China: President Should Ease Tension by Acknowledging Grievances
(New York) – Chinese President Hu Jintao, who on July 7, 2009 abruptly left the G8 Summit in Italy to return to Beijing to cope with the Xinjiang protests, should break with past practice and acknowledge Uighurs’ grievances, Human Rights Watch said today. Analysts expect that Hu will speak publicly about the developments in the coming days.
World Media Follow Beijing’s Lead in Xinjiang Reporting
This is a very interesting article from The Epoch Times and I have observed the same. It seems the world’s media is following, seemingly without questions, China’s state-controlled media in reporting the Xinjiang violence.
Excerpt:
But media experts and Uyghur activists say that China’s state-controlled media are working to frame the story in favor of the regime, a strategy one Hong Kong-based Chinese media expert calls “Control 2.0.”
“By getting the information out, officials can get the ‘peripheral media’ (influential portal news sites, and commercial newspapers) to work for them,” writes David Bandurski editor of the China Media Project Web site in his analysis of the earlier riots in Shishou.
“These media feed off of the original Xinhua reports, amplifying their effect. Those same reports, with only slight permutations in many cases, become AFP, Reuters, and AP reports.”
Read the full article: World Media Follow Beijing’s Lead in Xinjiang Reporting
China: Exercise Restraint in Xinjiang
(New York) – The Chinese government should exercise maximum restraint in the face of unrest and violence on July 5 in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, Human Rights Watch said today. China should allow the United Nations to conduct an independent investigation into the events.
Chinese Police Shoot at Uighur Protesters in Xinjiang
From The Epoch Times:
A witness in the Xinjiang region of China has reported that Chinese soldiers shot at Uighur protesters Sunday, causing many deaths and injuries. They said that dead bodies were seen being put into military vehicles.
Uighurs were protesting in the northwestern Chinese city of Urumqi after an incident in a toy factory in Shaoguan City, Guangdong Province a week ago. Allegedly, a fight broke out in the factory between several hundreds of Uighur and Han Chinese workers after a rape. Apparently there were 118 wounded and two female Uighur workers killed. All Uighur workers were fired following the incident—causing protests to build in Urumqi, according to state media.