Uighurs say Olympics not issue, but China warns of terror (Feature)

Asia-Pacific News

By Andreas Landwehr Jul 28, 2008, 14:03 GMT

Beijing - China believes the greatest threat of a terrorist attack at next month's Beijing Olympics comes from Uighur separatists even though exile Uighur groups have not called for any disturbances during the Games. In fact, many fear that the Chinese authorities are using the security requirements necessary for hosting the Olympics to oppress the 8 million Muslim Uighurs who live in Xinjiang province in north- western China. 'International Uighur groups have in no way called for disturbances during the Games,' said Dru Gladney, an American authority on the Uighur people. 'It would be quite counter-productive for the Uighurs to hinder the Games.' Gladney called China's public utterances about the dangers of a terrorist attack by Uighurs as 'not credible,' saying the Olympics was not the platform that they wished to use to highlight their plight. Earlier this month, Chinese police claimed to have arrested 82 suspected terrorists in Xinjiang for 'allegedly plotting sabotage against the Beijing Olympics' while authorities said in March that separatists had attempted to blow up an airliner. On Saturday, a shrouded person claiming to be a commander of the Turkestan Islamic Party called for attacks in China during the Olympics Games as well as claiming responsibility for the July 21 bus attacks in Yunnan province and a May 5 attack in Shanghai. However, even China's security forces expressed doubt that Uighurs were involved in the incidents. International security experts have linked the Turkestan Islamic Party with the East Turkestan Independence Movement (ETIM), both of which are considered terrorist groups by China and the United States. Gladney however pointed out that the ETIM has not been in operation for years. 'We have heard nothing of this organization for years,' he said. 'If it even was a movement, then to the best of our knowledge it did not have very many members.' Instead, Gladney believes China is attempting to blacken the name of all Uighur independence groups. Xinjiang province, formerly East Turkestan, was annexed as an autonomous region after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Exile Uighurs have called for the reestablishment of the East Turkestani republic.

Your Talkback on this Story

Note posts made on our older Talkback system will still show below. However, new posts can only be made via the new system (above). We will export the old comments to the new shortly. You can still comment as a guest on the new system but it also allows you to login using various social network and other accounts.

Other features coming soon.

Talkback

page: 1

These uighur separatists, extremists, terroriristsJul 28th, 2008 - 19:44:40

If they don't like it in China than they should leave! The truth is they live better lives in China than they would in Turkey. Thats why they don't want to leave. And they cannot separate Xinjiang from China because it is part of China. So the ONLY option for them is to LEAVE China and walk their sorry behinds back to Turkey where there ancestors are from. I'll be among those who would WAVE them OFF when they walk back to Turkey.

Report this comment

page: 1

Asia-Pacific

Uighurs say Olympics not issue, but China warns of terror (Feature)

Asia-Pacific News

Your Talkback on this Story

Talkback

Similar articles

Latest Headlines in Asia-Pacific

From Sites We Like

Latest PopEater News

Latest Cinema Blend News

Latest Tech Herald News

In Monsters and Critics

Corporate

The Fine Print