Terrorism

After praising all along the Uighur activists fighting Chinese rule in Xinjiang as peace lovers for a just cause, now at least two Western countries, Norway and Germany, discovered that some Uighur militants that China had been trying to crackdown were friends of Al Qaeda bent on attacking not only China but also the West. Police arrested three members of the Turkestan Islamic Party in Norway and Germany who were accused of orchestrating a terrorist bomb plot.

Terrorism

Extradition

Six Chinese Uighurs detained by the US military as terrorist suspects at Guantánamo were released to Palau, where they would stay while seeking a permanent home elsewhere. Seven Chinese Uighur detainees remain confined at the naval base, along with 208 other men.

Terrorism

As if its hands are not full with fighting the West yet, Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda organisation now declared "jihad" against China for what it called "injustice and oppression" in Xinjiang. "The state of atheism is heading to its fall. It will face what befell the Russian bear," proclaimed Abu Yahya al-Libi, al-Qaeda's third most powerful figure.

Terrorism
Secession
Minority Rights

A Chinese government official asserted that the government’s ethnic minority policies were “effective” and “had nothing to do with the violent crimes” that unfolded in Urumqi on 5 July, a view contested by many analysts. Meanwhile, if it works for Taiwan, why can't it work in Xinjiang as well, as the Xinjiang regional legislature vowed to pass a local anti-secession law to "help provide a formal legal basis to prevent a separatist movement in the restive region".

On the diplomatic front, although evidence implicating Rebiya Kadeer and her World Uighur Congress in the 5 July riots remains tenuous, Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei urged the US to prevent separatist activities against China on the US territory, saying, "Chinese people know well about their activities and I suppose the U.S. side did so too". A senior PLA official also suggested that China would consider sending troops to Central Asia to strike the East Turkestan forces within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

Terrorism
Genocide

Turkey's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan first called the violence in Urumqi "savagery". Then he declared "the event taking place in China is a kind of genocide". Of course, Turkey should know a thing or two about genocide, as the Ottoman Turks have long been accused of committing the first genocide of the 20th century in killing 1.5 million Armenians around the time of WWI. Meanwhile, Turkey's Foreign Ministry quickly demonstrated why people should not take their prime minister's remarks seriously by reaffirming Turkey's commitment to develop ties with China in every field.

Terrorism

Is it conceivable that the US Congress and the Al-Qaeda may share a common goal eight years after the September 11 attacks? Or is Rebiye Kadeer thrilled now that her East Turkestan cause (funded by the Capitol Hill) is supported by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the Algerian-based offshoot of Osama bin Laden's organisation, who pledged to avenge the deaths of Muslims in Urumqi by targeting Chinese workers in Algeria as well as Chinese projects and workers across northwest Africa? The Chinese Government alerted its citizens and organisations abroad about potential terrorist attacks.

Terrorism
Diplomatic Immunities and Privileges

It may still be a matter of debate whether the Urumqi riots were started by the Uighur separatist attacks or the Chinese police crackdown. But there was little dispute over what triggered the attacks by some Uighur supporters on the Chinese embassy in the Netherlands. The violent bent of the East Turkestan movement went on full display as the protest was peaceful until "protesters saw somebody taking photos of them from inside the embassy", according to Gheyretjan Rozi of the Dutch Uighur Support Group. A Chinese FM spokesman strongly condemned the attacks, and the Dutch Government apologised and agreed to pay for repairs to the embassy.

Terrorism
State Responsibility

In the immediate aftermath of the deadly riots in Urumqi, a FM spokesman said the violence was "instigated and directed from abroad", and the Government pointed fingers at Rebiye Kadeer, the chairwoman of the World Uighur Congress who had been imprisoned in China for stealing state secrets and released to the US on medical parole (arguably inconsistently with the Chinese law on medical parole) in 2005. Ms. Kadeer denied the allegation and challenged the Chinese authorities to release their evidence in full, even though an officer of the World Uighur Congress admitted that some Uighurs inside China "might have been inspired" by the protests that Ms. Kadeer organised outside Chinese embassies in some European countries to protest the alleged killings of Uighur workers in Guangdong in late June.

The Chinese government further insinuated the US may be responsible for the bloodshed as the World Uighur Congress and the Uighur American Association (also headed by Ms. Kabeer) receive much of their funding from the National Endowment for Democracy, an organisation created and financed by the US Congress to promote democracy worldwide. But perhaps in a showing of the weakness of the claim, a FM spokesman chose not even to name any particular country, demanding instead the "relevant countries" to "immediately stop their funding and support".