ETHNIC HAN URUMQI RESIDENTS PROTEST "SYRINGE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 BEIJING 002555 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/04/2029 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PROP CH SUBJECT: ETHNIC HAN URUMQI RESIDENTS PROTEST "SYRINGE ATTACKS," DEMAND PROVINCIAL PARTY OFFICIAL'S RESIGNATION REF: BEIJING 2183 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Aubrey Carlson. Reasons 1.4 (b),(d). SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) Security forces locked down central Urumqi late September 3 in the wake of protests by as many as "tens of thousands" of ethnic Han demonstrators, but failed to prevent smaller protests from breaking out September 4. The official PRC Xinhua News Agency said the protesters on September 3 had numbered in the "several tens of thousands." Most businesses and schools were closed September 4, and authorities were urging residents to remain indoors. In Urumqi, People's Armed Police blocked the downtown area to traffic. On September 4, PolOffs witnessed groups of several hundred Han residents gathering in the streets and observed two Han being arrested after confronting police. According to one Han contact, September 3 demonstrators had focused their anger on Xinjiang Party Secretary Wang Lequan, and many had shouted slogans for Wang to step down to take responsibility for his failure to restrain anti-Han violence by Uighurs. PAP troops, our contact said, deployed in force near the South Gate (Nanmen) area to prevent Han protesters from entering Uighur neighborhoods. Contacts said the city's Han community remained angry and frightened by rumors of continued random attacks by Uighur assailants armed with tainted syringes, a story spread across the front pages of China's newspapers. China's official media tried to downplay the ethnic dimensions of the incident, emphasizing that members of several ethnic groups were among the stabbing victims. PolOff observed that the Rebiya Kadeer Trade Tower was unoccupied and surrounded by fencing. Asked about the Rebiya Tower, a Xinjiang FAO Deputy Director General acknowledged that the building had been closed but said the provincial government "still has not decided whether or not to tear it down." End Summary. Downtown Urumqi Locked Down (Again) -------------- ¶2. (C) PolOffs arrived in Urumqi at approximately 1:30 in the morning September 4. Riding in from the airport, it appeared that police roadblocks prevented all vehicular access to the downtown area, and PolOffs were forced to walk 15 minutes to their hotel near People's Square. The security presence PolOffs witnessed in Urumqi September 4 rivaled that seen in the days following the July 5 riot. Streets in downtown Urumqi were devoid of traffic. Up to 100 People's Armed Police (PAP) troops in riot gear were standing guard at downtown intersections, many of which were blocked with metal barricades. Jiefang South Road leading into the Uighur quarter was completely blocked to traffic and pedestrians. PolOffs heard and saw helicopters over the city. Shops and Schools Closed -------------- ¶3. (C) Most businesses in Urumqi were closed September 4, though some street stalls and food markets remained open. Urumqi officials called on residents to remain in their homes September 4, and all schools were closed. Despite official urging to remain indoors, by lunchtime PolOffs witnessed Han Urumqi residents in the streets in the Nanmen area, massing in groups of "hundreds," and PolOffs observed two people (Han, by appearance) being arrested. PolOffs witnessed Han demonstrators jeering the police when the two were taken away. Demonstrators were generally unwilling to engage PolOffs in conversation, but one Han bystander, when asked the reason for the demonstration, said that Han were angry because the police were "protecting minorities." ¶4. (C) PolOffs, along with other pedestrians, were asked to show identification multiple times September 4, but their movements were not restricted. When PolOffs attempted to engage a passerby in conversation, a woman in civilian clothes immediately interrupted and told them that they were not allowed to "speak to anyone or take pictures of anything." After that incident, PolOffs were conspicuously followed throughout the day by what appeared to be plainclothes security personnel. Xinjiang Party Secretary Focus of Public Anger -------------- - BEIJING 00002555 002 OF 004 ¶5. (C) Urumqi resident Zhang Jian (protect) told PolOff by phone the evening of September 3 that dissatisfaction with Xinjiang Party Secretary Wang Lequan had been the main theme of the demonstrations. Throughout the day, Zhang said, protesters had shouted slogans calling for Wang to step down. PAP troops, he reported, had set up several barriers near Urumqi's South Gate (Nanmen) in the afternoon to prevent the Han protesters from moving south along Jiefang South Road into the Uighur quarter of the city. Zhang said Han residents of the city were angry and scared in response to "random syringe attacks by Uighurs." A Beijing-based contact, who grew up in Urumqi and was in telephone contact with Han relatives there throughout the day September 3, said rumors were swirling that the needles were contaminated with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Rumors of Han-on-Uighur Assaults -------------- ¶6. (C) Several Uighurs told PolOffs September 4 that Han mobs had entered Uighur neighborhoods the previous day and had beaten an unknown number of Uighurs. These residents claimed that several Uighur shops had been smashed. (Note: We have no independent information verifying these incidents. PolOffs did not see evidence of smashed Uighur shops, and we have not seen credible media reports of Han attacks on Uighurs.) Media Glosses Over Ethnic Tensions -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Chinese-language domestic media downplayed news of renewed demonstrations in Urumqi, but English-language newspapers blared the syringe-attack story in front-page headlines. The Beijing News (Xinjing Bao) buried the Urumqi protest on the bottom of page six. Most newspapers merely reprinted Xinhua News Agency releases. Xinhua News Agency's Chinese-language stories mentioned neither the ethnic makeup of the demonstrators nor that of the 21 reportedly detained under suspicion of carrying out syringe attacks. In an apparent effort to gloss over the ethnic tensions, Xinhua's initial story about the needle assaults emphasized that members of several different ethnic groups were among the victims. An English-language Xinhua story also made a point of noting that Uighurs had joined the September 3 demonstrations to condemn the needle attacks. Xinhua: Stabbing of Child Started Protests -------------- ¶8. (C) According to Xinhua accounts, the September 3 demonstrations started at 10:30 am at a wholesale farmers' market when a crowd surrounded and captured a man suspected of stabbing a five-year-old girl. Eventually, the news agency reported, "several tens of thousands" of people joined in the demonstrations, which were concentrated in People's Square (in front of the Xinjiang Party Committee compound), Nanhu Square (outside the Urumqi city government),and South Gate (which is on the border between the main Han and Uighur sections of Urumqi). Xinhua quoted health officials as saying that 476 people had sought treatment for needle stabbings, with 89 of those showing needle marks. A Xinhua release said 21 people had been detained in relation to syringe attacks. During Trade Fair Visit, EmbOffs Hear of Syringe Attacks -------------- -------------- ¶9. (C) EconOff and ConOff, who traveled August 31-September 3 to Urumqi to attend the Urumqi Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Fair at the invitation of the Xinjiang Provincial Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) and who departed Urumqi before the outbreak of demonstrations September 3, met with FAO officials and had informal conversations with trade fair participants and local residents. During the visit, three AmCit residents of Urumqi told EmbOff separately that they had heard rumors of the syringe attacks targeting Han children, including one rumor that the needles were "tainted with the AIDS virus." One AmCit reported that he received a text message September 2 reporting the possibility of syringe attacks on crowded public transportation. A Han vice-principal of a school in Changji, a predominantly Han city north of Urumqi, told EmbOff that she had heard that Rebiya Kadeer was behind the syringe attacks. Xinjiang FAO officials advised foreign officials attending the trade fair BEIJING 00002555 003 OF 004 not to take public buses. The rumors added to ethnic tensions between Han and Uighur residents of Urumqi. A Han taxi driver became visibly upset when EmbOffs asked to go to the Uighur district and spent most of the 30-minute ride angrily cursing Uighurs for "killing innocent Han and deceiving foreigners." He also complained about the local government's slow response to the July 5 riots. Uighur Anger over Arrests, Closing of Rebiya Trade Tower -------------- -------------- ¶10. (C) Dilidaer Aiziz (strictly protect),a Uighur businesswoman and senior researcher at the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, told EmbOff September 3 that she had visited Uighurs in jail in Urumqi August 12 and had seen evidence that some prisoners had been abused. She said she was worried about her own safety and the safety of her two children, commenting that many prominent Uighurs had encountered problems with the authorities since July 5. A Uighur shopkeeper who works near the scene of the July 5 riots told EmbOffs that the government's "failure to investigate the June attack on Uighur workers" at the Guangdong province factory had angered many of the Uighur residents of Urumqi. He said their anger and fear had "only grown because of the arrest of so many Uighurs" following the riots and the closing of the Rebiya Trade Tower, which left hundreds of Uighurs "out of work and unable to support their families." He expressed concern about his own safety, citing the randomness and frequency of the arrests. Security Tight at Trade Fair and in Uighur Neighborhoods -------------- -------------- ¶11. (C) All venues affiliated with the trade fair, including the Sheraton Hotel, Mingyuan Hotel and the International Exhibition Center, were heavily guarded by large numbers of PAP and Special Police (tejing). Teams of five armed PAP wearing military fatigues were stationed on raised platforms throughout the city, particularly in the Uighur districts. (Note: The "five-on-a-box squads" have been constant since the July 5 riots.) EmbOffs also observed troop transport trucks carrying PAP units in fatigues patrolling the streets throughout the day. An AmCit resident of Urumqi reported that police were stopping and checking cars at roadblocks near his home on Fuxing Road. Officials Offer Different Explanations of Rebiya Building -------------- -------------- ¶12. (C) On September 4, PolOff observed that the Rebiya Kadeer Trade Tower was unoccupied and surrounded by fencing. Asked about the Rebiya Tower by EmbOff, Xinjiang FAO Deputy Director General Ali Abdulhamit acknowledged that the building had been closed but said the provincial government "still has not decided whether or not to tear it down." Abdulhamit, an ethnic Uighur, was visibly uncomfortable discussing the subject and declined to offer further details. However, a FAO staffer told EmbOff that the building would be torn down because of its old age and poor condition and possibly replaced with a flower garden. Aiziz, the CPPCC researcher, said the building would be torn down, along with another building in the area where Rebiya Kadeer's sons were living. She claimed that at least 700 Uighurs who worked inside the building were still unable to enter the building to collect their goods. Restrictions on Access to Information Hurts Businesses -------------- -------------- ¶13. (C) Authorities continue to block access to Internet, email, text messaging and international phone calls in Urumqi. A number of Xinjiang businesspeople at the trade fair complained about the difficulty of conducting business without Internet access and email. Companies that receive their orders via the Internet have lost business or been forced to find expensive alternatives, such as dialing up to modems in Beijing or other large cities. One AmCit told EmbOff that he had to travel frequently to Lanzhou, capital of neighboring Gansu province, to perform business-related Internet transactions. Russian and Kazakh trade officials attending the trade fair told EmbOffs that some trade deals with Xinjiang companies had been put on hold because of the difficulties with communication. Business Is Slow at the Uighur Bazaar BEIJING 00002555 004 OF 004 -------------- ¶14. (C) Urumqi merchants at "Dabazha," a large Uighur market at Erdaoqiao that caters to tourists, told EmbOffs that they had suffered losses for the last two years. They reported that the majority of their annual sales were made during the busy tourist season of June through September. One stall owner in the market reported that few tourists had visited Urumqi in the lead-up to the 2008 Olympics and even fewer had visited following the July 5 violence. She said that since July 5, the authorities had required the market to close two hours earlier than normal, further cutting into merchants' profits. (Note: All of China uses a single time zone, despite being some 3,000 miles east to west. Uighur merchants near the Bazaar told visiting PolOff in August that the early closing times currently in effect conformed to the official Beijing time but not the commonly used unofficial Uighur time, which is two hours later and reflects geographic reality. Merchants acknowledged that the early closing times had existed on the books for "several years at least" but complained that they had only been enforced since July 5.) Some Uighur business owners reported that they "no longer feel comfortable going out at night." HUNTSMAN