Rebiya Kadeer's recent visits to Japan and Australia have provided her rare opportunities to pitch her separatist stories, while local media hype surrounding her trips also intrigued audience in both countries.
Kadeer spoke to major Japanese and Australian media and met a member of the Japanese House of Councilors at the ruling party's headquarters. She also had a documentary on her life screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival.
Many Japanese and Australians later told Xinhua that they had known little about Kadeer before her visits. They said they felt disappointed after meeting her and seeing the documentary.
"She alleged 10,000 people disappeared and 3,000 were killed (during the Urumqi riots on July 5). However, she was not there in Xinjiang, so such claims certainly don't hold water," said Xu Jingbo, a well-known commentator and writer based in Japan, recalling Kadeer's appearance at the Japan National Press Club (JNPC).
He said that he pointed out during Kadeer's appearance at the JNPC that to "arrest or kill" so many people, as she claimed, at least 30,000 police officers and thousands of vehicles would have been involved.
When Xu asked Kadeer why nobody witnessed such a show of force, she looked embarrassed and could not find an answer.
"Major Japanese media did not buy her stories and the figures she gave never appeared in newspapers here as reliable accounts," Xu told Xinhua.
A university professor who identified herself as Catherine told Xinhua she had questions after seeing the Kadeer documentary, "The 10 Conditions of Love," in Melbourne.
The professor said she wondered how, with just a modest education and a beginning as a street peddler, could Kadeer become the wealthiest woman in Xinjiang if China had suppressed ethnic minorities?
Both the Japanese and Australian governments denied that they were involved in the invitation of Kadeer, as Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said his country "respects the territorial integrity and sovereignty of China."
Who then, with what intentions, provided the stage for the show by Kadeer, the chairman of the World Uygur Congress (WUC), which is an umbrella organization for those engaged in terrorist activities to separate Xinjiang from China and form the so-called "East Turkistan"?
Coincidentally, the submission of Kadeer's documentary at the Melbourne film festival missed the established deadline, Richard Moore, the festival's director, told an Australian daily.
Seven Chinese films were pulled from the festival in protest of the documentary.
What was behind the decision to let a late film enter the festival despite the indignation of hundreds of millions of people in China and abroad?
Kadeer's visit to Japan was described as "private." But it is quite rare to host a foreign dissident at the headquarters of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Why was Kadeer able to enjoy the privilege?
Those who invited Kadeer to Japan and Australia cited "free speech" and "human rights," even though human rights crimes and the advocacy of terrorism would not be tolerated in their own countries.
There was ample evidence indicating Kadeer and the WUC were behind the bloody rioting that killed nearly 200 innocent people.
Lale Yuvali, former vice president of the Belgium-China Association, has provided insights to the motivation of those who support Kadeer.
She noted that some forces that long have been hostile to China's rapid development are so fearful that they exploit every opportunity to try to deter the country's growth.
Xu, a long-time observer of Sino-Japanese relations, believes a number of under-the-table agreements were made before Kadeer was granted a Japanese visa, hinting that some political forces in Japan may have been behind an effort to tarnish China's image.
Kadeer's dull performance, however, only served the opposite purpose.
Since there is a big question mark on Kadeer's records, Xu said, next time she comes to Japan to tell her stories, people will be very suspicious. "In this sense, her visit will prove to be a failure in the long run."
(Xinhua News Agency August 13, 2009)
