Uygur businessman leading donor to help riot victims

By Lei Xiaoxun (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-07-14 22:54

Urumqi: A member of the Uygur ethnic minority group has emerged as the leading individual donor helping victims of the July 5 Xinjiang riot.

Uygur businessman leading donor to help riot victims

Aimai Yiminti, a Uygur businessman is seen in this picture taken on July 14, 2009, in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. [chinadaily.com.cn]

Aimai Yiminti rushed to the civil affairs bureau of the autonomous region the moment he arrived in its capital of Urumqi, where individual donations for aiding victims of the riot were being collected.

"I asked my wife to take whatever funds were available and to convert Hong Kong dollars into yuan. We put together 100,000 yuan," Yiminti, who is in his 40s and is known by many for running a successful businesses in telecommunications, transportation and petrochemical business, said Tuesday.

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Riot in Urumqi

The father of four, two of whom are adopted orphans, said he was relieved after donating the money.

"I was so worried when I saw TV footage of the bloodshed from the riots. I love the city and I love the people, so I was determined to do something immediately for those who suffered," said Yiminti, who was born and raised in the southern Xinjiang city of Kuerla.

Yiminti also has primary schools named after him in Xinjiang's Hetian prefecture after he helped them. Similarly, he has donated more than 1 million yuan to help victims of the quake in Sichuan province last May.

The popular Uygur is also in his community for his stunt skills. On June 10, he broke his own record by smashing a pile of 27 cobblestones in one minute with his palms. He is capable of chewing and swallowing nails as well, with video footage of his stunts being circulated online.

Yiminti said he was surprised at how fast Urumqi has resumed its order after the recent violence.

"I went out in the evening the day I arrived at the city, to see if everything was ok … I saw people strolling down the streets and enjoying quality family time after their dinner," he said.

"It's hard to believe the city suffered all that brutality only a few days ago."

In one instance, Yiminti said he walked for a few hours on Urumqi's streets, feeling safe and talking to passers-by. He tried hailing down a taxi after he heard rumors of cabbies avoiding Uygur passengers.

"A driver stopped immediately after he saw me. He was a Han," Yiminti said.

"I spoke with the cabbie in the taxi and we found we had a common belief – that the riot was instigated and committed by a small group of people, those who represented nothing but evil and shame," he said.

"Good people, no matter their ethnicity, are the majority. Evil-doers will always be condemned by people and by their own conscience."

Yiminti also cited his own experience of living in Beijing in the previous years to refute the notion that Uygur people were looked down upon and isolated from mainstream society.

"I was not inconvenienced in any way when I was in Beijing where the company's offices were situated," he said.

"I have many Han friends in Beijing and about 300 of them attended my birthday party this year", he said.

Still, he acknowledged that he initially felt uneasy when the riot broke out.

"I was afraid that my friends and people near me would see me differently", he said.

But the tension did not last very long and his friends soon invited him to join their gatherings, he said. They also talked openly with Yiminti about the violence.

"I just want to set an example", Yiminti said.

"I don't mind if I lead the individual donation list, I want to encourage more people to make their respective contributions. Chinese people are all part of one big family."