Times Online

Search for Han Chinese sister whose family were butchered by Uighur
July 10, 2009
Jane Macartney in Urumqi

What was once a grocery shop is now a blackened mess. Two boys in shorts and singlets play in the rubble but the usual occupants are absent. Five days ago a Han Chinese family was butchered in this small shop — victims of the Uighurs who rampaged through Urumqi.

Yu Dongzhi described how he clawed through the smoking ruins of the store to search for the family who lived there. He hoped to find his sister, Yu Xinli; her husband, Zhang Mingying; their 13-year-old son; her elderly mother-in-law; and a nephew aged 27.

The police helped him to dig among sacks of flour and bottles of rice wine melted by the heat of the blaze.

He found no survivors, only four bodies. He has yet to discover the fate of his sister.

Mr Yu is a heavily built man in his fifties and more than 6ft, but he almost weeps with despair. “I just hope I can find my sister in an intensive care unit of one of the hospitals. But so far, nothing.”

He has checked the mortuaries and photo galleries of unclaimed bodies held by the police, but his sister was not among them.

He has been refused access to the intensive care units. “I don’t say that I want to go in to disturb these very sick people, but why can’t they show us photographs of the injured? At least then I could find my sister,” he said.

Mr Yu cannot bear to think that she may have been dragged away by the rioters and murdered.

Just coping with the deaths of his sister’s family has almost overwhelmed him. The bodies were among the corpses whose pictures have been carried in local newspapers. So shocking was the family tragedy that one newspaper carried a special report on it, Police have confirmed the killings.

As The Times stood outside what is left of No 447 Zhongwan Street, a Han neighbour approached. She had watched the killings from her home in an apartment block overlooking the store.

“We saw hundreds of Uighurs running down the street on the afternoon of July 5. About ten suddenly rushed into the store. They began to hit the people inside, even the old mother, with bricks and stones. They tried to run outside. Then they were dragged back inside.

“There were terrible screams. Just wordless screams. But then very quickly they fell silent.”

She said that the son tried to hide in a chicken coop but was dragged out and his head was cut off. All the victims were left to burn inside the building. The corpses of the boy and his father were found beheaded. Mr Yu said: “Even the 84-year-old mother was stoned and then burnt. It was terrible, terrible. So cruel.”

Mr Yu made his way yesterday to a temporary emergency centre in an Urumqi hotel. At some desks clerks helped Han and Uighurs to process requests for compensation for damaged cars or destroyed businesses.

In a corner, two women waited at a desk for families seeking missing loved ones or reporting the deaths of relatives. This was where Mr Yu hoped to find help in the hunt for his sister. Officials were unable to explain what he could do next.

He sat in the hotel room-turned-office surrounded by relatives, just waiting. “I still have to keep up my hopes,” he said.

Mr Yu is too busy looking for his sister to organise the funerals for her family. That painful task will come next.

More than a decade ago his brother-in-law moved from central Henan province to run a successful business in a district with a high proportion of ethnic Uighur residents. “Perhaps they were jealous of his success. They clearly targeted the family. It looked as if they had decided in advance to pick on my sister. The police are pursuing the case and they have made some arrests,” said Mr Yu.

Nearby, a Uighur family run a small restaurant. The man shrugged when asked about the family who only a week ago ran a thriving business. He refused to talk about his late Han neighbours.

2009年7月8日，我智斗“世维会”纪实

世维会, 纪实, 智斗

我昨晚在世维会（WUC）的网站上看到他们今 天要在其总部开新闻发布会，届时会有德国政客（包括在巴伐利亚州执政的SPD的一名州议员）和众多媒体参加 （http://www.uyghurcongress.org/En … =-791930673&mid=1096144499）。我马上和慕尼黑中国学生会主席（下面简称Q，我们在去年的抗议达赖事件中认识 的）紧急商量对策。我觉得这是一个很好的机会：首先，我们可以摸摸敌人的情况；其次，借机向媒体宣传事实和我们的观点；第三，显示一下我们的存在，让敌人 不敢太放肆。我和Q简单商讨了一下在会场的对策，就是冷静观察，随机应变，绝不做过激言论。随后我在DSZH和【无面人沃尔夫】联络上（他会德语是个大优 势，我和Q都不会德语）。然后Q又找了两个人，其中一个在本地生活多年，娶了德国老婆，德语很好。

我们一共五个人，约好今早10:30在 主火车站门口集合，大家彼此认识了一下，这就是战友了。10：50走到世维会总部的门口，我还是第一次来这里。他们的网站上只有电话，没有地址，这次开新 闻发布会，终于公开地址了。对面站着有两个警察（后来才发现附近还埋伏了十多个警察，防备现场发生冲突）。进门的时候我们中有人和当地一家维吾尔人餐馆的 老板认识，还打了招呼，看起来没有明显的恶意。上楼，来到邪恶老巢世维会的总部，极其寒酸，就一层的地方，一排四间办公室，最里面是个会议室，也就是今天 的会场，非常小，比一个办公室大不了多少。看来是没钱租更大的地方。里面已经有几家媒体摆了设备，不一会又来了些人，大多是记者，一个小小的屋子才进来十 几个人就满了，晚来的只好挤在门口。我看了一下，来的平面媒体有南德意志报（慕尼黑最大的本地报纸）、慕尼黑另一家本地报纸、一家土耳其新闻机构，通讯社 有路透社和德国之声，电视台有2DF和巴伐利亚州电视台、慕尼黑市电视台。此外还有一个亚洲人面孔的记者，看不出来是哪来的，不排除是RFA的人。

10:55， 新闻发布会开始。首先是世维会副主席Asgar Can发言，然后是州议员Markus Rinder spachter发言，随后世维会秘书长Dolkun Isa补充所谓“最新伤亡情况”。接下来是记者提 问。我听不懂德语，此处请无面人补充。会后听他们说，记者也不是完全听他们的胡说。其中一个女记者问到，昨天下午疆独在Marienplatz示威的时候 打了路过的中国女游客，打人者已被警方拘留，请问你如何评论？世维会副主席显然非常尴尬，支支吾吾的说，这个是不对的，当然情绪激动也难免云云。当世维会 秘书长说到“有四个维族人被打死，尸体挂在医院门口”时，马上有记者问：“请问是哪个医院？”贼眉鼠眼的秘书长当时就被问住了，“这个，啊，我也是从网上 看到的”。我只能说，laf & puke!

开始我们都一直在听，等西媒记者问得差不多了，【无面人沃尔夫】提问了。问答都是德 语，我听不懂（汗～），让他自己说吧。最后，我们使出了杀手锏──出示照片。photo tell the truth，这是无法抵赖的。果然，这一招很奏效，本来这些记者听了一个多小时的废话（世维会没有给出任何消息来源，都是“听说”和“网上看到 ”），都十分无聊了，看到有照片，马上调转镜头过来拍。我们向媒体出示了被暴徒杀害的无辜平民的尸体惨状，强调指出被害者是头部被石块猛击致死或者被割喉 杀害，其中后者是基地组织的典型首发，这显然是地地道道的恐怖主义行为。此时，会场大乱，世维会秘书长发现形式不妙，立即宣布活动结束。记者还不愿意马上 走，跟我们交流起来。我们也乘机散发了这些照片。我跟一个南德意志报的女记者说：首先我们谴责一切形式的暴力活动；其次从受害者的照片看，这是典型的恐怖 主义；第三，即使中国政府有什么可能的政策不当，也决不能成为恐怖分子杀害上百无辜平民的理由，这就如同美国的政策不能成为基地组织发动911的理由一样 （此处我尽量用西媒能理解的话语来说）。她问我是否相信世维会的说法，我说，”That’s totally non-sense.”她问我们的消息来源是什么，我说我们有朋友在新疆，我还说我自己几年前就去过新疆。她没有再问什么，不过要了我的名字 ──新闻要有消息来源。我觉得没什么可怕的，就给她了。旁边，有个世维会的人用汉语十分激动的和我们的人争辩，说我们听信了共产党的宣传，而共产党的话“ 怎么能信呢？”Q十分冷静的说，现在还没有更多的消息，我们来这里就是为了共同求得事实真相。然后问，你们的消息来源是什么。他说，等下，我给你找。出去 半天，空手回来，什么材料也没有。我心说，原来是一帮FC！开记者招待会居然不事先准备材料！旁边媒体也拍着，这番表演好不热闹。

大家正 说着，突然有两个德国人过来请我们出去，随后出示了警察的证件。我们只好跟着离开，事后我们知道，是世维会的人跟警察说我们不是记者，所以不能来参加记者 招待会。显然，他们害怕了，害怕事实真相。出来以后，我们向警察出示了世维会网站上的新闻稿，里面清清楚楚的写着“All media and the public are welcome to attend the press conference.”我们作为public，当然有权参加。警察就没说什么了，不过要了我们每个人的护照信息，并保证只供警方使用，不会告 诉世维会的人。世维会的人又跟警察说，我们拍了他们的人的照片，说会危害他们的安全。警察就说这是公开场合，你们欢迎公众参加，他们有权拍照。世维会的人 无语。法制社会还是好啊。警察很友好，很敬业，走的时候跟每个人握手致意。

在外面我还跟一个土耳其老头聊了几句。老头很nice，跟我们 说大家到德国都要遵守法律──看来他把我们当作来踢场的了，哈哈。我跟他说，当然，我们都是守法的。他还问我，到底死者中有多少汉人，多少维族。我说，尸 体辨认还没有结果，估计要一周时间，不过从伤者情况看，绝大多数是汉族。希望他能如实报道吧。

Q他们还跟一个世维会的年轻人聊了几句，做了些“不希望民族对立，希望和平相处”的统战工作。
就这样结束了。大家都很高兴，胜利完成任务。

总结几点：

1，德国还是法制社会，警察也是敬业的，只要按法律办，不必害怕什么，不要过激，以理服人。

2，西媒也不全是NC，起码基层小记者还愿意听听我们的看法。当然对媒体上层我们是不指望的。

3，世维会没什么可怕，其人素质太差，水平太低。说实话，智商并不高。一个半小时的记者招待待会没有一张照片，一段录像、录音，消息来源只有所谓的电话和网络消息。

4，还以如此弱智的世维会能把土鳖弄得这样惨呢？原因有两点：一是，内因是决定性的，原有的民族矛盾肯定客观存在，被6·26偶然事件和之后的谣言点燃（这一点非常类似于胡耀邦之死和89的关系）

二是，政府应对失策。

最 后还有一点我个人的判断：可能连世维会的人自己都没想到事情会闹这么大（当然土鳖也没想到）。他们在国外下令搞游行，搞破坏，然后国内的JD分子就胡搞乱 搞了。实际上只要问题定性为恐怖活动，他们就不可能得到任何公开的国际支持。现在他们也在商讨下一步的对策，想方设法跟恐怖活动撇清关系。他们说明天在柏 林会有一个比较大的造势活动，另据说在美国的一个世维会头目今天已经到了德国。实际上七五事件如果处理得好是一个机会。本来政府一直说世维会是恐怖组织， 但一直没有被承认的证据（世维会一直说恐怖活动都是东伊运的人干的），好，现在证据送上门来了。这次就看土鳖是不是真的FC了。

I accidental bumped intot this article -  Ethnic Tensions Escalate in China’s Xinjiang Region, while this article is hopelessly biased, mis-informed, just like most any other western media do, I found one of its reader’s comments to be much more interesting and valuable.

The author is named as Elvis Esparza, here is he/she had to say

DW,

You are woefully misinformed about China like some of the other Westerners whom have posted on this article. Imperialism? Cultural Genocide? Racism? Colonialism?

For starters the area of Xinjiang (with Mongolia) has ALWAYS posed a threat to Chinese civilization due to nomadic barbarians (Xiongnu, Ruan, Turks, Mongols, & Tatars). Traditionally the Chinese were forced to pacify those regions via either outright conquest (Han &Tang dynasties) or punitive expeditions (Han, Sui, & Ming dynasties) to force them into vassal status. Today’s PRC has decided on outright rule both due to its natural resources and so that it serves as a buffer region. Completely and totally understandable and in realpolitic terms justifiable. Since one of the ways to secure a territory is to settle your own people there (see the Romans, Incas, the United States, and of course Imperial China) the Chinese government is doing the same thing encouraging Han Chinese to migrate to Xinjiang (as well as Tibet – also for purposes of natural resources and to serve as a buffer region).

If you look throughout history the Han Chinese NEVER committed genocide or massacred minorities due to their religious beliefs. In the history of the 2000+ year Chinese empire, ONLY when a foreign dynasty (the Manchu Qing) ruled where their massacres of religious minorities performed by the government.
Native Han Chinese dynasties (Han, Jin, Sui, Tang, Song, Ming) did NOT massacre religious minorities. In fact Daoists, Buddhists, Jews, Christians, & Muslims all lived in the empire and NONE were relegated to 2nd class citizens. In fact the ONLY two times a group of people were relegated to 2nd class citizen status (or worse) was during the rule of two foreign dynasties (the Mongol Yuan and the Manchu Qing) both of whom put the Han Chinese into lesser status via laws and regulations (something none of the other dynasties did to the Han Chinese who were the majority or the peoples the Han Chinese dynasties conquered). Whenever a sect was persecuted it was NOT the worshippers but the religious elite (example Buddhist monasteries during the 9th century AD) and then it was due to them acquiring power and therefore possing a threat to the ruler. Last but not least the Han Chinese NEVER forced those who did not practice Daoism and/or Buddhism to convert to such faiths.

In turn if you look at the oh so glorious West, you find the opposite. Emperors & kings forced their subjects to convert to Christianity in the Roman Empire, Nordic Scandinavia, Slavic Russia (both pre-Tsarist and Romanov), Bulgaria, and Poland. Christian Europe imposed Christianity on conquered Pagans in Saxon Germany, the Baltic States, & native americans in the western hemisphere. Throughout its history, Christian Europe has periodically massacred or expelled Jews. From the 4th century AD to the 17th century AD, Christians persecuted so-called Heretics (via laws & regulations and more violent means such as burning at the stake, massacres, Papal authorized Crusades, the Medieval Inquisition, and the Religious Wars). Let us also NOT forget how Pagans in the Roman Empire when it Christianized, Jews (Roman Empire & Christendom), and Muslims (Christian Spain) were delegated to 2nd class citizens.

As for its drive to be rich, that is what most people in the world want to some degree or another. NOBODY wants to be poor, nobody wants to see their children struggle and lack things that others have. We all want a better life and a better one for our children. That is why people immigrate (even illegally) and it is why parents sacrifice to provide for their children and pay for their schooling (including working two jobs at a time and/or working in another country so they can provide for their family back home). The Chinese Communist Party is doing their best to bring prosperity to the citizens of China. While many of them are doing it for selfish reasons (either they want to get rich themselves and/or they are “bribing’ the citizenry so that they stay in power), other members of the party are doing so for patriotic reasons. Regardless of their ulterior motives it is working as they have increased the country’s GNP from hundreds of billions in the late 1970s to $4+ trillion, have brought several 100 million out of poverty, and elevated over a 100 million Chinese into the middle class. The People’s Republic of China is now the world’s leader in auto & steel production, 2nd place (and soon to be #1) in shipbuilding, the world’s center in electronics production, a world leader in both nanotechnology & biotechnology, the world’s largest solar cell industry, & has the fastest growing semiconductor industry in the world.

At this time Communist China has a high-speed rail network larger than Europe’s and expanding. It is building a highway system larger than the USA’s. The government has car fuel standards superior to that of the USA and is expected to produce more energy from any of the following three renewable sources(hydroelectric, wind, or solar) than the USA by 2020 and are building or planning to build 30-50 nuclear power plants. They are also self-sufficient in grains (and only import to feed their booming hog industry).

Quite frankly China is a booming success, and the Uighurs should be grateful at the incredible transformation that is happening in China right now. While they or the Tibetans may NOT be benefiting as much as the Han Chinese, the fact is that they are benefiting as their standards of living are rising and they are becoming more educated. It is simply that being rural people (generally), living in the farthest & most remote regions of China, not speaking Mandarin (or any other Chinese dialect), & not using the Chinese writing system the struggle to adapt or take advantage of the opportunities out there in China. Of course the fact that there are separatist movements in both Tibet and Xinjiang, and that in the case of Xinjiang there is even a terrorist group has only WORSENED the situation for the Uighurs and Tibetans as it has increased China’s distrust of the minorities in those two regions and therefore has exponentially increased the level of government supervision (or oppression) via laws and regulations that are not present in the rest of China which together with the larger than usual paramilitary presence in both Xinjiang & Tibet makes things more oppresive.

Simply put both the Tibetans and Uighurs have two options, adapt and/or assimilate (into the greater Han Chinese culture as the minorities in China proper and Manchuria have done) or take up arms and fight to the death. Best option is the former since NO one is going to go to their aid in the event of a rebellion, NOT when facing a country with one of the largest militaries in the world, hundreds of nuclear weapons, a Han Chinese population that outnumbers ALL of the minorities 10 to 1 and numbers over 1.4 billion, holds about a TRILLION in Western debt (of which two thirds or three fourths are American), is the manufacturing center of the world, and has an economy that is the 2nd largest in the world (PPP) at over $4 Trillion. NOT going to happen, NOT even in the form of arms or financial aid. The action of rebellion will be heroic and perhaps epic in the case of the Tibetans (due to the mountains) but it will end in defeat, an epic tragedy. Such a course may even result in ethnic cleansing (rebellious population relocated in the style of the Assyrians, Romans, and Soviet Union), not a pretty picture. My advice to the Uighurs and Tibetans is reject all talk of independence, acquire a REAL education (NOT those given by the Tibetan Buddhist monasteries or the Uighur Muslim madrassas), become fluent in Mandarin, dress like modern Chinese (NOT like Tibetan mountain folk or Uighur desert people), and if necessary emigrate to China proper.