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Xinjiang: China-Eurasia Expo opens under the shadow of Uyghur Muslim separatists
Pakistan President Zardari, who was present at the ceremony inaugurating the first expo set for 1-5 September in Urumqi, said his country is ready to cooperate with Beijing against Muslim extremism. The latter, however, is a pretext to crack down on minority Muslim Uyghurs. China’s main airports are put on high alert.
Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) – China’s Vice Premier Li Keqiang opened the first China-Eurasia Expo in Urumqi, capital of the northwestern province of Xinjiang, which is set to last from 1 to 5 September. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, his Kyrgyz counterpart, Roza Otunbayeva, Azerbaijan's Vice Premier Abid Sharifov, and Kazakhstan's Deputy Prime Minister Aset Isekeshev were also present at the opening ceremony. Chinese authorities have increased security in the country’s airports and tightened controls in Urumqi and across Xinjiang against possible attacks my Muslim Uyghur separatists.
Chinese state media sounded the alarm on the eve of the expo about possible Uyghur attacks. Armed SWAT teams and baton-wielding riot police are patrolling the provincial capital, especially the predominantly Uyghur old part of the city.
Urumqi's Communist Party boss Zhu Hailun warned, "Separatists, religious extremists and terrorists have been plotting to sabotage the expo."
Pakistan President Zardari, who is at the expo to boost economic ties and trade with China, vowed to work with China to fight terrorism.
In recent weeks, China’s leaders warned Islamabad, guilty in their eyes of allowing terrorist training in its territory. Beijing believes that Uyghur extremists come back home to cause trouble or carry out attacks. However, only a small minority of the indigenous population of Xinjiang shares their view, Chinese media say.
Uyghurs, a Turkic Muslim group, are culturally closer to Central Asians and Turks than to China’s ethnic Han majority.
In a meeting with Xinjiang Party boss Zhang Chunxian, Zardari said that Pakistan would work with China in the fight against terrorism. However, China’s fight against extremism has turned into an violent crackdown against an already persecuted minority.
In mid-August, for example, China with Pakistan’s complicity repatriated five ethnic Uyghurs who had crossed into Pakistan.
Early on 9 August, the five suspects were brought to the Benazir Bhutto International Airport where they boarded a flight for Urumqi. The “terrorists” included a woman, Manzokra Mamad, and two children, a girl and a boy, dissident sources said.