WSJ's lies about Uygurs

Base what you say on fact. This is the principle The Wall Street Journal should have followed in its editorial "China's Desperate 'Terrorists'" on Monday.

However, instead of condemning the deadly act of terror at Tian'anmen on Oct 28, it somehow accused the Chinese government of human right abuses, which it says have created a cycle of violence.

Supporting a groundless assumption with lies is at best irresponsible, worse it might be malicious.

The editorial says that the Uygur identity is endangered as State-run schools forbid the speaking of the Uygur language and public displays of Islamic practice, such as fasting during Ramadan, are prohibited in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Chen Yuhua, 51, gives an intensive, 20-day Uygur language course for community workers in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. [Photo / China Daily] 

In fact, not a single school in the region forbids the speaking of the Uygur language. Not only are Uygur students free to speak their mother tongue, many Han students are taking Uygur language classes there.

And there is no such thing as a ban on public displays of Islamic practice in Xinjiang or anywhere else in the country. Freedom of religious beliefs and practices are respected and protected throughout the country.

The editorial sounds more like the personal claims of Rebiya Kadeer, who had an opinion piece published in The Wall Street Journal on the same day. In that signed article, the self-proclaimed representative of Uygur "interests" made the outrageous assertion that "the Chinese Communist Party needs to foment ethnic hatred among Han Chinese against the Uygur minority in order to cover up a trail of failed policies in Xinjiang".

The truth is that for decades the Chinese government has carried out preferential policies for non-Han ethnic groups, the Uygurs included. For example, children in Kashgar of southern Xinjiang now enjoy 15 years of free education from kindergarten to senior high school while only nine years of free education are granted to children in most parts of the country.

Both Kadeer's article and the editorial tried to propagate the lie that Uygurs are maltreated, even oppressed, but this is the last thing the Chinese authorities want as it is detrimental to national unity and therefore to the stability of China. This also explains why as many preferential policies as possible have been given to help the development of all autonomous regions.

And the assertion that a man, his wife and his mother could not commit an act of terror is quite frankly as ridiculous as saying that two brothers would never consider bombing a marathon.

(China Daily 11/06/2013 page8)