There is no doubt that the years and months leading up to the Olympics have been challenging for the entire country of China and the difficulties faced by Xinjiang, the largest province in north-western China, are no different. Although we don't get as much press time as other places like, say, Tibet, we're experiencing our 15 minutes of fame...and it kinda hurts.
I have e-mail alerts set up through CNN so that every time the word "Xinjiang" is used in a news article, they'll e-mail me and tell me all about it. Up until about 2 months ago I received an e-mail every 5 months or so and most of the time the article had nothing to do with Xinjiang, it just came across in a passing comment...I now receive a notice almost every other day and this time the article spotlights the province. Any publicity is good publicity, right?
Well...
Right now the media, especially some of the Chinese media, is doing its best to make "Xinjiang" synonymous with "terrorism" and it really makes me sad. You might have heard of some of them:
- A foiled terrorist plot to hijack an airplane bound for Beijing last March
- The crackdown against 5 "terrorist" plots near Urumqi, the capital, which resulted in 82 people being detained
- The recent attack on the border town of Kashgar killing 16 police officers and wounding 16 others
- Even worse, a video was released just yesterday by an Islamic extremist group with ties to the Xinjiang region threatens action during the Beijing Olympics.
Safety Notice: People living or visiting Xinjiang are not in any more danger here than they would be elsewhere. Racial tension does exist but we have never been affected by it and have actually greatly benefited from the racial diversity present in our city.
My hope is that once the Olympics have come and gone, all of this will be forgotten and Xinjiang can return to being known for its beautiful landscapes, incredible foods, and colorful culture.
3 Comments:
Hi,
I came across this while doing searches on Xinjiang... so some people do care about Xinjiang, if that's reassuring to you. I, however, spent time there, so maybe it has spurred a bit of my connection to the place.
Also, I edit a blog myself, and wondered how you or your readers might weigh in on an issue that has been drawing a lot of attention, both on the blog itself and in forums:
Why do Westerners care about the reported abuses against Tibetans but now Uyghurs, despite their situation being roughly the same?
If you'd like to leave your opinion as somebody in Xinjiang, who has firsthand experience of the Uyghurs' plight, here's the link:
http://dongcha.org/2008/08/xinjiangs-uyghurs-the-unsexy-tibetans/
dongcha.org
I am a Han Chinese. I do not agree with you.
Actually The govs and medias in China never indicate Uighur people equal terrorist. They just mention "East Turkestan separatist". In the contrast, western medias always use the worlds "Uighur separatist". It seems to label Uighur people to separatist or terrorist. I really do not like that.
I respect Uighur people, hope the govs can protect their culture and improve their living conditions.
Most westerners, and also most Chinese make a mistake that Chinese are Han Chinese(most ethnicities, such as Manchu, Hui, Zhuang,Mongolian ... are close to Han Chinese except some ethnicities in Xinjiang) , they have a plain face. This is due to the majority of Han Chinese(>90%). I think Chinese includes Han, Hui,Uyghur, Kazak and the other ethnicities(56 in total).
Anyway, Xinjiang is very safe in general.
Enjoy China. Take care of you.
I am in US now. I was told a lot of times not walking alone in the night.
I think China is really much safer than US.
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