Muslim reaction to China unrest mostly muted
July 15, 2009
Malaysia Star
July 14, 2009
CAIRO (AP): The riots in China's Xinjiang region and subsequent
crackdown on the Muslim Uighur minority have drawn a muted response
from many Muslim countries that may be wary of damaging lucrative
trade ties with Beijing or attracting attention to their own attitudes
toward political dissent.
The non-Arab countries of Iran and Turkey have been among the few to
criticize China. Iran is busy dealing with its own unrest following a
disputed presidential election, while Turkey has ethnic ties to
China's Uighur minority.
But throughout much of the Middle East and the Arab world, the
violence in China has generated little reaction.
Arab regimes "couldn't criticize the attacks on Chinese Muslims
because they themselves have no democracy," said Labib Kamhawi, a
Jordanian political analyst. "They're in the same boat as the Chinese
government."
China has poured tens of thousands of troops into the western Xinjiang
region over the past few days, imposing tight control on the capital
of Urumqi and surrounding areas after ethnic violence left more than
180 people dead and 1,680 wounded last week.
The Uighurs, who number 9 million in Xinjiang, have complained about
an influx of Han Chinese and government restrictions on their Muslim
religion. They accuse the majority Han community of discrimination and
the Communist Party of trying to erase their language and culture.
China is a major trading partner for many Arab countries including
Sudan, Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich Gulf nations. It is Jordan's
third-largest largest trading partner, following Saudi Arabia and the
United States. Jordan also is seeking to attract Chinese investment in
projects such as renewable energy, railroads and water desalination.
Iran has been one of the few Muslim countries to speak out on the
crackdown. On Sunday, the official IRNA news agency reported that
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki had discussed the ethnic clashes
in a phone conversation with his Chinese counterpart and "reflected
concerns among Islamic countries."
High-ranking clerics also condemned the crackdown and urged the
government to complain to China.
"Silence and indifference toward such oppressions on the people is an
unforgivable vice," said Grand Ayatollah Youssef Saanei, a major
religious figure who has criticized his own government's violent
response to mass protests over the disputed June 12 election. Iran's
crackdown on protesters has drawn international condemnation from both
Western governments and human rights groups.
The most powerful response from the Muslim world came from Turkey,
where some 5,000 people protested in Istanbul on Sunday to denounce
the ethnic violence and call on their government to intervene.
Turks share ethnic and cultural bonds with the Turkic-speaking
Uighurs. The Chinese violence has sparked almost daily protests in
Turkey, mostly outside heavily guarded Chinese diplomatic missions in
Istanbul and Ankara where some protesters have burned Chinese flags or
China-made goods. Sunday's protest, however, was the largest.
Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has compared the
situation in Xinjiang to genocide, the foreign minister has conveyed
Turkey's concerns to China, and Turkey's industry minister has urged
Turks to stop buying Chinese goods. The government, however, has no
plans for an official boycott.
In the Arab world, two extremist Islamic Web sites affiliated with al-
Qaida called for killing Han Chinese in the Middle East, noting large
communities of ethnic Chinese laborers work in Algeria and Saudi Arabia.
"Chop off their heads at their workplaces or in their homes to tell
them that the time of enslaving Muslims has gone," read one posting.
In the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, Foreign Ministry official Ahmed Youssef
said his Islamic militant movement said the unrest would harm China's
relations with the Muslim world.
"We hope that the Chinese government improves its relations with the
Muslims of the Xinjiang region, and not to harm those relations by
harming the Uighurs," he said.