China targets exiled ethnic leader with demolitions

Published on Tuesday 8 September 2009 22:26

BEIJING has ordered the demolition of properties belonging to the family of Rebiya Kadeer, the exiled millionaire leader of China's Uighur Muslim minority.

State media claimed the properties, in the city of Urumqi which has recently seen renewed ethnic violence between Uighurs and ethnic Han Chinese, were being demolished due to structural safety concerns.

However, it is almost certain a wider campaign of persecution against Kadeer, who now lives in the US, is under way.

Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang region, has been struggling to return to order this week after days of panic and protests over claims that Uighurs used syringes to attack ethnic Han Chinese.

The buildings to be torn down include the Akida Trade Centre, with more than 500 Uighur shops on four floors, owned by the Akida Industry and Trade Company founded by Kadeer. More than 30 members of Kadeer's family, including siblings, children and grandchildren, had been living on upper floors of the building.

The Akida company building and the Tuanjie, or Unity, theatre would also be torn down, state news agency Xinhua said. Those properties were also owned by Kadeer and her family.

China has repeatedly accused Kadeer, once a successful businesswoman, of triggering the deadly July unrest in the strategic and energy-rich north-western region of Xinjiang.

At least two of Kadeer's sons who are still in China are in jail, while a daughter is under house arrest. Her oldest son manages her business interests in China.

The government has cast the alleged syringe attacks as a separatist plot by Uighurs, who call Xinjiang their homeland. Many Uighurs resent government controls on their religion and culture, as well as the growing presence of ethnic Han Chinese.

Chinese authorities also yesterday announced tightening controls over the sale of dangerous chemicals in Xinjiang in an effort to improve public safety.

The Xinhua report did not list the restricted chemicals by name, although the order appeared directed at controlling caustic or potentially explosive substances that could be used in terrorist attacks.

Xinjiang's public security department said police received 77 reports of new needle attacks between 5pm on Sunday and 5pm on Monday in Urumqi. Previously, about 530 people had reported attacks, but only about 100 showed physical signs such as scratches or puncture wounds.

Four more suspects have been charged over the syringe attacks. This follows four earlier indictments in the scare.

The latest suspects indicated "gravely disturbed social order with serious consequences, and the facts of the crime are clear and evidence is solid", prosecutors said.

Their report did not give the ethnicity of the suspects, but their names left little doubt they are Uighurs.

State news reports said prosecutors in Urumqi had approved indictments against Abdurusul Abdukdale and three alleged accomplices accused of jabbing a woman in the neck with a syringe last Thursday.

The announcement appeared to be another step in government efforts to restore its authority in Urumqi.

Some Han Chinese residents of Urumqi said they were still not satisfied. "I felt the government should have been able to control the situation very well. But in reality the situation is not under control," said one Urumqi resident, who gave only his surname, Feng.