Away from the public eye and far from the media's attention, China is waging a controversial campaign it claims is an important front in the war on terror. Jaideep Mukerji investigates In the latest of a series of moves aimed at cracking down on separatists in the Xinjiang region of western China, Chinese officials last month unveiled a "most wanted list" of 11 individuals and four organisations they accuse of being involved in terrorist activities. Claiming that these groups and individuals threatened to "split China", China's deputy director of counter-terrorism, Zhao Yongehen, urged the international community to aid China in detaining suspects and dismantling the organisations, some of which are located outside of China. The Chinese government's announcement was met with alarm by human rights groups who fear an escalation in what they claim is a crackdown on the estimated eight million Uighurs who live in the Xinjiang region. The Uighurs, a mostly Muslim minority, are a culturally and ethnically distinct population that for years now have struggled to create an independent country they call East Turkistan. The Chinese government, which places a premium on social unity and cultural homogeneity, sees Uighur separatism a threat to national stability and has been conducting a campaign to quell the movement. Amnesty International, in a 2003 report, criticised the campaign, accusing the Chinese government of arbitrarily detaining thousands of Uighurs who "are at serious risk of torture or ill-treatment". The report also condemned China for what it called "an assault on Uighur culture as a whole as evidenced in the closure of mosques, restrictions on the use of the Uighur language and the burning of Uighur books and journals". The Chinese government denies accusations of heavy handedness and maintains that Xinjiang is an important front in the war against terror. Officials at the Chinese Embassy in Cairo told Al Ahram Weekly that they are engaged in a legitimate struggle against terrorist organisations, some of whom have links to Al-Qa'eda. "China too is a victim of terrorism," officials said. "East Turkistan terrorist forces are responsible for a great number of incidents of terrorist violence both inside and outside China." Human rights groups, however, argue that China is simply using the war on terror as an excuse to step up their efforts to crush the Uighur separatist movement. "China is using the war on terror as a green light to increase its repression in Xinjiang," says Marc Allison, a researcher with Amnesty International. "There are incidents of violence but it is clear this is much wider than a crackdown on just terrorists. That is just the argument that the Chinese use to try to gain international legitimisation for what going on there," he told the Weekly. Nathan Andrew, a professor of political science at Columbia University who specialises in Chinese politics and human rights, agrees. He explained to the Weekly that the Chinese government uses a policy linking religion and separatism to terrorism that effectively allows them to describe Uighur separatists as terrorists. He notes that in the aftermath of 11 September, Chinese officials succeeded in getting one Uighur organisation, the East Turkistan Islamic Movement, placed on the United Nations' list of international terrorist organisation. "The Chinese, who are very skillful diplomatically and who are very alert to the evolution of international law, saw an opportunity to put what they were doing under the umbrella [of the war on terror] by labelling the Uighur association as terrorists even though the consensus of observers is that the Uighur separatism movement is not violent and chiefly based within Xinjiang," he said. Details about the extent of repression in Xinjiang are difficult to come by. Amnesty International researcher Marc Allison explained to the Weekly that "up until recently it was quite easy to get reports on death penalties and executions in Xinjiang but now it is extremely difficult to get those reports. We have heard that Uighurs who have relatives abroad are being put under pressure as an attempt to try and stop their relatives abroad from getting involved in any kind of political activity or passing information along to journalists or organisations like Amnesty International," he said. "It is quite clear that there is a massive attempt to make sure information does not leak outside Xinjiang at the moment." Allison told the Weekly that what little information Amnesty International does get is extremely disturbing. "Very appalling forms of torture have been recorded in Xinjiang, which as far as we know have never been occurring elsewhere in China." Allison says that in addition to reports of torture, Amnesty International also receives allegations that the Chinese government is using less direct methods of suppressing separatist sentiments such as undermining the Uighur's sense of identity, including their Islamic faith. "We have seen incidents of mosques being closed in Xinjiang and people being arrested for teaching the Qur'an in Xinjiang outside of official government control," says Allison. "We also have reports of children in schools being put under extreme pressure to break the fast during Ramadan and people working at government offices in Xinjiang are under a lot pressure not to fast during Ramadan as well." Chinese officials at the embassy in Cairo strenuously denied allegations of torture and religious intolerance. "The [Chinese] government respects the freedom of religion of all the Muslims. No state organ may discriminate against citizens who believe in, or do not believe in, any religion. Muslims in China enjoy full and equal civil rights and the Chinese government respects Muslim customs relating to diet, festivals and marriage," they said. Uighur groups speaking to the Weekly, however, supported Amnesty International's allegations of religious repression. "There is no freedom for the Uighur Muslims to practice their religion," says Alim A Seytoff, president of the Washington DC based Uighur American Association. Seytoff claims the Chinese government allows only a narrow interpretation of Islam to be practiced in China. "No mullah can preach any sermon that is not approved by the government," he said. Given the situation facing the Uighurs, Seytoff is disappointed by lack of international interest of China's crackdown. "For the most part, we are on our own," he says. Back at Columbia University, Professor Andrew Nathan explains that there is not much that can be done to help the Uighurs. "The problem is there isn't enough information about what is going on in Xinjiang and there is absolutely zero support by any foreign government for the actual independence of East Turkistan. The extent of any Western support is around the human rights aspect," which he notes has been subdued since 11 September because countries like the United States "need to have the cooperation of the Chinese government in the war on terror". That leaves the Uighurs in a difficult situation. Seytoff argues that "silence justifies China's brutal persecution because China takes it as a tacit approval for punishing the Uighur Muslims". By asking for help in detaining Uighurs and dismantling Uighur organisations outside of the country, however, it now seems as though Chinese officials are looking for more than tacit approval. It now remains to be seen how, and if, western countries will respond.
