Those at the centre of recent violence in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, and the unrest in the Tibetan capital Lhasa 16 months earlier are ethnic minorities -- Muslim Uighurs and Buddhist Tibetans.

Both lashed out at members of the majority Han Chinese population, who in their eyes represented a much-hated government policy of sinicization in China's two most western regions.

"These events have brought to light a context of hate and fear (in the two regions), said Claude Levenson, an author and specialist in Tibetan issues.

Analysts said that in Xinjiang, as in Tibet, rioters felt deep resentment at the government's efforts to transfer millions of Han Chinese to these far-flung areas.

This policy has changed the regional demographics -- Han Chinese now make up 75 percent of Urumqi's population and 17 percent of Lhasa's.

And while China has pumped billions of dollars into the two autonomous regions to lift their people out of poverty, some Uighurs and Tibetans complain they have been relegated to second-class status in their own lands.

"The government in China has used the same ethnic policy for 60 years," said Dru Gladney, an expert on China's ethnic minorities, particularly the Turkic-speaking Uighurs, at Pomona College in California.

"This one development model does not work in places like Xinjiang and Tibet where there are strong identities."

In another similarity between both cases of unrest, exiled groups say the government has underestimated the number of people killed.

In Urumqi, the government said 184 people died in the initial rioting on July 5, while authorities confirmed police killed two Uighurs on Monday.

In Tibet and other Tibetan-populated areas, authorities say "rioters" killed 21 people last year.

But exile groups say "thousands" could have died in Xinjiang, and over 200 in the Tibetan unrest, with many victims on both cases allegedly due to security crackdowns.

The riots in Xinjiang, like those in Tibet, had a huge international impact, and Uighur and Tibetan exiles in the West also fed the flow of information -- but that news was often unverifiable and not always reliable.

In both cases, Beijing blamed the unrest on exiled personalities, emblems of their minority's struggle to keep their culture -- Rebiya Kadeer, the US-based head of the World Uighur Congress, and the Dalai Lama, who lives in India.

China has also once again pointed to foreign influence in the violence, yet has told countries criticising its handling of the situation not to interfere in its "internal affairs."

And China's massive security apparatus has been used to quell unrest, and authorities arrested hundreds of people in both regions -- over 1,600 in Xinjiang and 953 in Tibet.

Levenson pointed to "the same (initial) relative passivity of security forces... and the (subsequent) same scenario of arrests and searches," she said.

Both regions also have strategic importance to China.

Bordering eight countries in central Asia, Xinjiang is a huge strategic buffer zone that houses the nuclear test site of Lop-Nor, while Tibet borders India and thus links the two world's most populous nations.

Xinjiang is rich in natural resources -- it is the second oil-producing region in China, and also has a lot of natural gas, as well as vast reserves of uranium and coal.

Tibet has copper, zinc, gold and other resources, while both regions have glaciers vital to providing the rest of the country with water.

Adding to Xinjiang's importance is the fact that it borders unstable areas of the Muslim world including Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"This obviously worries Chinese authorities who fear an eventual contagion," said Thierry Kellner, a researcher at the Brussels Institute of Contemporary China Studies.

One crucial difference, however, has been the access given to foreign reporters in Urumqi compared with a near blanket ban in Lhasa.

earlier related report
Chinese intellectuals call for release of Uighur scholar
A group of Chinese intellectuals called Tuesday for the release of a Muslim Uighur scholar who was reportedly detained for links to unrest in China's Xinjiang region that left up to 180 people dead.

Nearly 160 lawyers, intellectuals and artists signed the open letter to the government urging the release of Ilham Tohti, whom activists and rights groups said was detained unfairly last week.

"Professor Ilham has worked to promote friendship between ethnic groups and resolve conflict between them. He should not be viewed as a criminal," said the letter, emailed to AFP.

It also urged the government to review its ethnic minority policies and examine whether such policies led to the rioting.

"We ask the government that if intellectuals like Ilham Tohti, who have worked to bring together Uighurs and Han Chinese, are treated as enemies, then who are your friends?" the letter said.

According to the government, over 180 people were killed, including 137 Han Chinese, in riots that erupted on July 5 in Urumqi, the capital of China's restive Xinjiang region.

Xinjiang is home to roughly eight million Uighurs, who have complained about repression and discrimination under Chinese rule.

Tohti, a professor at the China Minorities University, was taken by police from his Beijing home last week but has not yet been charged, Tibetan activist Woeser, who also signed the letter, told AFP.

"The 158 people who have signed the open letter are only the first group to sign," Woeser said.

"A lot of people are signing the letter."

Tohti was detained after Xinjiang authorities named his blog "Uighur Online" on national television, calling it an outlet used to organise the July 5 protests in Urumqi, Reporters Without Borders said earlier.

The Public Security Bureau warned him last month his postings exploring relations between ethnic Han Chinese and Uighurs violated the law, the statement said.

The bureau would not confirm Tohti's detention when contacted by AFP last week and staff there were not available for comment on Tuesday.

Share This Article With Planet Earth

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Related Links
China News from SinoDaily.com

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News