING that it's Chinese security force attacking Chinese security force and blamed it on the separatist group.  Since he had such a report a year ago, now he could use his own article to emphasize that for riots and attacks, "the Chinese government blamed separatist groups".  The author cleverly avoided citing the Kumming bus-bombing but chose the Kashgar attack as an illustration.  He knew by heart that for the Kumming bus-bombing, the terrorist group - the East Turkistan Islamic Party had claimed responsibility immediately after the attack but interestingly, the Chinese government expressed doubt on such claim. 

.

  (6)

Early Monday, Chinese officials said the latest riots were started by Rebiya Kadeer, a Uighur human rights advocate who had been imprisoned in China and now lives in Washington, Xinhua reported. As with the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, Chinese officials often blame Ms. Kadeer for ethnic unrest; she denies the charges.

Source: NYT July 6, 2009
Deadly Riots in China - by Edward Wong
---------------------------------------------------------------

• Early Monday, Chinese officials said the latest riots were started by Rebiya Kadeer, a Uighur human rights advocate who had been imprisoned in China and now lives in Washington, Xinhua reported.

Note:

The Chinese officials didn't say that the latest riot were started by Rebiya Kadeer and I am sure that Xinhua wouldn't report Rebiya Kadeer as "a Uighur human rights advocate" !  The author is forcing his own choice of words into Xinhua's mouth ! 

Let's check out for the original version as below :

• Xinhua said that  

"Evidence showed the riot was organized. It was instigated and masterminded by the World Uyghur Congress led by Kadeer, the sources said. "

• and Xinhua also said that 

Born in Xinjiang in 1951, Kadeer, a former businesswoman in China, made a fortune illegally from the 1980s on through tax evasion and fraud.
She was sentenced to an eight-year imprisonment in 2000 on charges of illegally disclosing state secrets, and was released on bail in 2005 to seek medical treatment in the United States.
She immediately got involved with overseas terrorists, separatists and extremists forces there, according to Wang Lequan, Communist Party chief of Xinjiang.
Kadeer once claimed the Congress would plot to sabotage activities marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China this year.
Touted as the "mother of Uygur people" by East Turkestan terrorists, Kadeer constantly visited Germany and other countries in northern Europe to build support.
"Kadeer's credentials got the recognition of overseas East Turkestan forces, and her experience is also an advantage to be capitalized on by Western anti-Chinese forces," said Ma Dazheng, director of the Xinjiang development research center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Pan Guang, an expert in international affairs and director of the Shanghai International Studies Center, said, "The East Turkestan terrorist forces portray Kadeer as a figure comparable to the Dalai Lama to promote her international influence."
"Actually, they just want to follow the road of the Dalai Lama to put the so-called Xinjiang issue into the international spotlight," he said.

Evidence shows Rebiya Kadeer behind Urumqi riot: Chinese gov't BEIJING, July 8 (Xinhua) -- The separatist World Uyghur Congress led by Rebiya Kadeer was behind the deadly July 5 Urumqi riot, in which at least 156 people died and more than 1000 were injured, sources with the government said. Evidence showed the riot was organized. It was instigated and masterminded by the World Uyghur Congress led by Kadeer, the sources said. The Congress used the June 26 factory brawl between Uygur and Han ethnic workers in Guangdong Province, in which two Uygurs died, to create chaos. On July 1, the Congress held a special meeting, plotting to instigate unrest by sending messages via the Internet, telephones and mobile phones. On July 4, some people inside the country began to send out a flood of online posts encouraging people to go to the Renmin Square in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, to protest on July 5 to support separatists abroad. At 1:06 a.m. July 5, police in Urumqi were tipped off that some people were putting out illegal information calling for an illegal gathering at Renmin Square at 7 p.m. July 5. According to recordings of calls, at 11 a.m. July 5, Kadeer said, as she called her younger brother in Urumqi, "A lot of things have happened, and we all know something might happen in Urumqi tomorrow night." On July 6, Kadeer held an emergency meeting with some senior members of the Congress to make plans to further stir up both domestic and overseas demonstrations and to call for intervention from foreign governments and human rights institutions. Their schemes were immediately materialized in the attack on China's consulate in Munich, Germany, on Monday morning and the violence done by over 150 separatists in front of China's embassy in the Netherlands that afternoon. All these facts pointed to Kadeer, whose personal experience bore further evidence of her splittist connection. Kadeer was elected in 2006 to be the chairwoman of the Congress, which was founded in Munich in 2004. The Congress, an organization alleging to represent the ultimate interests of East Turkestan people, is wholly dedicated to masterminding secessionist activities in the name of human rights and democracy, the government said. Born in Xinjiang in 1951, Kadeer, a former businesswoman in China, made a fortune illegally from the 1980s on through tax evasion and fraud. She was sentenced to an eight-year imprisonment in 2000 on charges of illegally disclosing state secrets, and was released on bail in 2005 to seek medical treatment in the United States. She immediately got involved with overseas terrorists, separatists and extremists forces there, according to Wang Lequan, Communist Party chief of Xinjiang. Kadeer once claimed the Congress would plot to sabotage activities marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China this year. Touted as the "mother of Uygur people" by East Turkestan terrorists, Kadeer constantly visited Germany and other countries in northern Europe to build support. "Kadeer's credentials got the recognition of overseas East Turkestan forces, and her experience is also an advantage to be capitalized on by Western anti-Chinese forces," said Ma Dazheng, director of the Xinjiang development research center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Pan Guang, an expert in international affairs and director of the Shanghai International Studies Center, said, "The East Turkestan terrorist forces portray Kadeer as a figure comparable to the Dalai Lama to promote her international influence." "Actually, they just want to follow the road of the Dalai Lama to put the so-called Xinjiang issue into the international spotlight," he said.

• As with the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, Chinese officials often blame Ms. Kadeer for ethnic unrest; she denies the charges.

Note :

Using one sentence to decriminalise the Dalai Lama and Rebiya Kadeer from the crime of their separatist movement activities which include beating, smashing,  killing, looting, arson,   the author tried to misle the readers to believe that the riots have nothing to do with these so-called "spiritual leaders"

.

(7)

The clashes on Sunday began when the police confronted a protest march held by Uighurs to demand a full government investigation of a brawl between Uighur and Han workers that erupted in Guangdong Province overnight on June 25 and June 26. The brawl took place in a toy factory and left 2 Uighurs dead and 118 people injured. The police later arrested a bitter ex-employee of the factory who had ignited the fight by starting a rumor that 6 Uighur men had raped 2 Han women at the work site, Xinhua reported.

Source: NYT July 6, 2009
Deadly Riots in China - by Edward Wong
---------------------------------------------------------------

The author was shifting the responsibility of the clashes to the police.  He was ridiculing himself by implying that if the police didn't try to disband these unlawful protesters who demonstrated without applying for a rallying permit, all the brutal activities of these outlaws against innocent unarmed Han civilians & passes-by wouldn't happen.  And the arson, and the looting, and the smashing, and the many more.... all of them were the police's faults !

Interestingly, until now, I have never seen any western media displaying any pictures relevant to this "peaceful demonstration" though it had been widespread  being held by most of the western media as an immediate cause of the clash.  I couldn't find it from the home site of the World Ughur Congress either. 

While the World Uighur Congress and its western media backers couldn't show any supportive evidence to prove that the demonstration was a "peaceful" one to start,  the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokenman had argued in high tone that "VIOLENCE IN URUMQI NOT A PEACEFUL PROTEST." 

FM spokesman: Violence in Urumqi not a peaceful protest

www.chinaview.cn

2009-07-07 16:05:06

FM: Sunday violence in Xinjiang is not a peaceful protest, but "an evil killing, fire setting and looting."

·Anybody calling the violence a peaceful protest is to turn black into white to mislead the public.

·More than 150 people died and other 1,000-odd injured following the riot Sunday evening in Urumqi.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang speaks at the Foreign Ministry regular press conference in Beijing, capital of China, July 7, 2009. The Sunday violence in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is not a peaceful protest, but "an evil killing, fire setting and looting", Qin said here on Tuesday.(Xinhua/Xie Huanchi) Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The Sunday violence in Urumqi was "an evil killing, fire setting and looting", said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang on Tuesday.
    "Anybody calling the violence a peaceful protest is trying to turn black into white in an attempt to mislead the public," Qin told a regular press conference.
    More than 150 people died and a further 1,000-odd were injured in the riot Sunday evening in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
    Qin said this was an action born out of the fear of Xinjiang's social progress, solidification and prosperity.
    "The violence is a preempted, organized violent crime. It is instigated and directed from abroad, and carried out by outlaws in the country," Qin said, noting that the evidence was irrefutable and conclusive.
    Xinjiang police said Monday they had evidence that separatist World Uyghur Congress leader Rebiya Kadeer masterminded the riot.
    Rebiya Kadeer, a former businesswoman in China, was detained in1999 on charges of harming national security. She was released on bail on March 17, 2005 to seek medical treatment in the United States.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang speaks at the Foreign Ministry regular press conference in Beijing, capital of China, July 7, 2009. The Sunday violence in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is not a peaceful protest, but "an evil killing, fire setting and looting", Qin said here on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi) Photo Gallery>>>

    "Rebiya Kadeer is also involved in serious economic crime," Qinsaid, noting that the Chinese government, out of humanitarian consideration, allowed her to remain out of custody and obtain medical treatment, and she had promised not to engage in actions endangering the country's security before her departure.

A series of facts in recent years proved that she was totally aliar. She took separatist actions at all times when living abroad, Qin said, urging related countries to see clearly the essence of Eastern Turkestan groups, and not to extend sympathy or support to them in any form.
    According to a local official, the Chinese authorities had evidence that Rebiya Kadeer used the Internet and other means of communication to mastermind the riot in Xinjiang.
    Internet was cut in parts of Urumqi following the deadly riot to prevent violence from spreading.
    Qin said this measure was taken in order to deal with the incident and safeguard local stability.
    After the Sunday riot, The Xinjiang judicial departments arrested some suspects in order to safeguard the normal life of the local people.
    "What they have done was justified, and any country could take the same measures while facing this violence," Qin said.
    He also said the China, by rule of law, would not wrong one innocent person, nor setting free any evil one.
    Qin refuted the accusation by some human rights organizations criticizing Chinese government's measures to deal with Xinjiang violence.
    "Those organizations view the case with bias, and their conclusion could not objective undoubtedly, and it stands in the opposite direction of ethics, laws and all Chinese people's minds," he said.
    Foreign journalists, about 60 in number, were in Xinjiang on a reporting trip arranged by the Information Office of the State Council, the Chinese Cabinet.
    "China takes an open and transparent principle on the news report, and offer active help and convenience for the foreign and Chinese journalists to cover news in Xinjiang," Qin said.
    A press center had been established in Urumqi, with service offered by officials there, Qin said, hoping that the media would fairly report the truth.
    Qin also reminded the reporters to abide by related regulations and laws, and take care of their own security.  
  

Vehicles set on fire and destroyed in Sunday night's riot are seen on Beiwan Street in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 6, 2009. (Xinhua/Shen Qiao) Photo Gallery>>>

.

 (8)

There was also a rumor circulating on Sunday in Urumqi that a Han man had killed a Uighur in the city earlier in the day, said Adam Grode, an English teacher living in the neighborhood where the rioting took place. “This is just crazy,” Mr. Grode said by telephone Sunday night. “There was a lot of tear gas in the streets, and I almost couldn’t get back to my apartment. There’s a huge police presence.”                                           Mr. Grode said he saw a few Han civilians being harassed by Uighurs. Rumors of Uighurs attacking Han Chinese spread quickly through parts of Urumqi, adding to the panic. A worker at the Texas Restaurant, a few hundred yards from the site of the rioting, said her manager had urged the restaurant workers to stay inside. Xinhua reported few details of the riot on Sunday night. It said that “an unknown number of people gathered Sunday afternoon” in Urumqi, “attacking passers-by and setting fire to vehicles.”

Source: NYT July 6, 2009
Deadly Riots in China - by Edward Wong
---------------------------------------------------------------

• There was also a rumor circulating on Sunday in Urumqi that a Han man had killed a Uighur in the city earlier in the day, said Adam Grode, an English teacher living in the neighborhood where the rioting took place.

The author tried to decriminalize the Uighurs' act of violence by borrowing the mouth of an assumed "road-side witness", Mr. Adam Grode, who according to the report was "an English teacher living in the neighborhood where the rioting took place."  to convince the readers with such a detail as " there was a rumor circulating on Sunday in Urumqi that a Han man had killed a Uighur in the city earlier in the day."  This unhearded "rumour" is solely sourced by the New York Times.  It seemed that only Mr. Adam Grode knew about this "rumour" so far because I have never read about the same claim in any other sources of news. 

• “This is just crazy,” Mr. Grode said by telephone Sunday night. “There was a lot of tear gas in the streets, and I almost couldn’t get back to my apartment. There’s a huge police presence.”     

       v.s.

• Mr. Grode said he saw a few Han civilians being harassed by Uighurs. Rumors of Uighurs attacking Han Chinese spread quickly through parts of Urumqi, adding to the panic.

What a contrast !  

Comparing "a huge police presence"  with " a few Han civilians being harassed by Uighurs" ! 

Note :

according to the "witness", they're only being "harassed" , not "attacked", not "assaulted" and not "killed" ! 

How can the readers not be convinced the Chinese police was using excessive force upon the civilians, eh ?

• Rumors of Uighurs attacking Han Chinese spread quickly through parts of Urumqi, adding to the panic.

Here the "witness" shed light on another piece of details , which interestingly was also a "rumor"!  While the previous "rumor" was about a Han man had killed a Uighur ,  now the witness had another "rumor" to tell the New York Times that it was about the Uighurs attacking Han Chinese. 
Note :
According to this "road-side witness" - Mr. Adam Grode,  the Han Chinese were being "harassed" by the Uighurs. 

How dare somebody spread the news about the Uighurs attacking Han Chinese ? 

That got to be a rumor ! 

Indeed, that was a rumor,  at least,  to Mr. Adamn Grode's judgement, right ?

• Xinhua reported few details of the riot on Sunday night. It said that “an unknown number of people gathered Sunday afternoon” in Urumqi, “attacking passers-by and setting fire to vehicles.”

Note:

Here, the author appeared to be a bit annoyed by the simplicity of the Xinhua's report which cautiously didn't use any unverifiable roadside information like the New York Times did irresponsibly to drive the readers to any unnecessary misjudgments.   

Welcome to China, Master of " Fictitious Journalism" !

.

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Uighurs are the largest ethnic group in Xinjiang but are a minority in Urumqi, where Han Chinese make up more than 70 percent of the population of two million or so.
The Chinese government has encouraged Han migration to the city and other parts of Xinjiang, fueling resentment among the Uighurs.
Urumqi is a deeply segregated city, with Han Chinese there rarely venturing into the Uighur quarter.

Source: NYT July 6, 2009
Deadly Riots in China - by Edward Wong
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Comments:

• Uighurs are the largest ethnic group in Xinjiang but are a minority in Urumqi, where Han Chinese make up more than 70 percent of the population of two million or so.

Notes: 

• While both the Uighurs and the Hans are subjects of the People's Republic of China, only the Hans were addressed by the author as "Chinese".  This is separatism in the form of writing which forced China , also in the form of writing, to let go with the Uighursto be splitted away from the rest of the 55 ethnic groups of China.  

• The author provide his readers, which are mostly in the West, with an intentionally selective background information about the Uighurs. 
  

He was painting a picture that

the Chinese government encouraged the Hans to move to Xinjiang en mass thus marginalizing the largest ethnic group, the Uighurs, in Xinjiang and pushing them to become a minority in the province's capital city,  Urumqi, resulting the Uighurs' resentment towards the Hans. 

What a "perfect" explanation to the bloody 7/5 Urumqi Riot !  Shift the blame to the Chinese Government and let the separatist terrorism walks away alive and free ! 

The author had purposefully dis-informed his readers with a lot of historical facts about Xinjiang so that he could give readers an impression that the Uighurs were the indigenous people and the Hans were the colonizers. 

The Inconvenient Truth About
the Turks, the Uighurs, the Hans, and Xinjiang

• The ethnic origins of the residents of Xinjiang began to be clearly recorded in the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.), the main ones being the Sai (Sak), Rouzhi (or Yueh-chih), Wusun (Usun), Qiang, Xiongnu (Hun) and Han.

• Han Chinese started living there 800 years before the Turks came and 1000 years before the Uighurs arrived. The Turks didn’t come to Xinjiang ( or so-called “East Turkistan”) until the 6th centuries.

• Tümaen, a Turki leader, defeated the Rouran in 552, and set up a state centered in Mobei (the area north of the vast deserts on the Mongolian Plateau). The Turki realm later split into the eastern and western sides which fought ceaselessly in their scramble for the khanate.

• In the middle of the eighth century, both the Eastern and Western Turki khanates disappeared, their descendants being assimilated by other ethnic groups.

• And the Uighurs didn’t found their first khanate until 744 and the khanate collapsed in 840 because of natural disasters, internal strife and attacks by the ancient Jiegasi tribe.

• Consequently, most of the Uighur migrated westward. One of their sub-groups moved to the modern Jimsar and Turpan regions, where they founded the Gaochang Uighur Kingdom.

• Another sub-group moved to the Central Asian grasslands, scattered in areas from Central Asia to Kashi, and joined the Karluk and Yagma peoples in founding the Karahan Kingdom.

• After that, the Tarim Basin and its surrounding areas were under the rule of the Gaochang Uighur Kingdom and the Karahan Kingdom.

• The local residents were merged with the Uighurs that had moved west, thus laying the foundation for the subsequent formation of the Uighur ethnic group.

All these Kingdoms have been vanished, now it’s the time for the Turks and the Uighurs to merge with the Chinese.

When did the term "TURK" first appeared on history ?

• The first historical text to mention the Turks was from the standpoint of the Chinese, who mentioned trade of Turk tribes with the Sogdians along the Silk Road..........

• The first recorded use of "Turk" as a political name is a sixth-century reference to the word now pronounced in Modern Chinese as Tujue..........

• The first known mention of the term Turk applied to a Turkic group was in reference to the Göktürks in the sixth century.

• A letter by the Chinese Emperor written to a Göktürk Khan named Ishbara in 585 described him as "the Great Turk Khan." The Orhun inscriptions (AD 735) use the terms Turk and Turuk..........

• The main migration of Turks, who were among the ancient inhabitants of Turkestan, occurred in medieval times, when they spread across most of Asia and into Europe and the Middle East.

• The first state known as "Turk", giving its name to many states and peoples afterwards, was that of the Göktürks (gog = "blue" or "celestial") in the sixth century AD. ( source : Wikipedia)

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The Uighur neighborhood is centered in a warren of narrow alleyways,  food markets and a large shopping area called the Grand Bazaar or the Erdaoqiao Market, where the rioting reached its peak on Sunday.              
Mr. Grode, who lives in an apartment there, said he went outside when he first heard commotion around 6 p.m. He saw hundreds of Uighurs in the streets; that quickly swelled to more than 1,000, he said. 
Police officers soon arrived. Around 7 p.m., protesters began hurling rocks and vegetables from the market at the police, Mr. Grode said.
Traffic had ground to a halt. An hour later, as the riot surged toward the center of the market, troops in green uniforms and full riot gear showed up, as did armored vehicles.
Chinese government officials often deploy the People’s Armed Police, a paramilitary force, to quell riots. 
By midnight, Mr. Grode said, some of the armored vehicles had begun to leave, but bursts of gunfire could still be heard.

Source: NYT July 6, 2009
Deadly Riots in China - by Edward Wong

---------------------------------------------------------------

Here are more details that the author presented to the readers through the road-side-witness Mr. Grode who had told the author about the two rumors, of which, one was about the Uighur being killed by a Han while another one was about the Han being killed by the Uighur, that caused the act of violence from both the Uighurs and the Hans. 

According to Mr. Grode that he

• first heard commotion around 6 pm
• went outside
• saw hundreds of Uighurs in the streets
• the Uighurs quickly swelled to more than 1,000

• Police officers soon arrived.
• Around 7 p.m., protesters began hurling rocks and vegetables from the market at the police

• Traffic had ground to a halt.

• An hour later, the riot surged toward the center of the market,
• troops in green uniforms and full riot gear showed up, as did armored vehicles.

• By midnight, some of the armored vehicles had begun to leave,
  
• bursts of gunfire could still be heard.

NOTES:

• Interestingly, Mr. Grode didn't recall any "peaceful protest" , did he ?

• Mr. Grode said that "Around 7 pm,  the protesters began hurling rocks and vegetables from the market at the police. " 
  

Yet the author told us earlier in the same report out of his subjective judgment without demonstrating any supporting source of information that

The clashes on Sunday began when the police confronted a protest march held by Uighurs to demand a full government investigation of a brawl between Uighur and Han workers that erupted in Guangdong Province overnight on June 25 and June 26.

So, what is the best interpretation for such a gap of the two versions?

1.  The author's credibility is a quest.

2. The road-side-witness - Mr. Grode's credibility is a quest.

3.  Nobody including the author really knows what happened .  However, lies will become truth after it's being repeated for a hundred times.  So, be "bold" to make things up.  After all, it's not what you say but how you say it.  Lies being said again and again for a hundred times will also become truth.