TC 00.03.18 voice over
The situation remains tense in the north western Chinese region of Xinjiang, following the worst ethnic violence in decades, which opposed indigenous Muslim Turkish-speaking Uighurs to Han Chinese, who represent 90% of China’s population.
The violence began on the 5th July during an originally peaceful protest over attacks on Uighurs at a factory in Southeast China, at the other side of the country.
Chinese officials have said 192 people were killed on this day of violence - the majority being Han Chinese.
But Uighur groups in exile have said hundreds of Uighurs were killed that day and the following ones. 00.55.18
Freedom and equality… This is what this group of Uighur demonstrators shout on their way to the local police station – they want to ask for information about their missing relatives, who they have not heard from for several days.
We are in the heart of Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang province, in Northwest China, where protest marches are not really appreciated…
And, very soon indeed, the elite police stop them dead.
Cop: GO! GO! GO!
This improvised demonstration started 200 meters before, after a small crowd of Uighurs gathered outside a mosque to grieve and share stories about their missing loved ones.
TC 00.56.05 interview man
We want to be treated like the Han! They treat us like donkeys! They put us in cage like beasts! They shoot us like beasts! What are we?! 10,000 Uighurs died! 10,000 of us!
TC01.05.07 interview woman
There’s no equality in Xinjiang! I hardly make a living, and they are loaded! We want equality! They can cut my head, others will rise up and fight! To live!
TC 01.23.16 voice over
The tension is still high in Urumqi. Since this month’s riots it has become a besiged city.
Of course, people try to heal and embrace life again, despite the visible marks that remain. But some scars are not so easy to heal.
In Urumqi’s number 2 hospital, more than 300 victims of this month’s ethnic riots are taken care of. Most of them are Han Chinese, like 22 year-old Dong Yuanyuan. She came back to Xinjiang on the 5th, for her wedding. But from the airport, no taxi would dare take her to town, whatever the price… She could only take a bus.
02.09.08
TC 02.09.24
DONG 1: (female, mandarin) “On the way, a group of people started attacking us, throwing stones at the bus. We got out, but soon, more and more youngsters arrived and surrounded us. As I felt on the ground, I tried to shout « Yakumse ! Yakumse ! », which is Uighur for Hello. But a guy told the others that I was Han Chinese, so they started to hit me badly.
TC 02.33.04 VOICE OVER
Dong Yuanyuan haven’t had any news from her fiancé since that very day.
Outside the room, in the corridor of the hospital, another woman, Halida, is worried about her husband’s condition too. As a Uighur storekeeper, he has been beaten in retaliation, two days after the first explosion of violence.
TC 02.53.11
HALIDA (female, uighur)
Some Han Chinese attacked him with sticks on his way to work. They injured his arms, legs, head and back – well, it’s broken everywhere... We arrived here four months ago, to start a business. We never imagined things would turn like that in Urumqi. I believed friendship was possible.
TC 03.16.16
DONG 2 (female, Chinese Mandarin)
“I used to have a lot of Uighur friends. But after what happened, I will be scared to cross a Uighur. How can I trust one? Particularly the young ones, like those who attacked me. I know that most of them are good people; but deep in my heart, I won’t be able to look at them the same way.
TC 03.33.12
[NEW SHOT] I prefer we stay separate.03.35.03
TC 03.36.03 voice over
In Uighur districts, life slowly returns to routine. But faces are still very tense with worry.
Xinjiang authorities declared they have arrested more than fourteen hundred people related to the riot, on the first day of the turmoil.
But behind this Uighur market, people say that unlawful arrests have been a common practice.TC 03.58.00
TC 03.59.13
WOMAN (RAZYA)
Uighur men have been arrested for no reason, just because they were walking in the streets. They’ve been packed into trucks to be put in jail. But when the Han attacked Uighur people, there was no reaction.
TC04.10.05
MAN
TV continuously shows violence perpetrated by the Uighurs, but not Han attacks. Many Uighurs died too, but nobody mentions it.
TC 04.16.11
WOMAN
Some youngsters came here with knives to kick us out of Xinjiang. How can we live after that?
They even attacked some of our mosques. That is sacred to us. Nobody attacked ther temples. The conflict won’t ease if they do that.
TC 04.31.08 VOICE OVER
The Grand Mosque of Urumqi… Under strict surveillance.
After the riots, authorities tried to cancel the Friday Muslim prayers, in an attempt to stop Imams from preaching to large crowds.
But the call went ignored, after hundreds of faithful unrolled their carpets on the ground in front of the building. The mosque got finally opened.
Chinese government, as well as many Uighur groups in exile, denied any Islamist dimension in this month’s Uighur riots.
But faithful often point out religious restrictions that are imposed on Muslims by the authorities.
For some Uighurs, denouncing religious and cultural discriminations is also a way to remind that Xinjiang have been their land for centuries.
But Han Chinese will argue that Xinjiang is their land too, for they are the ones who brought modernity here.
Like many other Chinese, who were sent here in order to develop this desert unfertile region, 77-year old Shi Yan-Wen arrived in the 1950’s.
TC 05.28.02
SHI (male, Mandarin Chinese)
“To be honest, life has got better for all nationalities, here. Uighurs wouldn’t let us leave Xinjiang. Because if the Han Chinese hadn’t come, Xinjiang would never have developed so well.” TC 05.41.11
TC 05.43.05 VOICE OVER
In Xinjiang, both sides claim their own legitimacy. After the shock, many people say they want to leave in peace with their neighbors. Even if, now, nothing will be like before.