Xinjiang Riots

Posted on 13 August 2009.

Clashes between Han Chinese and Uighur workers in a factory in southern Guangdong province in June had devastating consequences in north-western Xinjiang province in the following weeks.

Back in late June, two people were reported killed and 118 injured in fighting at the "Early Light" toy factory in Shaoguan city, Guangdong province. About 400 riot police were deployed to quell the unrest as rival workers battled, some with knives and metal pipes. The official Xinhua news agency later said a man had been arrested for posting a message on a local website claiming falsely that six Uighurs from Xinjiang had "raped two innocent girls" and thus sparking the brawl.

Rumours of many more Uighur dead in the incident spread to the predominantly Uighur north-western region of Xinjiang and a few days later, rioting broke out in the provincial capital Urumqi. "It began as a peaceful assembly. There were thousands of people shouting to stop ethnic discrimination, demanding an explanation. This anger has been growing for a long time," one Uighur said (Reuters). Soon, however, rioters were smashing and burning, and thousands of police and anti-riot troops swept through the city, using tear-gas and high-pressure water hoses to disperse the crowds.

Chinese authorities blamed the violence on overseas-based Uighur activists, particularly focussing on U.S. resident Rebiya Kadeer. The government claimed the riots were "pre-meditated and well-planned" and sought to control the situation by bringing in a curfew and cutting telephone lines and internet access throughout the region. Exiled Uighur groups said the riot was an outpouring of pent-up anger over government policies and Han Chinese dominance of economic opportunities.

Two days later, local Han Chinese took their revenge. "They attacked us. Now it's our turn to attack them," one man said (Reuters). Crowds attacked Uighur restaurants and threw rocks at local mosques. The final official death toll from several days of rioting was 197- the majority Han Chinese - with a further 1,700 wounded.

President Hu Jintao was forced to return to China early from a G8 summit in Italy to deal with the crisis and the government crackdown was swift. Uighur women were soon protesting that thousands of their husbands, brothers and sons had been taken away in arbitrary arrests. Official figures mentioned more than 1,500 arrests; another claim was that 10,000 Uighurs had gone missing in one night. Many were asking how the two communities would be able to live together in the future.

Pray for peace in the Xinjiang region and that there would be no further riots or ethnic violence. Pray for wisdom for those tasked with restoring order, so that they can avoid enflaming further ill feeling.

Pray for healing of the relationships between individual Han Chinese and Uighurs. Pray that each group might come to better understand the other.

Pray that local Christian believers might lead the way in reaching out to bring reconciliation. May the believers understand and demonstrate God's love for every ethnic group.

Pray for the Uighurs, a predominantly Muslim people group with very few Christians amongst them. Pray for hearts to be softened to the Gospel and for new opportunities for them to hear and understand the truth.