XINJIANG: CONTACT SAYS DEMONSTRATION, ARRESTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L BEIJING 007173

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2032
TAGS: PTER OREP CASC PGOV KIRF PK KG AF KZ CH TI
UZ, TU, GM
SUBJECT: XINJIANG: CONTACT SAYS DEMONSTRATION, ARRESTS
HIGHLIGHT SPREAD OF HIZB UT-TAHRIR INTO NORTHERN XINJIANG

REF: A. BEIJING 6233

B. 06 BEIJING 11754

C. FBIS/OSC CPP20020708000111

D. FBIS/OSC CPP20020705000143

Classified By: Deputy Political Section Chief Ben Moeling. Reasons 1.4
(b/d).


1. (C) Summary: A three-day protest in Xinjiang in September
highlighted the presence in China of Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami
(the Islamic Party of Liberation),according to a
well-connected Muslim contact. The protest was especially
significant because it occurred in the more ethnically Han
northern Xinjiang, not far from Xinjiang's capital of Urumqi,
and because it had an effect on food prices. At least one
overseas Uighur group disputes the existence of Hizb
ut-Tahrir in China and claims Chinese authorities use it as a
pretext to persecute Uighurs. End Summary.


2. (C) A three-day protest (kangyi) on September 9-11 in the
city of Turpan in northern Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region
(XUAR) ended with the arrest of an unknown number of
protesters, who are suspected of involvement with Hizb
ut-Tahrir al-Islami (Islamic Party of Liberation). Ehmetjan
Hesen (strictly protect),member of the XUAR People's
Political Consultative Conference (PPCC),standing committee
member of the Xinjiang Islamic Association and professor at
the official training center for Xinjiang imams, told Poloff
that he had seen an internal (neibu) Government report
describing the September incident. According to Hesen's
summary of the report, the son of a manager of a major
slaughterhouse in Turpan was arrested under suspicion of Hizb
ut-Tahrir membership. The manager, allegedly the leader of a
Hizb ut-Tahrir cell in Turpan, organized with other Hizb
ut-Tahrir members to close his slaughterhouse business in
protest of his son's arrest. The closure had enough of an
effect on the local food supply to send meat prices soaring
for three days and ended with the Government arresting the
protesters, Hesen said.


3. (C) Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences terrorism expert
Ma Pinyan told Poloff that Hizb ut-Tahrir's influence is on
the rise in the predominantly Uighur southern Xinjiang. He
emphasized the great challenge that such "radical" groups
pose to the Government (refs A, B). Hesen said the Turpan
incident highlights the spread of Hizb ut-Tahrir into
northern Xinjiang, a traditionally Uighur area that has seen
its ethnic balance tilted by a significant influx of Han
Chinese. According to official statistics, 70.8 percent of
Turpan's population is Uighur, but Hesen noted that reports
also llege the discovery of Hizb ut-Tahrir activity n the
northern Xinjiang city of Hami (called "Qomul" in Uighur),
where Uighurs constitute only 22 percent of the population.
(Note: Founded in Jerusalem in 1953, Hizb ut-Tahrir seeks to
create a unified Islamic state.) Hesen said the organization
is a threat to the Chinese Government because it attempts to
use religion to accomplish political goals.


4. (C) This is not the first report of Hizb ut-Tahrir
infiltration into northern Xinjiang. A Xinjiang news report
from May 2002 claims Hizb ut-Tahrir had at that time spread
to ten prefectures and cities, including northern Xinjiang's
Yili, Urumqi and Tacheng (ref C). A Hami City news site
boasts of the arrest of two suspected Hizb ut-Tahrir members
in 2005 and, more recently, in February 2007 Hami Party
Secretary Guo Lianshan called on government departments to

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"strike hard" against the "religious extremist group" Hizb
ut-Tahrir.


5. (C) COMMENT: An incident the size of the one described by
Hesen, if truly caused by Hizb ut-Tahrir followers, would be
of serious concern to the Government because it would signify
both a bold challenge to a Xinjiang municipal government and
the growth of Hizb ut-Tahrir across Xinjiang. (NOTE: Hizb
ut-Tahrir's existence in Xinjiang is contested by at least
one overseas Uighur group, which accuses China of creating
the threat as an excuse to persecute religious persons and
make "groundless" arrests (ref D).)
RANDT