Elisabeth Shaver
9/11
1:00 pm
This past July in Urumqi, China riots broke out in the streets after years of ethnic tension between the Han Chinese, and the Uighur minority group. Nearly 200 people were killed, mostly Han killed by angry Uighur mobs. China has been trying to keep the peace in the city before the 60th anniversary of the Communist rule on October 1st. The Han have been doing protest demonstrations against the local government officials because they feel like they have not been protected from the Uighur separatists. The Han have reported stabbings with syringes. The Chinese government has been able to keep the peace recently, but the tension is still there and the two ethnic groups remain deeply divided. The Uighur people complain of lack of civil and religious rights (most are Muslim) and economic inequality. The Han believe that the minority group is favored by the government. One woman even saying that the Uighur people were “evil” and the government was still very kind to them.
The tension and ethnic division is mainly caused by ignorance and oppression. Of course the Uighur people want to be able to worship freely and not be looked down upon as second class citizens. People who are oppressed eventually lash out. Though violence shouldn’t be the result, unfortunately it almost always is. The way the Han Chinese view the Uighur reminds me of how the old south viewed African Americans. Ignorance fuels hatred and fear of what is different. If you are taught by those around you that a certain people group is less than human, or “evil” and you keep yourself away from that group, then that is what you will believe. It takes alot of individual willingness to try and change your own mind, and unfortunately most people are too stubborn, and too set in their ways to do that. I hope for both sides, that they can come to a resolution, and no more lives will be lost.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125234630028190499.html
No comments:
Post a Comment