The Chinese government likes to point fingers. Pointing is even more fun when there is a chain of dominos ready to fall over. A protest in Western China has caused civil unrest between the Uighurs and Han Chinese, resulting in over 100 deaths and 500 injuries. The subsequent afterschocks of this is being felt in nearby cities. Chinese say the Uighurs started the violence by carrying knives and damaging vehicles; the Uighurs say the Chinese started it by shooting at peaceful protesters. The international media has been quick to cover it, but I doubt we’ll ever know the full story. The Chinese government is notorious about censuring information to others and the like. And having just seen Babel (a sad sad movie!!) it makes me wonder just how much of the story is currently being warped by the news media. According to BBC News, the violence from the riot is comparable to that of Tienanmen Square. But is it really? I know that there have been ethnic struggles with the Muslim Uighurs and the Han Chinese, but what could have been an accident may have exploded out of proportion. Again, I will make reference to Babel–the “terrorists” turned out to be careless little children. We live in a sad world :(
he said she said
author: ttsang category: around the world tags: date: July 6th, 2009