By Luo Huaiyu
The Xinjiang regional government said Tuesday it holds "solid evidence" that Sunday's riot in Urumqi was an organized and systematic violent crime instigated and directed abroad by the exiled, ethnic separatist Rebiya Kadeer and her ilk through the so-called World Uygur Congress.
Up to July 7, the "beating, smashing, looting and arson" by mobs had caused at least 156 deaths. More than 1,080 people were injured and hundreds of shops and vehicles, including police cars, were burnt. The casualties are expected to mount, according to hospital sources.
Urumqi, a lustrous pearl on the nation's stately crown, is now a sad and turbid shadow of its former self. Despite continuous government efforts to heal the public trauma and restore social order, terror still haunts people's fragile minds, and their tears are hardly dry from hellish nightmares.
Yet, in an interview with the Associated Press, Kadeer spoke as innocently and helplessly as she could and denied any relations to the July 5 riot. Like other Chinese criminals under U.S. political asylum, she understands too well a game rule of American media: Sympathy, albeit false, is always incredibly abundant there.
Different identities
While raising her 11 children, Kadeer managed to accumulate great wealth and finally became a famous female entrepreneur in Xinjiang. According to the Forbes ranking 1995, she was the richest person in Xinjiang and the eighth richest in China.
In recognition of her achievements, she was elected deputy chief of the Xinjiang Federation of Industry and Commerce and member of the 8th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top advisory body, marking her transition from entrepreneur to political figure.
But Kadeer did not cherish her political career. Besides tax evasion and other dishonest records, she sold state secrets to foreign agencies through her husband (second and present one), who had fled to the United States amid ethnic separation charges, and was hence detained by China's security department. But shortly thereafter, she was set free on parole for medical reasons after promising she would never again engage in anything that might harm state security.
Soon she turned out to be not as good as her word. After joining her husband in the U.S., she quickly developed close links with the East Turkistan Islamic Movement, an internationally recognized terrorist organization.
Two powers
To some extent, Kadeer has also been used. She has already become a symbol, a trademark or a rallying trumpet for the originally sporadic and nomadic Uygur separatist forces. As a woman, mother and person with wide homeland influence, she is the ideal candidate for these forces to mingle.
One power that she exercises is organizational, that is, her capacity as WUC chair. With a couple of capable aides and advisors, she can make decisions to create violence more efficient. The other power that she possesses is spiritual. As Spiritual Mother, she assumes a somewhat "religious leader" role.
But neither of these two powers is sustainable. At the end of the day, people of the world will make their own judgments, with China becoming more visible and accessible to them and with China's power and influence continuing to rise as a more responsible and democratic power in the world.
One future
Peace and development remain the themes of today's world. They are all that China is pursuing. All the efforts of this country—be they political, economic, diplomatic or cultural—point to these two goals.
Democracy and freedom, as essential elements of a modern civil society, have already been recognized by the Chinese government, and the Chinese people and this country have been exploring their own routes to them for decades. Although more progress is yet to be made, democracy and freedom can never be realized by violence and hatred. They can only be won by the joint efforts of the 56 ethnic groups of the same motherland.
Think of the fundamental interests of all ethnic groups on this land including the Han and the Uygur people. What do they want? They want a happy and affluent life; they want to stay ever closer to hope and promise; they want to enjoy the dignity of being in a strong and rising state; they want peace of souls, harmony of communities, freedom from want and solidarity for common good.
Therefore, there is no future if Kadeer and the WUC cling to their present course because it stands in the way of the trend of history and will undoubtedly get swept over and split asunder. They will fail, fail and fail again. And the just cause of the people shall forever prevail.
(China.org.cn July 9, 2009)
