We will let the videos speak for themselves:

In the Chinese version but omitted from the English, the family members are asked whether Xinjiang has ethnic unity. Rebiya’s daughter, in particular, spoke fondly of her education in a multiethnic school. “There was never any conflict,” she recalls. “Han, Uyghur, Kazakh, Tatar, Uzbek, Kyrgiz: we were one big family.” (at 8:20)

Also of note, Rebiya’s son, interviewed in a Xinjiang prison where he is serving time for tax evasion, put some blame on Voice of America and Radio Free Asia.

In May 2005, Human Rights Watch reported “a politically motivated crackdown against the family and associates of Rebiya Kadeer,” who served five years of an eight year term for revealing state secrets and who currently heads the World Uyghur Congress. One targeted family member, son Ablikim, was arrested along with Ms. Kadeer in 1999 and sentenced to a two year term of reeducation through labor. The 2005 HRW report states that Ablikim evaded later efforts by the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau to arrest him, but that police had “beaten and detained several of her family’s associates.”

In August 2005, Radio Free Asia reported that a special police unit had been established to monitor Ms. Kadeer’s connections and business interests in Xinjiang. The RFA report states that an officer with the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau confirmed the new unit, known as “Number 307 Office.”

An April 2006 article in Radio Free Asia reported that sons Kahar Abdureyim, Ablikim Abdureyim, and Alim Abdureyim were arrested in Xinjiang. Kahar is reportedly one of 12 individuals who signed the July 24, 2009 letter reproaching Ms. Kadeer for involvement in “separatism.”

In June 2006, police pressure on Ms. Kadeer’s family spiked sharply, according to a report by the Uyghur American Association. Son Kahar was charged with tax evasion; Ablikim Abdurehim was charged with subversion of state power; Alim Abdurehim was charged with tax evasion and splitting the state; and Ms. Kadeer’s daughter Roxingul Abdurehim and brother Memet Kadeer were placed under house arrest for suspicion of security and economic crimes. (More info here.)

A November 2006 press release by Xinhua announced that two of Ms. Kadeer’s sons, Alim and Kahar, were sentenced for tax evasion. Alim received a seven year sentence and RMB 500,000 fine for evading just over RMB 200,000 in taxes. Kahar was convicted of evading RMB 2.5 million, roughly 12.5 times more than Alim, but was not sentenced to prison. The Xinhua report stated that Kahar was “exempted from jail” and imposed (only) a RMB 100,000 fine. Kahar is reportedly a signatory of the July 24, 2009 letter to Ms. Kadeer.

In April 2007, son Ablikim received nine years imprisonment and three years deprivation of political rights for “instigating and engaging in secessionist activities,” according to a press release by the Uyghur American Association.

This sequence of events culminated most recently in a handwritten letter, reported on The New Dominion here, by 12 members of Ms. Kadeer’s family. At least three signatories have been the subject of police pressure. The extent to which pressure has been exerted on the remaining nine is uncertain at present.

Here is the letter in full, translated and released by Xinhua:

Dear mother,

This letter is written by your son Khahar and daughter Roxingul, together with your younger brother Memet Kadeer.

You once were the richest person in Xinjiang just because you were granted a lot of business opportunities and convenience by the Communist Party of China and the Government. But, despite repeated leniency of the Party and the Government, you ended up in prison under other people’s enticement. You were allowed to go to the United States thanks to, once again, our government’s leniency. You pledged to our government not to participate in any separatist activity before you departed for the United States. You broke your words anyway.

Mother! We all long for a stable life. In Xinjiang, which is like a big family to people of different ethnic groups, none of us has ever experienced a violent incident as cruel as what happened on July 5 (in Urumqi). Because of you, so many innocent people lost their lives in Urumqi on July 5, and so many houses, shops and vehicles were burnt or damaged. The harmony and unity among ethnic groups were undermined. Why does this happen?

Xinjiang is a happy home to the people of various ethnic groups. It is impossible for anyone to simply destroy it, nor will the people forgive anyone who damages their homes. Mother, despite so many things you have done, the Government treats us very nicely. We are often told, “Your mother is responsible for things she did. It has nothing to do with you.”

Because you went to the United States immediately after you were released on parole, you have no idea how much Xinjiang has changed. People are living a good life here. There are no difference between ethnic groups so long as you’re willing to work hard. There are many Uygur millionaires and countless new buildings in Urumqi, and Uygur people enjoy various preferential policies from the government. Isn’t this the result of good policy of the Government?

No one wants this happy home destroyed. Please think about the happiness of us and your grandchildren. Don’t destroy the stable and happy life in Xinjiang. Don’t follow the provocation from some people in other countries. We still miss the mother who cared about us before going to jail. The last thing we want is that our mother is condemned by the people of all ethnic groups.

Khahar (son of Rebiya Kadeer)

Memet (younger brother of Rebiya Kadeer)

Roxingul (daughter of Rebiya Kadeer)

Kheser Hapiz (son-in-law of Rebiya Kadeer)

Kadilya Kheser (granddaughter of Rebiya Kadeer)

Rizya Kadeer (adopted daughter of Rebiya Kadeer’s daughter)

Zukhila Kadeer (older sister of Rebiya Kadeer)

Aydida Khahar (granddaughter of Rebiya Kadeer)

Aygul (daughter-in-law of Rebiya Kadeer)

Dildar Khahar (granddaughter of Rebiya Kadeer)

Zulpkhar (grandson of Rebiya Kadeer)

Sarda (grandson of Rebiya Kadeer)

It appears the Chinese media had full length coverage prepared immediately upon release of the letter – none of which appears to question the authenticity (real signatures?) or validity (coerced signatures?) of the letter. Below are some links to early coverage by Chinese media.

Listen to the Calls of Your Children

Xinjiang Officials Rebut Foreign Media Claims that the Kadeer Family Letters are Fake

“We Want to Live in Peace, Too”

Dissatisfaction with Her Participation in Separatism

Here is an image of the handwritten letters posted on Huanqiu.com:

This appears to be Urumqi — there is a red banner inside the mosque with Chinese characters. As for the scene outside with the men getting shot, there appears to be China Telecom advertising style signage on the side of the road, Chinese character banners, and the ubiquitous white barrier that separates the roads.

More analysis to come.

Not renowned for supporting independence movements in the main, the Junshi.cn blogger community has taken to classic freedom fighter rhetoric following a chain of three recent events: unrest in Xinjiang, the response from Turkey, and recent statements in the United States Congress deeming the death of 1.5 million Armenians in Turkey (then the Ottoman Empire) from 1915-1923 as “genocide.” Chinese bloggers have taken up the US endorsed label and run with it. How, many bloggers have asked, can Turkey accuse China of genocide, when America has accused Turkey of the same? More to the point, many have taken issue with Turkey’s criticism, given the status of Kurds in present day Turkey. (To be clear, these are positions taken by bloggers. These are not meant to be read as the views of this author.)

One article in particular appears to have stoked the flames. The piece, which details US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s July 10 remarks in which she called the Armenian killings a “genocide,” gave bloggers just the ammunition needed to return PM Erdogan’s verbal fire. Here are some noteworthy (e.g., not laced with profanity, as was often the case) comments:

支持美国对土耳其奥斯曼帝国时期造成150万亚美尼亚人死亡的事件定性为“种族屠杀”。 [Support America's definition of the Ottoman Turk Empire bringing about the death of 1.5 million Armenians as "genocide."]

惨无人道的大屠杀，土耳其你们真是残忍，你们以前屠杀亚美利亚人，现在屠杀库尔德人，你们应该从地球上消失，中国人支持库尔德人建立自己的国家 [Inhumane massacre. Turkey, you are truly cruel. Now, the Kurds are the ones being massacred. You should be wiped off the planet. China supports the creation of an independent Kurdish country.]

So, it looks like we have a winner in the annual “What Country do Chinese Bloggers Hate Most?” competition. 2009 winner: Turkey! France, here’s hoping you enjoyed the honor while it lasted.

UPDATE: Looks like Chinese hackers hit the website for Turkey’s Embassy. (CLICK HERE — in Chinese)

杀… 杀… 杀. [kill... kill... kill.]

Another offers another angle on a similar theme:

必须严杀杀杀杀杀杀 [must severely kill kill kill kill kill kill]

Says another, paraphrased:

If the security forces don’t wipe them out, I’ll get my black society [mob] friends together, travel to Xinjiang and wipe them out on our own.

We can call this Chinese Harmony 2.0: harmony with Xinjiang characteristics.

A recent blog posting on Chinamil.cn — a blog network of the Chinese military community, by the Chinese military community, for the Chinese military community — asks, “What should China do about the East Turkistan problem?” It took a few days for the censor gods to begin permitting discussion of the issue, which was notably not phrased in ethnic language (e.g., it is not a “Uyghur” problem, only an “Xinjiang” problem). But once taken up, the issue has garnered a huge readership and stirred up reams of emotional comments.

There has been far more blog activity on the issue over at Junshi.cn, a similar forum for blogging national security and military topics. An interesting post (available here) covers a recent demonstration by supporters of the World Uyghur Congress in Canada, where some ethnic Chinese staged what appears to have been a calm and thoughtful counter-protest. The images are worth looking at; these are the images China is permitting its citizens to see. They include a young ethnically Chinese man with a homemade sign, pleading for peace in Xinjiang — reads his sign: the unrest was caused by “a minority of people” and is not a true ethnic clash. Also, there appears to be a guy with a Taiwan flag on his arm participating in the counter-protest (in the last picture). Coverage of the Canada counter-protest, which was described in the post as “Chinese abroad voicing their anger,” came with some fun digitally enhanced images. I will leave it to more imaginative minds than mine to interpret this one:

Exactly which contagion is he concerned about?

Worth noting, at least on Junshi.cn, there appears to be more interest in what might be called old-school military issues than in Xinjiang and counterterrorism issues — click here to see a list of recent blog postings on Junshi.cn and reader traffic data. More people continue to read blog postings about Taiwan issues and the American military than Xinjiang. Question going forward: Will terrorism take on a more central position in Chinese military debate, or will Taiwan continue to overwhelmingly define the dialogue?

Not to be outdone, ChinaDaily quickly put out a piece — in English and primarily for Western consumption — announcing support from Britain, the United States and Turkey for the Chinese government response to the unrest. The Tibetan model seems largely to have been to take on conflicting foreign media accounts by pointing out perceived errors in reporting and raising accusations of bias. It looks like a new Xinjiang model has emerged: simply beat the Western journalists to the press (then point out errors and claim bias).

• Pictures of the events have appeared almost as they occur: pictures here (caution: graphic images).
• A press conference was held and foreign journalists were given the chance to ask questions (who knew a press conference would be such a photo-op?): pictures of press conference here.

It remains to be seen just how much access journalists are truly getting in cities other than Urumqi. The Beijing Olympics gave the Chinese government cause to rethink its approach to media relations during mass events. Has the government had a change of heart, however slight? Hopefully, but doubtfully. Regardless, at least there is an acknowledgement that journalistic access should be the default and restrictions should be the exception. We will leave you with excerpts from a curiously self-aware article about the noteworthiness of the Chinese media response, written by, well, the Chinese media:

More than 60 overseas media have sent journalists to Urumqi, capital of northwest China’s Xinjiang region, after a riot broke out in the city Sunday, leaving 156 people dead and 1,080 others injured.

. . .

“We disclosed information shortly after the incident. We welcome domestic and overseas journalists to come and see what happened,” Hou Hanmin, deputy head of the publicity department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Xinjiang regional committee, said Tuesday.

. . .

Urumqi authorities have opened a news center, equipped with more than 50 computers with Internet access, to both Chinese and foreign journalists since Monday afternoon.

UPDATE: An article released today by AFP echoes and follows up nicely on this posting. View the AFP article here.

UPDATE 2: Rebecca MacKinnon now has a piece continuing this line of analysis. Her rendition can be found here. As usual, she’s quite brilliant.