Xinjiang violence: Does China have a terror problem?
By Katie Hunt and Matt Rivers, CNN
Updated 0138 GMT (0938 HKT) December 3, 2015
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| cnn.com |
(part)(CNN)In a raid last month, Chinese paramilitary forces killed 28 suspects accused of a bloody September attack on a coal mine, flushing them out of a cliffside cave with flamethrowers, according to state media.
The attack and police response took place in Xinjiang, an ethnically divided and resource rich province in the China's far west, that is home to the mainly Muslim Uyghur ethnic group.
China blamed Uyghur separatists for the attack, and it claims they are no different from ISIS or al Qaeda terrorists.
But exile groups and human rights activists say repressive religious policies and economic marginalization are provoking the unrest.
Beijing complains that the world applies double standards and China doesn't receive the same level of sympathy as other countries that have fallen victim to terror attacks.
"We cannot understand why terrorism, when taking place in other countries, is regarded as terrorism but ethnic and religious issues, when taking place in China," Hua Chunying, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, said Wednesday.
"And we cannot understand why other countries' counter-terrorism acts are justified, but China's counter-terrorism actions are so-called repression of ethnic groups," she added.
So what's going on, and what are the root causes of the issue?
根據媒體報導，上個月中國軍事組織突襲，殺了28位被指控九月山區煤礦發動血腥攻擊的嫌犯，對峭壁上的礦坑發射火焰彈逼他們出坑並全數殲滅。
這場衝突發生在新疆，大陸西方邊境，一個擁豐饒資源的自治省區，也是維吾爾族穆斯林主要的生活區域。
中國指控維吾爾族的獨立主義者應該為這次攻擊事件負責，認為他們跟ISIS或蓋達組織恐怖份子並無兩樣。
但流放政府跟人權團體認為經濟邊緣化跟獨裁專政才是引起這次動亂的主因。
北京當局認為這世界根本就是用兩套標準看待恐怖攻擊，中國人受到恐怖攻擊死傷，相較於其他國家，卻沒有得到同理心看待。
「我們無法理解，發生在其他國家的攻擊事件被認為是恐怖攻擊，一樣的事件發生在中國卻被認為是民族宗教問題。」星期三時，外交部發言人華春瑩表示。
「同時我們也無法認同為什麼其他國家反恐是公平正義的，中國反恐就是鎮壓宗教民族。」
所以是哪裡怪怪的嗎？而這個議題的根源又是什麼？
raid (n.) 突襲
paramilitary (adj.) 準軍事組織的
cliffside (n.) 峭壁
flamethrowers (n.) 火焰噴射器
province (n.) 省
separatist (n.) 分離主義者
exile (n.) 流放
provoke (v.) 激起
unrest (n.) 動亂
repression (n.) 壓制
What happened in the latest attack?
There are conflicting reports.
The knife attack on a coal mine in the town of Aksu was first reported on by Radio Free Asia, which has a Uyghur-language service and is funded by the U.S. government. It said that 50 people were killed and more than 50 injured on September 18.
The mine, according to Radio Free Asia, employed mostly ethnically Han Chinese workers, who made up the majority of those killed.
The incident was acknowledged by Chinese state media only on November 20. The Tianshan web portal reported that 16 people, including five policemen, were killed when a group of people attacked the mine and 18 others were injured.
The report said on November 12, after a 56-day manhunt, authorities located the people responsible for the attack in a cave.
State media reported that the troops, like "eagles discovering their prey," had used flamethrowers to force people out of the cave, after stun grenades and tear gas failed to draw them out.
Photographs showed heavily armed police perched on rocky cliffs and another of them being helped a by a large group of local herders wielding spades, sticks and pitch forks.
By the official account, some 28 people were reported to have been killed as they emerged from the cave, and one surrendered in the operation.
Radio Free Asia, citing local police, said that 17 people were killed in the raid and of them, seven were women and children.
CNN called Xinjiang's provincial spokesperson for clarification but they declined to comment.
上週的突襲事件
其實報導有很多矛盾。
9月18日流血衝突當天有50個人死亡，超過50人受傷。第一個報導出來的是自由亞洲之聲，是一個由美國政府資助的維吾爾族電台。
根據電台報導，礦坑大部分的工人都是漢人，是這次傷亡的最大宗。
而這個意外只有在11月20日被中國媒體報導過。天山網表示包括5名公安在內，共有16名在煤礦攻擊事件中喪生，還有18人受傷。報導說在經過56天的追緝後，11月12日當局變發現這些嫌犯在礦坑洞穴裡。
中國媒體說這些軍隊像是正在獵捕的老鷹，再丟擲手榴彈和催淚瓦斯都無效的情況下，用火焰彈逼嫌犯出洞。
照片上可以看到全副武裝的公安攀爬在峭壁上，另一個人則有一群牧民幫忙，揮鐵鍬，棍棒或丟叉子等與公安對峙。
官方統計，嫌犯28人都已從洞穴被逼出死亡，尚有一位在逃。
自由之聲則說17位死於緝捕的人之中，有7個是婦孺。
對於此事，CNN致電新疆自治區發言人詢問看法，但他們拒絕評論。
manhunt (n.) 追捕
grenade (n.) 手榴彈
perch (v.) 棲息
herder (n.) 牧民
wield (v.) 揮
spade (n.) 鐵鍬
Are there Uyghur terrorist groups?
In the wake of the Paris attacks, China called for the world to support its own efforts fighting terror in Xinjiang.
"China is also a victim of terrorism, and cracking down on ETIM should become an important part of the international fight against terrorism," Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, according to Reuters.
Beijing has blamed the violence on Islamic militants, led by the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), which the U.S. State Department listed as a terrorist organization in 2002 a year after the September 11 attacks.
But many analysts dispute its characterization as an Al Qaeda or ISIS-style group.
They say that much of the civil unrest inside Xinjiang is carried out by individuals or small groups, rather than an organized militant group.
It's difficult for independent journalists to verify the claims.
The Chinese government tightly controls access to the area. Journalists are closely monitored when in the province, and sometimes are prohibited from accessing the region all together. The same applies for non governmental organizations.
"Violence aimed at terrorizing the population is always utterly deplorable, but it does not shield the government's response from scrutiny. The death toll in China's counterterrorism campaigns is deepening skepticism about Beijing's tactics and goals," said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch.
"If China truly has nothing to hide, then it is past time to allow United Nations experts, independent journalists, diplomats, and other observers free access to the region to examine all such incidents."
維吾爾族真的是恐怖攻擊份子嗎？
在巴黎恐怖攻擊事件後，中國要求全球也支持他們本身對新疆發動的反恐作法。
「中國也是受害者，打擊東土耳其伊斯蘭運動（東伊運，ETIM）應該是國際反恐中重要的一環，」外交部長王毅說，據路透社報導。
北京譴責ETIM的武裝暴力，ETIM是美國國務院自911攻擊事件一年後，2002年表列為恐怖組織。
但滿多分析學家對他跟蓋達及ISIS組織是否相同頗有爭議。
他們認為新疆大部分的民眾動亂是由個人或小群眾所帶領，並非一個經組織化的武裝軍隊。
況且這些事件連獨立記者都很難試探清事實。
中國政府嚴格控制該區，記者若在當地密切觀察時，有時不得其門進入。更不用說那些非政府組織了。
「我們絕對譴責恐怖攻擊暴力，但不應該讓政府開始武裝自己不讓別人靠近。中國這次的反擊舉動將會使大家更懷疑北京當局的政策及目標。」中國人權觀察局主任Richardson說。
「如果中國沒有什麼好瞞的，那就應該讓聯合國學者，獨立記者和其他觀察學家自由進出新疆好好檢視這整起意外。」
journalist (n.) 新聞記者
utterly (adv.) 完全地
deplorable (adj.) 應受譴責的
scrutiny (n.) 仔細檢查
deepen (v.) 使...變深
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