Unsympathetic US Urges China To 'Protect' Xinjiang Terrorists

In a statement on June 26, a U.S. Department of State spokesman did not condemn the violent acts of terror that occurred in the Lukqun township of Xinjiang's Shanshan County, but rather "urged Chinese authorities" to provide due process legal protection to those arrested and also expressed that the U.S. remained "deeply concerned by the ongoing reports of discrimination and restrictions against Uighur and Muslims in China." We do not know the extent of apathy required for U.S. officials to take such a position when rioters used axes and knives to butcher dozens of victims, half of whom were Uighur.

We particularly do not know how Americans would feel if, following the Sept. 11 attack or the Boston bombing several months ago, Chinese officials promptly urged the U.S. government to examine its own policies toward the Arab world or expressed "concern" about the treatment of Muslims within the U.S. We do not know whether or not the U.S. government would welcome such actions from Chinese officials the next time a grave act of violent terror occurs in the U.S.

Even as Xinjiang bleeds from its raw wounds, the U.S. government is unwilling to put a check on its ideological biases and bring condemnations of violence and sympathy for the victims to the fore in announcing its position. Americans cannot stand to blow the proverbial whistle and take a time out on their ideological battles. They are apparently quite willing to write out another slogan for Western values with the blood of Xinjiang.

A multitude of ethnicities make Xinjiang their home: How can one expect there to be absolutely no issues holding these different ethnicities back from peaceful coexistence? Is there any such place on Earth? All multiethnic countries have a duty to untiringly explore these issues; in this respect, the U.S. fails entirely as a model of morality for the rest of the world. U.S. soldiers have flushed the Quran down toilets, a U.S. pastor has threatened to burn the Quran and some Westerners to this day view the desecration of Islam as "freedom of speech."

Although the incidents in Xinjiang were perpetrated by the same ethnic group, they were not "ethnic conflict," but crimes of violent terrorism. As with the newest spate of violent terror in Shanshan County, many of the victims belonged to the same Uighur ethnic group as the terrorists, and the tourist economy in Uighur-populated areas will bear the brunt of the blow, as well as the riots having clear ramifications for every ethnic group in Xinjiang. The [attackers] are without question the mutual enemy of all the peoples of Xinjiang.

The specific characteristics of these violent acts in Xinjiang appear to change along with the area's development. Because modern society requires a high degree of societal stability, each act of violent terror is more pronounced than the last. And the more importance society attributes to it, the more the destructive power of these terrorists grows, a paradox that is extremely difficult to solve.

However, the situation in Xinjiang must not be allowed to get out of hand. Society can only face the successive emergence of these violent acts of terror and compare them against the whole face of Xinjiang. Through various forms of information, the public will form a complete understanding of the realities there.

Politics in Xinjiang are strictly administered, and terrorists can seek out “gaps” in law and order in Xinjiang to commit crimes, but there is absolutely no room for them to realize their political ambitions. The encouragement from the Western public stems from a desire to use these extremists as a chip to place China in an awkward situation, but as embarrassing China becomes increasingly difficult, some Westerners have assumed an even more sinister attitude akin to spectators delighting in an event.

The violent acts of terror in Xinjiang are a bloody affair; any who make light of them at a time like this have slipped from the path of human decency and conscience. We now express our heartfelt condolences for those who lost their lives in Shanshan County and condemn the terrorists, as well as those people and forces sending signals of encouragement in any form to those terrorists.

As long as China continues to forge ahead, Xinjiang will move forward with it. We will not shift our course according to the will of violent terrorists, nor can hostile external forces turn us from our path. When problems arise, we will face them calmly and with earnestness, while those harboring the odious intent to cause destruction in Xinjiang will lose, and lose completely.