Nur Bekri, chairman of the Xinjiang regional government, angrily told scrumming reporters in Beijing today that he found it "completely unbelievable" that foreign media were linking an alleged terror plot avoided by China last week with "some other incidents" (probably referring to Tibet and Darfur).
"It's as if the lives of 200+ passengers on that plane are of no value to them (the foreign media)," Bekri blasted. "That's what they call justice and fairness? How can they operate in double standards on life-threatening events like this one?"
The China Southern Airlines flight, which departed the regional capital of Urumqi at 10:35 a.m. Friday, was forced to land about two hours after takeoff because "
some people were attempting to create an air disaster," Nur Bekri, chairman of the Xinjiang regional government, told reporters at the same gathering at which Wang spoke Sunday afternoon.
I don't understand.
While we have all the legitimate reasons to question the degree of truth to the terror plot story, we equally have legitimate reasons to at least looking at the fact that there ARE terrorist groups operating in China, seeking opportunities to embarrass Beijing during the Olympics.
Bekri is true to some extent.
Yes, China is still abusing human rights (in western standards; don't forget Bush has recently vetoed a bill to stop using cruelty in questioning enemies). But does that mean all Chinese people should share that label and that they do not deserve sympathy and respect? What wrong have the normal Chinese people done to make the West hate them so much, too?
I too have questioned about the details of the story, but at least I wouldn't conveniently refer anything said by any Chinese officials to being fake or made-up.
Look at what this
AP columnist says:
If the reports are taken at face value, there are groups active in Pakistan and Afghanistan who would like nothing better than to make a name for themselves by blowing things up and killing people in Beijing just when the world is tuned in to watch.
Excuse me? Pakistan and Afghanistan groups? If the Games was to be held by the US, I'd say yes. But Beijing?
And he goes on to say:
Figure the odds of that actually happening are remote at best, since China's security forces exercise tight and complete control over the country and will bring all resources into play for the Olympics.
That may be why we're hearing about it now. Nothing like a little terrorism scare to get people to stop talking about pesky human rights issues in Tibet and Darfur, or the threat that pollution poses to the lungs of the world's top athletes come August.
China may thank the writer for having so much confidence in their ability to keep a close lid on ANYTHING. That's really naive, if not ignorant.
You want to point out that Beijing is a police state. Yes, it looks like it. But these people don't know how separate in thoughts and actions are between China's central government and local governments. There's a saying: "While the people at the top have policies; the people at lower levels have ways to counter them."
For instance, the central government has been pushing for better environmental measures and controls for years. Local governments, whose corrupt officials have myriad connections with local businesses and developers, are very good at finding ways to bypass the central government's orders. They twist things around in clever ways.... They could run their fiefdoms in a way that meets their own self interests by pushing for over-development while not arousing the attention from the guys at Beijing.
In fact, that's a Chinese "tradition". For thousands of years, China has dealt with the issue of
central gov vs local gov with difficulty. China is too big. The population spreads too widely. It's impossible for the central government to appoint an official to every village in every province (and be sure that these officials would always represent the interests of the central gov). Local interests are intertwined. Local interests clash with national ones. China has never developed a system good enough to govern the country effectively for a sustained period of time.
I'm not defending Beijing on its human rights record. What really pisses me off is the attitude to lump all Chinese under one name and ANYTHING the Han Chinese do MUST BE bad. When the Chinese feel deprived, the West would say: "Well, look at China's human rights records." It's as if that all Chinese deserve to suffer because there is a country called "China", which they all originate from. That's what hurting me.
I'm trying to say that we should at least give the benefits of the doubt to the Chinese until time brings out the truth. Just be fair.
I have to commend my net friend Taikor in bringing out the issue in his
comments left on CIV:
We often hear western governments and western pressure groups denouncing the Chinese government for clamping down on terrorism in Xinjiang while at the same time, acknowledge that East Turkestan are terrorist organisation.
Their expressed stance on terrorism is not consistent with their action on issues related to the Chinese government.
The international community and powers should work together with the Chinese government to wipe out global terrorism regardless of political differences and interests.
There should have close cooperation with the Chinese government to understand the terrorists' connection and operations. Each of these groups, in my opinion, are inter-connected. They would provide vital information for the fight against global terrorism.
Therefore, western countries should not apply a different set of standard on China in this regard.
I hope overseas Chinese would give the Chinese government their utmost support in the fight against terrorism. The terrorists may not like to be ruled by the ruling party. But they have no right to take innocent lives. Radical and senseless means cannot justify idealism of certain groups of people.
