Questions:

1. Officials in Xinjiang region blamed Uyghurs based abroad for orchestrating attacks on ethnic Han Chinese. Do you think it could be true or it’s just state’s propaganda?

2. Generally could we expect more violence in the region? Do Uyghurs people have the reasons to protest in your opinion?

Answers:

Sean Roberts, Associate Professor in the Practice of International Affairs at the George Washington University

1. The Chinese state regularly claims that Uyghur exile groups abroad are actively involved in violent attempts to destabilize the country. Such claims, of course, allow the government to dismiss local dissatisfaction with present conditions and feed a general narrative that China is under siege by external forces. Furthermore, it is incorrect to call what happened Sunday orchestrated attacks on Han Chinese. The events started with peaceful protests that were cracked down upon by security forces. The protestors, in turn, became violent. If there was any external influence on these events, they come from Uyghur access to the media coverage of the protests in Iran over the last month. Usually Uyghurs do not hold large protests, fearing the repercussions they would suffer from authorities. I think seeing what happened in Iran may have given Uyghurs hope that they could make a statement about problems inside China. Unfortunately, they do not have any internal political support from people inside the system as has been the case for Iranian protestors.

2. The Uyghurs inside China have many reasons to protest. Their situation is very similar to that of the Tibetans. They are increasingly being marginalized in their homeland by Han Chinese migration, Chinese language schooling, and development projects that favor links to an economy run centrally out of Beijing. There will definitely continue to signs of resistance coming from Uyghurs inside China for some time to come, and the Chinese government will continue to react with force. This combination suggests that incidents of violence will also continue.

Joanne Smith Finley, Lecturer in Chinese, Newcastle University

1. This incident was not orchestrated by exiles abroad; it is the result of growing despair among local Uyghurs faced with daily socio-economic discrimination (especially in employment) and cultural assimilation through the means of Han Chinese immigration, the banning of Uyghur language tuition in all educational institutes, and the repression of religion. The government however always chooses to blame events of this type in Tibet or Xinjiang on 'outside elements', insisting that all Uyghurs/Tibetans within the country are happy and living 'in harmony' with the Han Chinese. This is its public response. Behind the public face will be a huge crackdown on local Uyghur men suspected of separatist tendencies, in some cases regardless of whether they were involved in the violence.

2. Hard to say whether this will repeat. Perhaps yes, as desperation grows. Perhaps no, as they will experience a very harsh crackdown in the coming days. This is the first major incident of unrest in Xinjiang since the 1997 riots in Ghulja (Yining). So it took 12 years for people to 'forget' about the large-scale arrests, imprisonments and executions that followed that incident.

M. Taylor Fravel, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

1. It could be true that Han Chinese were targeted, but I have not yet seen enough reports to ä understand the facts of the case. But Urumqi has a very large Han population.

2. I doubt that that there will be sustained violence in the region, especially in Urumqi. Protests might start in other locations, but I suspect that that police and security forces are now on high alert to prevent any further unrest.