Shanghaiist: Al-Jazeera on Islam in China

Weeger

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 01:49:17 +0800

One additional note: there is also no evidence that ETIM (which very likely no longer exists at all) had any involvement in any of the recent attacks in Xinjiang.

Weeger

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 01:34:48 +0800

I completely disagree that this video "exhibits cognisance of the various sensitivities and the interplay of a variety of complex factors." The video and Eastman's analysis are flawed in many ways, not the least in the way in which, while superficially acknowledging a difference between Uyghurs and Hui Muslims, the two groups are lumped together here as "Chinese Muslims". This would be similar to presenting a report about Chinese Buddhists and Tibetan Buddhists, not to mention interviewing the most pro-Chinese government Chinese Buddhist leader you can find on the mainland and asking him for his views on the situation for Buddhists in the PRC. Of course he will tell the interviewer that the Tibetans are rocking the boat by "agitating for a separatist state". Please, al-Jazeera- don't waste half your film on a pro-Communist religious leader spouting propanda and a so-called "China expert" that no one's ever heard of. Unlike the assertion made in the Al-Jazeera video, no link has been proven to exist between the Turkestan Islamic Party video and the attack that killed 16 policemen in Kashgar. Most observers have stated that the attacks, carried out by a taxi driver and a vegetable seller, lacked the sophistication and weaponry to be part of some grand terrorist scheme. There is also a high degree of speculation as to the nature and size of the self-proclaimed "Turkestan Islamic Party" itself. The assertion made by the "China expert" in the video that there has never been greater freedom for the practice of Islam in the PRC is also completely flawed. Perhaps he knows nothing about the situation of the Uyghurs. I am no expert on the situation of Islam as it is practiced by Hui Muslims, but in Xinjiang, women are officially barred from entering mosques, as are children under the age of 18. Fasting during Ramadan is prohibited, and violations of this prohibition are severely punished. Uyghurs are also prohibited from going on the hajj independently, and it is extremely difficult for Uyghurs to gain the official approval or the financial resources to make the state-sponsored hajj. There are myriad other restrictions on Uyghurs' religious freedoms that I will not go into here. On another point, Rebiya Kadeer and her organization, the Uyghur American Association, have repeatedly stated that they do not advocate an independent state. They do not seek to urge leaders to pressure China to allow Xinjiang/East Turkestan to secede from the PRC. Read all of the statements on the Uyghur American Association website to see this.

mlr

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 22:47:06 +0800

I don't think this part was worded well: ... there is no genetic distinction between the Hui's and the Han's due to a decision by the Communist Party in the 1930s to define Hui's as an umbrella group for all Sinophone Muslims. I'm fairly certain that while the CPC seems to have Eastman by the family jewels, it can hardly expect DNA to abide by its 'decisions.' If we posit that Sinophile Muslims might be expected to marry within their own cultural-religious group more often thasn not, they could then, in fact, be expected have (relatively small) quantifiable genetic differences distinct from the wider Han population (would make a fascinating study, if the technology was that advanced). Anyway, the way it's worded in the article is... imprecise. I suggest an edit.

eastman

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 19:16:23 +0800

With an account unsettled with Han Chinese, Rebiya Kadeer seems to begin to pounce upon another Muslims group. I pray she would not send her last son to Lhasa for a united front with tibeten rioters, only for looting hundreds Hui’s shops there, as they did in March. I hope Rebiya Kadeer’s two sons will remain behind the bar, so that less Chinese officials get bribed and blackmailed. A funny 'Catch 22' is behind Rebiya Kadeer saying:"Muslims never kill" and "when he kills, he stops to be a Muslims", lol! I wish businesswoman Rebiya Kadeer a successful career as a "professional activist" which can bring better turnover than her hard working in China, a turnover brought by CIA, NED, so on. What can you expect from Americans who consider Muslims as terrorists only when they attack USA?