WASHINGTON, July 11, (Agencies): US lawmakers on Friday came to the defense of Rebiya Kadeer, the leader of exiles from China's Uighur minority, after Beijing accused the US-based activist of fomenting the country's deadliest ethnic violence in decades. Two lawmakers, one from each US political party, appeared alongside Kadeer at the US Capitol and announced they were introducing a resolution in Congress to condemn China for its "violent repression" of "peaceful Uighur protests." Congressman Bill Delahunt, a member of President Barack Obama's Democratic Party, said Beijing's allegations against Kadeer have been "offensive and repugnant." "We are calling on the Chinese government to desist in slandering this woman who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize on three separate occasions," Delahunt told the news conference.
"I think what it demonstrates is the desperation of this particular regime in terms of dealing with what clearly is becoming a public relations disaster," he said. Chinese authorities have accused Kadeer of orchestrating the ethnic bloodshed in Xinjiang, a vast western province native to the Uighurs but which a growing number of settlers from China's Han majority have made home. Beijing has said Kadeer, head of the World Uighur Congress and Uighur American Association, is also supported by "terrorists" among the Uighurs, who are predominantly Muslim. Kadeer, who spent six years in a Chinese prison before she was released in 2005 under US pressure, adamantly denied the charges. "I'm against all violence. I have not done this and I will not do such a thing," she said next to the congressmen. Kadeer has made Washington a base for activism. She met former president George W. Bush at the White House and her groups are backed by the National Endowment for Democracy, which is privately run but funded by Congress.
Asked if she was engaged in improper activities, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Thursday: "I'll just say very simply that we don't have any information to substantiate these kinds of claims by the Chinese government." Kadeer, a 62-year-old mother of 11, was once a department store magnate said to be the richest woman in China and hailed by Beijing as a model for the Uighur minority.
But she was arrested in 1999 on her way to meet a delegation of US congressional researchers after running afoul of authorities for her complaints about the treatment of the Uighurs. Chinese state media says that 184 people died, most of them Han, when Uighurs "rioted" on Sunday. But Kadeer alleged that the death toll could be in the thousands, saying she has heard accounts of "mob killings" across the vast region which Uighurs call East Turkestan.
She said that security forces used deadly force on peaceful protests Sunday, triggering the backlash in which thousands of Han Chinese took to the streets with meat cleavers and other makeshift weapons vowing vengeance.
The resolution introduced to the US Congress expresses "sadness at the loss of both Han Chinese and Uighur life during the recent upheavals."
"Certainly we condemn anyone who is committing violence against someone else on the basis of their race, religion of anything else," said Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican.
"But remember, this friction is caused by an intentional policy of Beijing to try to destroy the Uighur homeland," he said. "In the long run, this is a policy of the Beijing government to commit genocide against the Uighur people."
Many Han Chinese bristle at such accusations, saying that Beijing has brought "modernization" to Xinjiang and the neighboring restive region of Tibet.
Woman
The petite Muslim woman with the sky blue head scarf began by complaining that the public washrooms were closed at a crowded mosque on Friday - the most important day of the week for Islamic worship.
When a group gathered around her on the sidewalk, Madina Ahtam then railed against communist rule in China's far western region of Xinjiang, rocked by ethnic rioting that has killed at least 184 people this week.
The 26-year-old businesswoman eventually led the crowd of mostly men in a fist-pumping street march that was quickly blocked by riot police, some with automatic rifles pointed at the protesters.
The incident was one of many examples of how Muslim women have been taking bold leadership roles following the deadliest communal violence in decades in the Xinjiang region. As the communist government launches a sweeping security crackdown, the women have faced down troops, led protests and risked arrest by speaking out against police tactics they believe are excessive.
In many Uighur neighborhoods during the crisis in Urumqi, the women did much of the talking with reporters as the men gathered in small groups on street corners and in back alleys, speaking quietly among themselves.
"I can't speak freely. The police could come any minute and haul me away," said a Uighur man who would only identify himself as Alim.
But on Friday, some men challenged officials when they showed up for prayers at Urumqi's popular White Mosque and found the gate closed. Officials had earlier said the mosque would be closed for public safety reasons as security forces tried to pacify the capital.
The mosque was eventually opened when the crowd swelled and there was a threat of unrest, police said.
Most Muslim Uighurs practice a moderate form of Sunni Islam or follow the mystical Sufism tradition. The women often work and lead an active social life outside the home. Many wear brightly colored head scarves but the custom is not strongly enforced. Young Uighur women often wear jeans, formfitting tops and dresses.
As the faithful streamed into the White Mosque, Ahtam arrived holding a lilac umbrella and told foreign reporters in broken English, "Toilet no open. No water."
She led reporters to an area where the faithful are supposed to cleanse themselves before prayers and said with tears running down her cheeks, "Washing room not open. Everybody no wash."
After the prayers, she continued speaking on the sidewalk and attracted about 40 people who applauded when she criticized the government.
"Every Uighur people are afraid. Do you understand? We are afraid. Chinese people are very happy. Why?" said Ahtam.
Breakdown
China released a breakdown Saturday of the death toll from communal rioting, saying most of the 184 killed were from the Han Chinese majority - an announcement that only fueled suspicion among Muslim Uighurs that many more of their people died.
Identifying the ethnic background of the dead for the first time since last Sunday's unrest in western Xinjiang, the government's Xinhua News Agency cited provincial officials as saying 137 victims were Han while 46 were Uighurs and one was a Hui, another Muslim group.
Uighurs on the streets of the Xinjiang capital, Urumqi, and from exile activist groups disputed the new figures, citing persistent rumors that security forces fired on Uighurs during Sunday's protest and in following days.
"I've heard that more than 100 Uighurs have died, but nobody wants to talk about it in public," said one Uighur man who did not want to give his name because the city remains tense and security forces are everywhere.
Dispelling such suspicions has become another challenge for the government as it tries to calm the troubled region and win over critics in the international community. Turkey - whose people share an ethnic and cultural bond with the Uighurs - has been particularly critical with the prime minister likening the situation to genocide.
Assimilation
Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged China to stop the "assimilation" of its Uighur minority Saturday, the day after he said the unrest in Xinjiang was "like a genocide."
"We ask the government of China to abandon assimilation, because such assimilation can do you no good," Erdogan said in a speech to his Justice and Development Party broadcast on television.
"No state, no society which attacks the lives and rights of innocent civilians can guarantee its security and prosperity," he warned.
"Whether they are Turkic Uighurs or Chinese, we cannot tolerate such atrocities," Erdogan said. "The suffering of the Uighurs is ours."
Turkey has been angered by the plight of Turkic-speaking Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang following clashes with Han Chinese in the region which have killed at least 184 people.
Anti-Chinese demonstrations have been held across Turkey in solidarity with the Uighurs, but the government has been cautious in its criticism of Beijing, a key trading partner.
On Friday Erdogan, who heads Turkey's Islamist-rooted government, did not specifically blame China for deaths in Xinjiang but strongly criticised Beijing's inaction.
"The event taking place in China is a kind of genocide," he said, adding that "we have difficulty understanding how China's leadership... can remain a spectator in the face of these events."
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