China: Han's prejudices and discriminations towards Uyghur

The July 5 Xinjiang riot has passed over a month and the majority of Chinese netizens are still blaming the West and Rebiya Kadeer for promoting Xinjiang separatist movements. Nevertheless, there are some whispering voices popping up here and there in the Chinese Internet, like this one sentence comment at the BBS of people.com , which suggested that the unrest in Urumqi was a result of long term oppression:

一次一次的被欺压,却没地方说理,当然就要暴力!

There was no place to voice out after being bullied again and again, violence becomes ultimate answer!

The Han's ethnic discrimination towards Uyghurs has been a source of conflict in China long before the July unrest. Searching from the online discussions on Tianya forum, there are many stories about Han's prejudice against Uyghurs. Here is one of the stories:

先就我亲身经历来说说。我在乌鲁木齐上大学时,那时候中央电视台很出名的一档节目——非常6+1,有一期的电话幸运观众是个新疆人,主持人问他最大的梦想是什么?他的回答竟然是:希望到首都北京去住上几天旅馆。他的这个梦想把主持人都弄蒙了,问其原因才知道,原来90年代初的时候他带儿子去北京治病,结果就因为是新疆人,竟然没有一家旅馆敢收留他们的

Let me explain my personal experience. In my university years in Urumqi, there was a popular CCTV programme titled as “Special 6+1”. In one of the episode, the host interviewed a Xinjiang people (translator note: many Han Chinese called Uyghur Xinjiang people) about his wish. His answer was, surprisingly, his answer was simply that he wish to stay in a hostel in Beijing for a few days. The host was stunned and asked for the reason. The interviewee explained his experience back in early 1990s when he brought his son to Beijing for better hospital care. In the trip, they were rejected by all hostels in Beijing merely because they were Xinjiang people.

People's press also has similar experience back in 2006:

2006年圣诞夜,我正好在北京。北京任何一家酒吧都不必在门口挂出“不欢迎新疆人”的牌子。但无论我走到哪家都被门口保安拦下。

In 2006 Christmas Eve, I was in Beijing. Though none of the bars put on notice “No Uyghurs” on the doors, I was checked by the security guards all the time.

Apart from all the everyday life conflicts, many are frustrated by Hans people's misunderstandings and prejudices. Looking at cloud and water flow, yelled out loud on Tianya forum that he is a Xinjiang people to express his anger on such prejudices,

我要大声说我是新疆人…. 新疆是有小偷,可是哪里没有小偷?难道新疆有小偷,就说小偷都是来自新疆么?去做小偷的少数民族很容易被认出来。好么这就将小偷的帐全都算在了新疆人身上。我去过几次内地发现内地的治安远不如新疆。

I want to yell out loud that I am an Uyghur!…. There are thieves in Xinjiang, but thieves are everywhere. Can it be reasonably assumed that all thieves are from Xinjiang? It is of course easier to identify a thief with an ethnic minority outlook. Then you conclude that all thieves are Xinjiang people. In fact I have visited many other places in the mainland and I found that Xinjiang is much safer.

Even the government wants to adjust policy for preserving Uyghur's language and culture, many Han Chinese refuse to support. A recent example is the Central government's plan to invest double amount of funding (USD 121 million) on bilingual kindergartens education in Xinjiang. Again, there are many complaints on such kind of policy favoritism:

Liar without draft was angry about the policy:

为什么其他地方幼儿园严重不足,而政府却不予重视呢?

Neither do other regions have enough kindergartens, why doesn't our government act on that?

Shenqike replied:

会闹的孩子有奶吃啊!~~~其它地方没人闹啊!

Crying babies get the milk! No babies are crying in other regions!

Xwni added,

坏孩子有糖吃.

Bad kids get the candy.

14 comments

Cancel this reply

Join the conversation -> TJ

Authors, please log in »

Guidelines

  • All comments are reviewed by a moderator. Do not submit your comment more than once or it may be identified as spam.
  • Please treat others with respect. Comments containing hate speech, obscenity, and personal attacks will not be approved.