Solidarity among ethnic groups urged
- Source: Global Times
- [08:00 July 07 2009]
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By Liang Chen
With the nation stunned by the savage unrest in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Sunday evening, experts have called on people in the region to be rational, calling the disturbances “an isolated incident.”
Experts also called for those responsible for the unrest to be pursued and punished.
Hua Tao, an expert on nationalities and frontiers issues at Nanjing University, called the riot “a serious crime of violence” that severely affected the everyday life of people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang.
The death toll of the riots was 140, with more than 800 people reportedly injured. Rioters burned 261 vehicles, including 190 buses, at least 10 taxis and two police cars, Xinhua said.
“The riots were widespread and caused a great number of casualties,” said Hua, adding that the government took stern measures to stop the unrest in time.
The professor accused the mobs of assaulting innocent people with knives, wooden batons, bricks and stones, smashing vehicles and setting fire to buildings and public facilities.
“Although the targets seem indiscriminate, the fundamental purpose is quite clear, to undermine stability and unity in the Xinjiang region,” Hua told the Global Times.
He also pointed out that the extremist separatists always use subtle social issues to deny and further attack the larger peaceful and progressive environment.
Xiong Kunxin, a professor of ethnic theory and policy at the Minzu University of China, told the Global Times that many factors contributed to the violence and economic issues are one of the causes, adding that the gloomy world economic situation has led to the social unrest.
“If the basic living requirements of the people are not met, such incidents will happen now and then,” Xiong said.
Xiong noted that there existed factors of instability before the riots.
“For example, tens of thousands of Uygur jobless, who are dissatisfied with their current situation, gathered in the Grand Bazaar Market area,” Xiong said.
“Many of them are hostile to the Han people and even bully them to gain economic interests, as soon as the Han people step in their region intentionally or innocently.”
Xiong believes that the separatists outside of Xinjiang, under the leadership of Rebiya Kadeer, led the riot, since they gain support from nations unfriendly to China, with a desire to show their existence.
However, Xiong said, the case is just “an isolated incident,” adding that the whole society should not overestimate the incident and demonize minorities.
“The riot would have limited effect on the solidarity between different ethnic groups in the long term, and the common sense of the people in the region is that only with firm solidarity among different ethnic groups can society develop smoothly,” Xiong said.
Echoing Xiong’s opinion, Hua told the Global Times that the overall stable situation won’t be affected by the unrest; but he also warned that the government should be alert to a possible domino effect of this riot, and prevent further influences in the region.
Xiong noted that to solve the problem, the development of the local economy should be top priority, and the mobs must be punished severely.
Chen Qianping, a professor of history at Nanjing University, said that some overseas political forces continue to look for opportunities to ignite riots again.
Chen suggested other measures, such as significantly improving local educational standards and investing more in these regions.
Zhang Han and An Baijie contributed to this story