China Reform Monitor: No. 1142

[Editor’s Introduction: Last April, Vietnam sent back 11 Uighurs and the bodies of five others after a deadly shootout with Vietnamese border guards. Since then, Beijing has become alarmed that the border with Vietnam is a major conduit for fleeing Uighurs and has conducted a campaign to eradicate human traffickers. So far 352 people have arrested as part of smuggling networks and 852 people accused of attempting illegal border crossings, the Ministry of Public Security reports. Advocates of Uighur self-determination and international human rights groups argue Beijing has exaggerated claims of international terrorism in Xinjiang and has unfairly depicted Uighurs attempting to escape religious and political repression as extremists.]

January 10:

The U.S. has voiced deep concern over reports that three brothers of Uighur Journalist Shohret Hoshur have been imprisoned in retribution for his journalism. The arrests follow years of threats by authorities in Xinjiang, where his Uighur-language broadcasts from U.S. government-funded Radio Free Asia “offer a rare alternative to state-run media,” Taipei Times reports. One brother was sentenced to five years for “endangering state security,” the other two were detained in August for “leaking state secrets,” after the spoke to Hoshur by phone about the trial. The family has not seen them since. A State Department spokesperson said: “We urge Chinese authorities to cease harassment of his family and to treat them fairly and with dignity.” Hoshur refuses to quit journalism, although officials told his sister-in-law that that is the only way his brothers will be released. “Chinese authorities intensify their pressure after you start obeying them. If I leave from my job, this method can be used widely among Uighurs abroad. I don’t want to be made an example of, obeying an authoritarian regime’s unacceptable demand,” said Hoshur. China has jailed more journalists, 44, than any other country; up from 32 in 2013.

January 12:

Authorities in Shule county, Xinjiang near Kashgar shot dead six “would-be suicide bombers” carrying “explosive devices” after they attacked police, state-run media reports. Police killed the six “attackers” after local residents saw a “suspect with an explosive device.” The first person was shot dead after attacking police with an axe and trying to detonate the device, while five more converged on police with “explosive devices attached to their bodies.” A minibus “with explosive devices” was also found near the scene. A Han Chinese surnamed Li told Radio Free Asia that the shootings took place in a commercial district near his shop and that he was collecting “clubs and fire extinguishers” for self-protection. Another Han resident said: “We are quite close to the Southern Xinjiang military command center. We are surrounded by armed police and soldiers on patrol.” A spokesman for the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress questioned the official version of events claiming police had fired on a group of that had congregated at the scene of the first shooting.

January 13:

Women in Urumqi, Xinjiang, a city of 3.1 million, will no longer be allowed to wear the burqa head covering. Local legislators approved the new ban last month and the regional legislature has approved it. The ordinance targets any outer garments covering someone's full body including the face. “Burqas are not traditional dress for Uighur women, and wearing them in public places is banned in countries such as Belgium and France,” according to state press quoted in the Pakistan Times. Last August, Karamay, Xinjiang banned Islamic-style clothing and large beards from public buses. Authorities targeted veils, large beards, as well as three types of Islamic dresses – including those with the star-and-crescent symbol. Security personnel enforced the ban at dozens of bus stations and conducted random checks. Locals were encouraged to report violators to the police, CNN reports.

January 15:

In November, Shanghai police arrested 10 Turkish citizens and two Uighur Chinese for providing altered Turkish passports to “terrorist suspects” from Xinjiang, the official Global Times reports. Nine Uighurs were also arrested at Shanghai Pudong International Airport trying to escape China for Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria with audio and video materials with “terrorism-related content.” The Turkish citizens were paid $2,000 each to come to China to hand over their passports to traffickers to smuggle out the Uighurs. Uighurs paid traffickers 60,000 yuan ($9,700) per passport. The traffickers are two Turkish citizens and a Turkey-based Uighur Chinese from Kashgar, Xinjiang, the New York Times reports. Many Uighurs have sought refuge in Turkey, a popular destination for Uighur students. According to a Pew survey released last July, 68 percent of Turkish respondents held an unfavorable view of China.

January 19:

At an expressway tollgate in Pingxiang, Guangxi, police shot to death two Uighurs trying to flee into Vietnam after members of their group resisted arrest with knives, the official China Daily reports. The shooting broke out when the police tried to stop a van carrying five Uighurs who refused to stop at a police roadblock. Two were captured and “the police shot dead two of them, while one escaped into a residential neighborhood,” the official China Daily reports. The shootings appeared to be part of the government’s efforts to eradicate gangs involved in illegally spiriting people, especially Uighurs, across the border into Southeast Asia, and onward from there, the New York Times reports.