ID :
72875
Thu, 07/30/2009 - 13:26
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/72875
The shortlink copeid
Uyghur activist seeks dialogue with China, role for Japan+
TOKYO, July 29 Kyodo - Visiting Uyghur rights activist Rebiya Kadeer asked Japan and the international community Wednesday to help her group hold dialogue with Chinese authorities and to play a role in uncovering the truth behind the recent bloody riots in China's western Xinjiang region.
After delivering her request directly to members of Japan's ruling Liberal
Democratic Party in the morning, Kadeer clarified in a press conference that
her World Uyghur Congress is aimed at the right to self-determination by the
Uyghur people, and claimed Chinese authorities are responsible for causing a
peaceful demonstration to turn violent on July 5 in the Xinjiang capital of
Urumqi.
Although legal autonomy theoretically exists in the Xinjiang region, it has
been an ''illusion'' over the past 50-60 years, she said. ''The Chinese
government's policies toward ethnic minorities have failed.''
''The only way to resolve the problem is for the World Uyghur Congress and
Chinese authorities to hold dialogue,'' said the president of the Munich-based
WUC, speaking in her own language. ''I want China to respond to this and
international society to encourage it to do so.''
Washington-based Kadeer arrived Tuesday in Tokyo for a three-day visit, and
China has already expressed ''strong dissatisfaction'' with the Japanese
government for allowing her to visit, accusing her of masterminding the July 5
riots.
Earlier in the day, Kadeer asked the LDP members to request Beijing to release
those it has arrested and accept a U.N. inspection team, and said afterward she
felt her request had been taken seriously.
In the press conference, she repeatedly urged the Japanese government to play a
role by sending its own fact-finding mission, asking the United Nations also to
do so, and telling Beijing to stop detaining local Uyghurs and release those
detained and to hold dialogue with the WUC.
''I want the Japanese government to be seriously involved,'' she said, adding
that although she is disappointed at the lack of response from the U.S. and
most other governments, more tragic incidents may occur unless the
international community takes a firm stance over the incident.
''It is the responsibility of the Chinese Communist Party to have turned a
peaceful demonstration into violence,'' she said, urging it to disclose where
the nearly 10,000 people who she said were involved in the violence and have
since disappeared are, and if they have died, where their bodies are.
Asked if any dialogue, if realized, would really help resolve the problem, she
admitted the Chinese authorities may ''string (her) along'' in a manner similar
to what she said they are doing with Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama,
but added it would be ''the first step for a peaceful resolution.''
After her meeting with the LDP members, Kadeer told Kyodo News, ''I had the
impression that they will not accept China's continued oppression of the
Uyghurs,'' and thanked the LDP for agreeing to meet with her at party
headquarters.
Seiichi Eto, one of the LDP members who met Kadeer and a House of Councillors
member, told reporters that the situation surrounding the ethnic group is ''an
issue that cannot be left untouched'' and that he intends to report on it to
the government.
While the meeting could bring another reaction from Beijing, Chief Cabinet
Secretary Takeo Kawamura and the LDP dismissed concerns.
''As a government, we understand that her (Kadeer's) visit came about as the
result of a private invitation, and we do not think it will have a negative
impact on the Japan-China relationship,'' Kawamura told a press conference.
A senior LDP lawmaker told Kyodo News, ''We only provided a meeting place. It
is not like we are hosting a press conference, so we see no problem.''
Beijing has accused Kadeer of being behind the rioting in Urumqi that left at
least 192 people dead and 1,800 others injured in the country's worst ethnic
violence in decades.
Kadeer has denied the accusations, insisting instead that China's decades-long
repression of the Uyghurs had caused the unrest.
==Kyodo
After delivering her request directly to members of Japan's ruling Liberal
Democratic Party in the morning, Kadeer clarified in a press conference that
her World Uyghur Congress is aimed at the right to self-determination by the
Uyghur people, and claimed Chinese authorities are responsible for causing a
peaceful demonstration to turn violent on July 5 in the Xinjiang capital of
Urumqi.
Although legal autonomy theoretically exists in the Xinjiang region, it has
been an ''illusion'' over the past 50-60 years, she said. ''The Chinese
government's policies toward ethnic minorities have failed.''
''The only way to resolve the problem is for the World Uyghur Congress and
Chinese authorities to hold dialogue,'' said the president of the Munich-based
WUC, speaking in her own language. ''I want China to respond to this and
international society to encourage it to do so.''
Washington-based Kadeer arrived Tuesday in Tokyo for a three-day visit, and
China has already expressed ''strong dissatisfaction'' with the Japanese
government for allowing her to visit, accusing her of masterminding the July 5
riots.
Earlier in the day, Kadeer asked the LDP members to request Beijing to release
those it has arrested and accept a U.N. inspection team, and said afterward she
felt her request had been taken seriously.
In the press conference, she repeatedly urged the Japanese government to play a
role by sending its own fact-finding mission, asking the United Nations also to
do so, and telling Beijing to stop detaining local Uyghurs and release those
detained and to hold dialogue with the WUC.
''I want the Japanese government to be seriously involved,'' she said, adding
that although she is disappointed at the lack of response from the U.S. and
most other governments, more tragic incidents may occur unless the
international community takes a firm stance over the incident.
''It is the responsibility of the Chinese Communist Party to have turned a
peaceful demonstration into violence,'' she said, urging it to disclose where
the nearly 10,000 people who she said were involved in the violence and have
since disappeared are, and if they have died, where their bodies are.
Asked if any dialogue, if realized, would really help resolve the problem, she
admitted the Chinese authorities may ''string (her) along'' in a manner similar
to what she said they are doing with Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama,
but added it would be ''the first step for a peaceful resolution.''
After her meeting with the LDP members, Kadeer told Kyodo News, ''I had the
impression that they will not accept China's continued oppression of the
Uyghurs,'' and thanked the LDP for agreeing to meet with her at party
headquarters.
Seiichi Eto, one of the LDP members who met Kadeer and a House of Councillors
member, told reporters that the situation surrounding the ethnic group is ''an
issue that cannot be left untouched'' and that he intends to report on it to
the government.
While the meeting could bring another reaction from Beijing, Chief Cabinet
Secretary Takeo Kawamura and the LDP dismissed concerns.
''As a government, we understand that her (Kadeer's) visit came about as the
result of a private invitation, and we do not think it will have a negative
impact on the Japan-China relationship,'' Kawamura told a press conference.
A senior LDP lawmaker told Kyodo News, ''We only provided a meeting place. It
is not like we are hosting a press conference, so we see no problem.''
Beijing has accused Kadeer of being behind the rioting in Urumqi that left at
least 192 people dead and 1,800 others injured in the country's worst ethnic
violence in decades.
Kadeer has denied the accusations, insisting instead that China's decades-long
repression of the Uyghurs had caused the unrest.
==Kyodo
