Woman China blames for violence says talks would be hard to arrange but welcome
By APSaturday, July 11, 2009
Woman China blames for violence wants dialogue
WASHINGTON — The woman Chinese authorities blame for violent unrest in western China’s Xinjiang (shihn-jahng) region is asking for outside intervention to create a dialogue between her ethnic Uighurs (WEE-gers) and Chinese authorities.
In an interview with AP Television, Rebiya Kadeer says bad blood caused by Chinese mistreatment and suspicion of its Uighur minority has created a situation that “doesn’t come to the negotiating table that easily.”
Nevertheless, Kadeer says, the Uighurs still want a dialogue with the Chinese government for a peaceful settlement.
She says China’s casualty tolls for the unrest that began last weekend greatly understated the number of Uighurs killed.
Kadeer was interviewed Friday through an interpreter before China issued its latest casualty figures: 137 ethnic Han Chinese and 46 Uighurs.
