If your response upon hearing the news that the Uighurs are rioting in China was, "Uh, what now?" here's a very basic primer to get you up to speed.
Monday, July 6, 2009
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Having been to Urumqi and the Tupan basin area for a time I can only say that this is loooong overdue (starting with a bus that got blowed up REAL good just outside my office in beijing in 1996 (which resulted in the Uighur population there getting rounded up interment style and sent packing (which resulted in all the foreign students and workers jonesing out as "Uighur Street" was where they bought their film canisters of hash.))
If Xinjiang had a dopey, celebrity-loved icon like The Lama people might realize the place is i the same boat as Tibet. Oh yeah, and they are all muslem, so they don't have that going for them.
Pronounced "Ugh, her".
and if you want lots of detail, more aggregation + some chinese internet fakery:
http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20090706_1.htm
I thought religion wasn't allowed in China. Is that part of the riot? I'm admittedly ignorant in this regard.
No religion. forced abortions. one child. There's a lot of understanding about China that's a result of repeated media misinformation. China has a lot of "cultural minorities" in regions all over. These groups are allowed to practice. Buddhism still thrives in tibet. There are even functioning (though low key) christian churches in many places. What's not allowed is proselytizing.
I figured people would practice covertly, but did not know about the rest (keeping it low-key, etc). Thanks
As a well-educated elitist who has traveled outside the US more than most, I am continually shocked about how little I know about the rest of the world. It's embarassing.
Please keep stories like this and your pieces on Honduras coming.
If a government cracks down and no one twitters about it, did it happen?