The Consequences of Nuclear Tests in Eastern Turkestan

This document was reproduced by permission from the Eastern Turkestan Union in Europe
The Consequences of Nuclear Tests in Eastern Turkestan
China's nuclear tests in Eastern Turkestan for more than three decades have produced an ecological disaster, not only endangering human life but also polluting drinking water, food supplies and affecting millions of animals throughout the country.
There are no official figures of the nuclear victims in Eastern Turkestan. But it has been reported that more than 200,000 people in Eastern Turkestan have died because of nuclear fallout.
Radioactive fallout from the nuclear testing site at Lop Nor is causing an increase in human cancer. It has been reported that ten per cent of the population are ill with cancer in that country. Before the nuclear tests the rate of cancer mortality in Eastern Turkestan was rather low. According to the reports between 1975 and 1985 the rate of leukemia increased 7 times in comparison with the previous ten years. The rate of mortality from oesophagos cancer is 7-8 times higher than that of the rest of China. Almost 40 percent of adults suffer from various forms of nervous disorder while 70 percent of women have pathology which provoke complications during pregnancy and birth. Seventy percent of women suffer from vaginal cancer. And 85 percent of the population suffer from leucopenia.
As a result, babies with horrible deformities are born, for example, two-headed, without kidneys, mentally retarded, and even mutants who cannot be recognized as human beings.
It has also been reported that during February and March 1987, almost 800 Uighurs died in the cities of Lop, Charkalik, Cherchen, Keriya, Chira and Hoten of an unidentified disease. The same kind of deaths have been reported in other parts of Eastern Turkestan. The World Health Organization said in a report released in 1988, that 3,961 people died in the cities of Hoten, Yarkent and Kashgar of an unknown disease. According to the reports in July and August, 1990, in the surroundings of Kashgar over 5,000 youth's arms and feet were paralyzed and lost their eyesight. 160 kids born in the city of Chatan in August 1991, had cataracts in their eyes.
Most importantly, the polluted districts bordering the nuclear test site did not even receive elementary medical treatment the report said. Doctors rushed to the areas to check the victims were forced lie to the people about their deadly illness. During the more than 30 years of nuclear testing in Eastern Turkestan, no medical investigations were carried out. Moreover, at the beginning of the nuclear tests, the people living in the immediate areas of Lop Nor were never evacuated. In later stages, when they were evacuated, they were returned only after a few days to the polluted areas. Animals were never evacuated. Those who came back ate their meat and drank their milk.
The peaceful demonstrations of the peoples of Eastern Turkestan living at home and abroad demanding the closure of the nuclear testing site have so far received no results.