*Source: DTN News / AP
(NSI News Source Info) MELBOURNE, Australia - August 5, 2009: China is inflaming ethnic tensions by deceiving its own people about last month's deadly riots in western Xinjiang province, an exiled Uighur activist whom Beijing blames for the unrest said Wednesday. 
Exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer speaks to a media round table in Melbourne, Australia, on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2009, after arriving in the country for the screening of a documentary about her life at the Melbourne International Film Festival. China has accused Kadeer of fomenting the recent ethnic unrest in Xinjiang's capital of Urumqi and had asked Australia to refuse her a visa. (AP Photo/David Crosling)
Rebiya Kadeer, a U.S.-based activist who is in Australia for the screening of a documentary about her life, told reporters that Beijing should be held accountable for the violent crackdown.
"The Chinese people should be very careful with the Chinese government's versions of the events and the ways and means the Chinese government employ ... to deceive, to some extent, the Chinese people, to create this kind of terrible relationship between two groups," Kadeer said.
China says 197 people were killed and more than 1,700 injured during the July 5 clashes between the Muslim Uighur minority and members of China's dominant Han ethnic group. The rioting in Xinjiang province's capital of Urumqi was the worst ethnic violence in China in decades. Beijing blames Kadeer, 62, for instigating the unrest, a charge she denies.
The violence broke out after police stopped an initially peaceful protest by Uighur youths. Uighurs then smashed windows, burned cars and attacked Han Chinese. Two days later, the Han took to the streets and staged retaliatory attacks.
Kadeer accuses Chinese forces of opening fire on the protesters and then diverting attention from their actions by blaming the violence on an ethnic clash. She has called for an international investigation into the violence to determine how many people died and were arrested.
Chinese state media said Tuesday that 83 people had been arrested on charges including murder and arson.
Kadeer's attendance at the Melbourne International Film Festival is the source of some controversy, as China had requested that Australia deny her a visa and had asked the festival to drop her movie from the program. "The 10 Conditions of Love," by Australian filmmaker Jeff Daniels, will be screened on Saturday.
Seven Chinese-language films were withdrawn from the festival in protest.
Exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer speaks to a media round table in Melbourne, Australia, on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2009, after arriving in the country for the screening of a documentary about her life at the Melbourne International Film Festival. China has accused Kadeer of fomenting the recent ethnic unrest in Xinjiang's capital of Urumqi and had asked Australia to refuse her a visa. (AP Photo/David Crosling)
Rebiya Kadeer, a U.S.-based activist who is in Australia for the screening of a documentary about her life, told reporters that Beijing should be held accountable for the violent crackdown.
"The Chinese people should be very careful with the Chinese government's versions of the events and the ways and means the Chinese government employ ... to deceive, to some extent, the Chinese people, to create this kind of terrible relationship between two groups," Kadeer said.
China says 197 people were killed and more than 1,700 injured during the July 5 clashes between the Muslim Uighur minority and members of China's dominant Han ethnic group. The rioting in Xinjiang province's capital of Urumqi was the worst ethnic violence in China in decades. Beijing blames Kadeer, 62, for instigating the unrest, a charge she denies.
The violence broke out after police stopped an initially peaceful protest by Uighur youths. Uighurs then smashed windows, burned cars and attacked Han Chinese. Two days later, the Han took to the streets and staged retaliatory attacks.
Kadeer accuses Chinese forces of opening fire on the protesters and then diverting attention from their actions by blaming the violence on an ethnic clash. She has called for an international investigation into the violence to determine how many people died and were arrested.
Chinese state media said Tuesday that 83 people had been arrested on charges including murder and arson.
Kadeer's attendance at the Melbourne International Film Festival is the source of some controversy, as China had requested that Australia deny her a visa and had asked the festival to drop her movie from the program. "The 10 Conditions of Love," by Australian filmmaker Jeff Daniels, will be screened on Saturday.
Seven Chinese-language films were withdrawn from the festival in protest.
No comments:
Post a Comment