of China's Uighur community
July 29
ALMOST 10,000 people "disappeared in one night" during ethnic unrest in the Chinese city of Urumqi early this month, exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer claimed today on the eve of her Australia visit.
“Where did those people go?” she said in Japan, speaking in her native language through a translator. “If they died, where did they go?”
Ms Kadeer, 62, the US-based head of the World Uighur Congress, charged that “the Chinese government is trying to destroy the Uighur people. I want to tell the international community about our situation”.
She will fly to Australia chiefly to participate in the launch at the Melbourne International Film Festival on August 8 of a documentary, 10 Conditions of Love, in which she is the heroine.
She will also meet members of Australia's 2000-strong Uighur community.
Her participation in the festival has already caused a furore.
Five films - from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan - have been withdrawn as a result.
Beijing accuses the mother-of-11 of being a “criminal” who instigated the unrest pitting Uighurs against Han Chinese in China's Xinjiang region. Beijing claims 197 people died in the clashes.
Ms Kadeer charged that “the responsibility lies with the authorities who changed what was a peaceful demonstration into a violent riot”.
“For Uighurs, taking part in demonstrations is like committing suicide,” she added, speaking at a Tokyo press conference.
Source: The Australian
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