CHINA-BRITAIN/XINJIANG China says Uighur leader's comments "absurd", Xinjiang at peace

Record ID: 135753

  • Title: CHINA-BRITAIN/XINJIANG China says Uighur leader's comments "absurd", Xinjiang at peace
  • Date: 20th October 2015
  • Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (OCTOBER 20, 2015) (REUTERS) FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESWOMAN, HUA CHUNYING, WALKING IN FOR REGULAR NEWS CONFERENCE MEDIA SITTING (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESWOMAN, HUA CHUNYING, SAYING: "To be honest, I really don't want to comment on this person's absurd and extreme, ignorant speech." JOURNALISTS SITTING (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) FOREIGN MINISTR
  • Embargoed: 4th November 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA6YYWLGO4R31T6DDDV0T2J16CB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: China on Tuesday (October 20) condemned a top exiled Uighur leader for "absurd" comments she made about Britain's lavish reception for President Xi Jinping, adding that China's far western region of Xinjiang was at peace.
    Rebiya Kadeer, president of the World Uyghur Congress, told reporters while on a visit to Tokyo on Monday (October 19) that the red carpet Britain is laying out this week to welcome Xi is stained with the blood of Uighurs, Tibetans and dissidents.
    Kadeer said China's repressive policies had turned Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur people, "almost into a war zone".
    Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying dismissed Kadeer's remarks.
    "To be honest, I really don't want to comment on this person's absurd and extreme, ignorant speech," Hua told a daily news briefing in Beijing.
    "All types of people in Xinjiang live and work in peace. There is only a small group of people that seek to destroy China's ethnic harmony and social stability. I think their actions and words should be condemned," she added.
    China says Islamist militants and separatists operate in energy-rich Xinjiang on the borders of central Asia, where violence has killed hundreds in recent years.
    Radio Free Asia reported that at least 50 people died last month in an attack at a Xijiang coal mine that police blamed on knife-wielding separatists, just before China marked 60 years since its founding of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region.
    However, exiles and rights groups say China has never presented convincing evidence of the existence of a cohesive militant group, and that much of the unrest can be traced back to frustration at controls over the culture and religion of the Uighur people. Beijing strongly denies such charges.
    China dismisses Kadeer as an "anti-Chinese splittist". She is a former Chinese political prisoner accused of leaking state secrets in 1999. She was later allowed to leave on medical grounds and now lives in the United States.
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