The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #122116 Message #2673726
Posted By: Emma B
07-Jul-09 - 07:24 AM
Thread Name: BS: Islam and politics
Subject: RE: BS: Islam and politics
From time to time the publication here of on-line 'rumours', aimed solely at increasing religious/ethnic intolerance or even hatred, have been justifiably criticised.
It wouod appear that such rumours, accusing Uighur workers of raping two Han women, prompted a deadly brawl on June 26 at a toy factory in Guangdong's Shaoguan city, between Chinese workers and other locals and Uighur workers
On Sunday, more than 300 ethnic Uyghurs - mostly Sunni Muslims - staged a protest in Urumqi's People's Square to demand an investigation into the June 26 incident
The Earth Times reports that -
"Rumours that police had failed to arrest those who attacked the Uighurs in Guangdong were reportedly one of the major reasons for the violent protests that began Sunday in Urumqi, the capital of China's far western region of Xinjiang"
And it appears that was indeed violence from both sides
According to the state-run Xinhua News Agency. -
"Groups of rioters broke down guardrails on roads, torched automobiles and beat Han pedestrians. The mob attacked buses and set fire to a hotel near the office building of the Xinjiang Regional Foreign Trade Commission"
Whether the riots were instigated by pro-independence activists operating from other countries or not as claimed, the fact remains that violent conflicts are easily stirred up by the mutual distrust between the Han people and ethnic minorities.
Internet rumors were also involved and the authorities later arrested a Han worker for uploading the rape rumor to stir up trouble.
The communist government considers all ethnic groups to be Chinese, however the idea that all people in China belong to the "great family of Chinese" is not the invention of the communists. This attitude began with the founding fathers of modern China
In the era of chairman Mao Zedong the concept of a 'common class', which gave equality to all people in the same class regardless of their ethnicity, surpassed the idea of ethnic identity and forestalled ethnic conflict although made the former elites of ethnic minorities diehard enemies of the Chinese Communist Party
The actions of the, mainly Han, Red guards during the Cultural Revolution severely damaged this situation and following the dreadful excesses, apparently as some form of compensation, the Chinese government began to award some privileges and preferences to ethnic minorities.
For example, the tough one-child policy applies only to Han couples. Accordingly, the birth rate and population proportion of the Han are decreasing, compared to other ethnic groups.
Meanwhile, privileges have been granted to ethnic minorities for employment and education opportunities.
To boost economic growth, the government in recent years has poured much money into ethnic minority areas.
Dr Jian Junbo is assistant professor of the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
His summary of this situation is
"Even as ethnic groups, such as the Uyghurs, complain they are being exploited or discriminated by the Han, many Han accuse the government of doing the same. In the end, as China's economy advances, political and economic equality between Han and non-Han is being undermined.
The wealth gap is expanding between the Han, who in general live in rich areas, and those ethnic minorities who live in relatively poorer areas. The economic inequality between different regions is also a case between Han and non-Hans. Although this imbalance of economic development is due to many factors, it's easy for minorities to feel exploited by the Han."
He also gives a warning -
" The shared identity of the Chinese as socialist labor is gradually falling to pieces.
The resulting riots in Urumqi may be just the start of something much, much bigger. "