Update: According to CNN (H/T to kahraman), the plane was denied permission to land in China. It then returned to Afghanistan, where it safely landed in Kandahar. In the article Brian Naranjo, the spokesperson for the International Security Assistance Force within NATO, states

“There was an aircraft that made a precautionary landing in Kandahar,”

“But there was no hijack and no bomb.”

Whether there was indeed a bomb threat still remains unclear. However, the plane was flying from Kabul to Urumqi (and then to Kandahar), while avoiding Kyrgyzstan’s airspace, which it was denied permission to use.

The last time Xinjiang had an incident involving a an airplane was March 2008, when Xinhua reported that a young Uyghur woman, apparently in the company of an older man and under the direction of a Pakistani national, attempted to bomb an airplane with a soda can full of gasoline in order to sabotage the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.  The fate of the accused girl is still in question, as is the veracity of the state’s narrative of that event.  (For the best blogging on this, see Mutant Palm here and here.)

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.

What you see below is the 新疆總圖 or “General Map of Xinjiang.” This particular version is from the work 欽定新疆識略 Imperially-Commissioned Outline of Xinjiang, produced in 1821 by Song-yun, published again in 1894 as a typeset and annotated edition, and reproduced from that version by lithograph in 1962 in Taiwan. By the magic of modern digital technology, I have arranged the two halves of the map, previously printed conveniently on either side of a single page, into a complete image for your edification and mine.

"General Map of Xinjiang" - Click to enlarge!

The map was made by imperial decree in 1755 and completed four years later along with several other maps of the region. Although the map’s production apparently involved Jesuit missionaries under the leadership of an imperial censor, it does not resemble later maps that the Jesuits produced for the Qing court.

First of all, it’s oriented with south on top, as in older Chinese maps. Check out the place names. Along the top, from left to right, we have… Lop Nor (羅布淖爾, with all of the little circles). Then, in the middle, there’s Khotan (here 和闐), and, above it, a pass to Tibet. Heading down and to the right, we pass through Yarkand (葉爾羌), a place name now used for the nearby town of Qarghiliq, while Yarkand itself is translated as 莎車. You will see the latter name nearby, marking an ancient kingdom recorded in Chinese texts. Then come Yengisar (英吉沙爾) and Kashgar (喀什噶爾), both of which’s names were “corrected” by this text. East of these is Badakhshan and, if you look southeast/down and to the right, you will find Andijan (安集延), which seems to have been contemporary Chinese writers’ main point of reference for the Ferghana Valley and much of Central Asia. Turning down and to the left, we pass through Ush-Turfan, Aksu, and Kucha. West/left of there is Qarashahr, marked here next to Ancient Yanqi (焉耆), as it is known in Chinese today. Crossing the mountains to the north/down, there’s Urumqi, and, to the east/right, Ili! This puts us just over the mountains from Lake Balkhash (巴勒喀什), which is a short ways east across the plains from Tarbaghatai (塔爾巴哈台), now known also as 塔城 and, in Uyghur, Chöchäk. You will notice that, north/down of here, some areas are marked with names of peoples, such as Kazakh (哈薩克) and Khalkha (喀爾喀). Anyway, if you go back to Urumqi and follow the road east/left, you will wander through Turpan (吐魯番), Qumul (哈密), and even Ancient Loulan (古樓蘭) before arriving at Dunhuang (敦煌).

Besides being oriented to south, rather than north, as later maps increasingly were, as well as having mountains that are artistic more than they are accurate, this map also lacks lines of longitude and latitude. Instead, in the Outline, it is preceded by several pages of very tedious explanatory notes detailing distances between the places marked on the map (pp. 169-175).

In any case, for an especially good discussion of mapmaking in the Qing Dynasty, specifically in the context of Xinjiang, I recommend Peter C. Perdue’s China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central Eurasia, pp. 442-257.

“…had no reason to withdraw the film from the festival and she then proceeded to tell me that I had to justify my decision to include the film in the festival.

“No-one reacts well to strident approaches, or to the appearance of being bullied. I don’t think it’s a positive way of behaving,” he added.

He said he told Ms Chen he did not have to justify the film’s inclusion, “then politely hung up”.

This social faux paus on the of the Chinese might add fuel (in the form of public indignation) to the already tense relations between Australia and China. This occurs at a time when China has arrested an Australian businessman on charges of espionage. More details on Australian-Chinese relations can be found in an NPR report from this morning.