Eastern Turkestan Information Bulletin Vol. 5 No. 1

Published by Eastern Turkestan Union in Europe

Eastern Turkestan Information Bulletin Vol. 5 No. 1 (February 1995)

ARRESTS AND EXECUTIONS CONTINUE
The Eastern Turkestani Union in Europe continues to receive reports from Eastern Turkestan describing new incidents of arbitrary arrest, torture and execution at the hands of the Chinese authorities there. Information from various sources suggests that more than 320 Uighur were arrested between January and December, 1994 on political grounds. Most of the arrested Uighurs were said to be students, teachers, intellectuals or religious leaders.
The Uighurs named on the following list have been confirmed as having been arrested, tortured or executed during 1994 accused of organizing illegal demonstrations, distributing leaflets and sending written protests to Chinese authorities. The Uighurs' complaints focused on demands that the practice of sending Chinese settlers to Eastern Turkestan, coercive birth control among Uighurs and nuclear testing in Eastern Turkestan all be stopped, and that priority for jobs be given to Uighurs, and religious freedom and political self determination be allowed.
Except for seventy-year old religious leader Ubeydullah Mollah those arrested were between 22 and 37 years of age. Most received prison sentences of between five and 15 years and are being held in prisons where they were arrested.
It has also been reported that four Uighurs, Mutajip Jan, Mehmet Yunus, Tahir Jan and Idris Omer were executed on March 16, 1994 in the city of Kargalik charged with being "counterrevolutionaries".

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CRIMEAN TARTARS HONOR ISA YUSUF ALPTEKIN
The Crimean Tartar Foundation, at a ceremony in Istanbul, has awarded Eastern Turkestani leader Isa Yusuf Alptekin a "Gratitude Platelet" for his long years of struggle not only on behalf of the cause of Eastern Turkestan, but also the cause of enslaved Turkic peoples throughout the world.
The award was presented by Mustafa Jemiloglu, President of the Crimean Tartar National Assembly, which has its seat in the Crimea.
At the ceremony Jemiloglu said We have gathered here to express our gratitude to two Turkic leaders, namely, Mr. Mustejip Ulkusal, the spiritual leader of the Crimean Tartar movement, and Mr. Isa Yusuf Alptekin, the Eastern Turkestani leader, for their long struggle not only to aid the causes of their own countrymen, but also the cause of the Turkic peoples as a whole. Mr. Ulkusal is also celebrating his 96 birthday today. Mr. Isa Yusuf Alptekin will soon be celebrating his 95th birthday. In the city of Bahchesaray in Crimea, the name of Mr. Mustejip Ulkusal has been given to a street. I am confident that when Eastern Turkestan gains its independence a city in that country will be named Isa Yusuf Alptekin. Let us pray that these two leaders may live long enough to see their dreams realized.
More than 300 hundred guests attended.

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KAZAKHSTAN WANTS NUCLEAR TESTS STOPPED
Kazakhstan, site of hundreds of nuclear blasts in the USSR era, is seeking international support to persuade Beijing to stop testing atomic bombs, at Lop Nor, in Eastern Turkestan.
Activists and officials in Kazakhstan say explosions in Eastern Turkestan also send dangerous fallout across the frontier and they want them stopped. In an interview, Viktor Slavgorodsky, head of the radiation department at the Ecology and Biological Resources Ministry, said, carrying out tests without agreement of your neighbors, ...it is impossible, it is inhuman. The Kazakh government and Kazakhstan as a whole believe it is necessary to stop the tests immediately.
Scientists in Kazakhstan, have been monitoring nuclear tests at Lop Nor, in Eastern Turkestan, some 1,200 kilometers from the border, since the first blast in 1964.
Slavgorodsky said the level of short-lived radionuclides rose briefly after each test and the level of longer-term pollution also went up.
Kazakhstan denounced the last Chinese nuclear test conducted at Lop Nor on October 7, 1994, as threat to health and the environment.
For years, Uighurs living at home and abroad have staged fierce demonstrations with the support of Kazakhs and Kyrgyz, demanding a halt to Chinese nuclear tests in Eastern Turkestan.
Now, Kazakhstan is seeking international support in persuading the Chinese to stop testing atomic bombs in Eastern Turkestan.
Meanwhile, in a statement, China promised Kazakhstan it would never use nuclear weapons against it, stepping up what diplomats called a campaign for a complete ban on nuclear weapons.
The statement went on,China fully understands the desire of Kazakhstan for security assurance. The Chinese government has unconditionally undertaken not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states or nuclear weapon zones. This long-standing principled position also applies to Kazakhstan. The Chinese government urges all other nuclear-weapon states to undertake the same commitment so as to enhance the security of all non-nuclear weapon states, including Kazakhstan.
Despite this assurance, the independent republics of Central Asia are increasingly concerned over China's efforts to upgrade its military capability, its stationing of special armed forces in Eastern Turkestan and transferring millions of Chinese settlers into that country.

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BORDER TRADE A BOON FOR EASTERN TURKESTAN
Cross-border trade between Eastern Turkestan and its eight neighbors reportedly totaled $ 570 million in 1993, up 58 percent on 1992 and eight times as much as in 1991.
In an article published in the Beijing Review, January 23-29 Li Dunghui, Vice Chairman of the so called 'Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region', said a quick and effective way to promote local economic development and help minority nationalities overcome poverty is to encourage prosperous border trade. Xinjiang people are making efforts to build a new Silk Road and regain the glory and prosperity of the past.
Li flailed to explain, however, the reasons why Eastern Turkestan had lost "the glory and prosperity of the past', and why, despite their rich natural resources the people of Eastern Turkestan still live at a bare substance level of 45-50 dollars per person per year.
According to Li, it is necessary to consolidate companies involved in border trade and eliminate those private businesses whose activities create a bad image by dealing in counterfeit goods. The government of the Autonomous Region has cracked down on them and insisted that only large and creditable enterprises be permitted to engage in border trade.
This decision of the Chinese authorities in Eastern Turkestan will certainly affect hundreds of Eastern Turkestanis who are trying to improve their living standard through private business and border trade.

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US STUDY: CHINA HAS 50% CHANCE OF COLLAPSE
China has a 50-50 chance of dissolving after the death of Deng Xiaoping in the same way that the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, says a study conducted for the U.S. Defense Department.
The study conducted by the University of Maryland last summer for the U.S. Defense Department said that China would be up for grabs once Deng passes away and Deng's death would create a political vacuum for both conservatives and reformers to move into, adding that there was a 50-50 chance that the transition would lead to a USSR-style break-up of China.
The study said there was only a 30 percent chance that China would continue along its present course and that a liberal reform scenario, the one that Western powers hoped for, was the least likely.
The author of the report predicted that a collective leadership would follow Deng's demise and would probably not alter Deng's emphasis on economic reform limited political liberalization.
According to the report, whichever scenario prevailed, the future, China would be different from the present China and might challenge U.S. interests. The author warned that the U.S. must stay engaged strategically in Asia: U.S. withdrawal could trigger the following events: A Sino-Japanese arms race, Japan's decision to develop a nuclear weapons capability, Taiwan's decision to declare complete independence from China and an arms race in Southeast Asia.

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DALAI LAMA OPTIMISTIC ON TIBET'S INDEPENDENCE
His Holiness the Dalai Lama predicted that a settlement of Tibet's independence struggle would be possible after the death of Deng Xiaoping. It is only a matter of time. If communism continues to die and if capitalism grows, a settlement of Tibet's bitter dispute will become increasingly likely. In the long run there is a great possibility of change for the better. But for the time being, I do not expect much. Whoever succeeds Deng after he dies will at first carry forward his policies to show the outside world they will continue. When more openness comes into the minds of China's new leaders, there will be a possibility to solve our problem in Tibet with a mutually agreed solution.
Until then, the Dalai Lama said he would continue to promote his country's drive for independence around the world while speaking out against armed struggle. H.H. the Dalai Lama is the common spokesman of the Allied Committee of the Peoples of Eastern Turkestan, Tibet and Inner Mongolia.

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U.S. ANNOUNCES SANCTIONS AGAINST CHINA
The United States has announced sanctions on more the one billion dollars' worth of Chinese imports in retaliation against the piracy of American compact disks and computer software.
U.S. trade representative Micky Kantor said the sanctions would take effect on February 26 if no acceptable agreement was reached to resolve U.S. concerns. Kantor announced the sanctions, the most extensive package of trade reprisals compiled by the United States, after China failed to meet a U.S. -imposed deadline to resume talks on the dispute.
China has vowed to retaliate by imposing sanctions on U.S. chemicals, pharmaceuticals, electronic game players, cigarettes, compact discs and U.S.-made television programs and films.

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RUSSIAN CALLS FOR RE-DRAWING BORDER WITH CHINA
Anatoly Dolgolaptev, deputy speaker of the Russian parliament's upper chamber. the Federation Council, told a news conference in the city of Vladivostok that Russia should not give up Lake Khasan near Russia's border with China
During a bitter ideological rivalry that spanned three decades border skirmishes were frequent along the 1,540 kilometer Sino-Soviet border.
Relations normalized in 1989 after Soviet President Gorbachov' visited Beijing, and in 1991 the USSR and China reached an agreement delineating most of the Sino-Soviet border.
The pact envisaged surrender by the USSR of its claim to certain islands in the Amur river and an area near Lake Khasan south of Vladivostok. The Russian and Chinese foreign ministers confirmed the treaty after the collapse of the USSR, but regional officials in the Russian Far East have since lobbied the Federation Council to abrogate the agreement.
Under more relaxed relations since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian-Chinese trade has flourished. Russia has sold China advanced weaponry and Chinese traders, businessmen and migrants have been flowing into Russia. This trend has alarmed some, however, who fear that the Chinese might soon form a majority in the Russian Far East.
Russian scientist Zhores Medvedev, in the daily newspaper Rabochaya Tribuna, recently wrote that the Russian government was clearly unable to offer effective resistance to the Chinese "peaceful expansion .
Responding to the pressure Moscow began last year requiring visas of Chinese visitors and now limits the number of Chinese workers in the Russian Far East. Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev, however, has assured China that Russia would uphold the Soviet-era border agreement 'with China despite calls from some regional officials to repeal it.

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US REPORT CITES RIGHTS ABUSES IN EASTERN TURKESTAN
An annual report on human rights issued by the U.S State Department has for the first time mentioned Eastern Turkestan in connection with human rights abuses in China. The report concluded that China had made no progress in any major human rights area in the last year.
The report called China an Authoritarian State in which the Communist Party "monopolizes decision-making authority". It said In 1994, there continued to be widespread and well-documented human rights abuses in China, in violation of internationally accepted norms.. and spoke of intolerance of dissent and the inadequacy of legal safeguards for freedoms of speech, association and religion.
The report also criticized Chinese authorities for the detention of perhaps thousands of prisoners of consciences and criticized inadequate accounting of those missing or detained after the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations, crackdowns on journalists, the routine arrest of dissidents during foreign visits, the denial of fair trials, and requiring prisoners to work in labor camps.

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UNPO ENDS ITS DELIBERATIONS
The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) ended its Fourth General Assembly meeting with the establishment of a stronger political framework.
The General Assembly meeting convened in The Hague, Holland, on January 20 and lasted for six days. Its plenary sessions, and workshops focused on diplomacy training, non-violent strategies and conflict prevention. The session was also attended by observers from several countries, international organizations and the press.
In a closed meeting more than 40 member delegations elected a Chairperson, Vice Chairpersons, a General Secretary and new members of the Steering Committee. Erkin Alptekin, an Uighur from Eastern Turkestan was reelected Chairperson. Senator John Nimrod, an ethnic Assurian, and Melilani Trusk, an ethnic Hawaiian, were elected Vice Chairpersons. Dr. Michael van Walt was reelected General Secretary of the UNPO.
The General Assembly also took steps to establish more a more solid organizational basis for the fast-growing UNPO. It also passed a resolutions condemning Chinese atrocities in Eastern Turkestan.
During the meeting UNPO addressed the need for an Urgent Action Council which will be co-chaired by Mr. Rodrigo Carazo former President of Costa Rica and Mr. Lodi Gyari, Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. This council is intended to provide emergency support in crises involving member regions. A Legal Council of international jurists and lawyers is being established to afford members expert legal advice.
The UNPO was founded in the Hague on February 11, 1991 and is intended as an international forum for nations and peoples who would otherwise have no access to international attention. At present UNPO members represent over 150 million people.

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ALLIED COMMITTEE MEMBERS HOLD TALKS
Two member-delegations of the Allied Committee of the Peoples of Eastern Turkestan, Tibet and Inner Mongolia (AC), organized to coordinated efforts on behalf of these peoples, held informal talks during the UNPO's Fourth General Assembly meeting in The Hague. The delegations discussed recent developments in their countries and concrete proposals to further the cause of their peoples.
The meeting was chaired by Tenzin Tethong, Chairman of the Tibetan Government in Exile. Other participants included Lodi Gyari, Special Envoy in Washington of His Holiness the Dalai Lama; Gyaltsen Gyaltag, Representative of H.H. in Europe; Dr. Nawang Rabgyal, Representative of H.H. in the CIS; Erkin Alptekin, Chairman' of the Eastern Turkestan Union in Europe; Kahraman Gojamberdi, Chairman of the Inter-Republic Uighur Association in the Central Asian Republics (IRUA), Samsakov, Mamadinov, representative of IRUA in Uzbekistan: Bazakov, representative of IRUA in Kyrgyzstan, Dolkun Yasin, editor of the Uighur language newspaper Uygur Avazi (Voice of the Uighurs) in Almaty, Kazakhstan; and Arslan Alptekin publisher of the Uighur language newspaper Sharki Turkistan (Eastern Turkestan) in Istanbul, Turkey.

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PRESS NOTES
The Fourth General Assembly session of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization in The Hague was widely reported by Western print and broadcast media. "The World's Wannabe's" was the title of a January 31 article in The San Francisco Chronicle by the paper's staff correspondent in Paris, Frank Vivano. A few excerpts:
They came from five continents to this Dutch city, in one of the most extraordinary gatherings Europe has ever seen... The setting was a gathering of Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), the United Nations of the dispossessed The highest official of the Chechen government to escape through the lines of the Russian army was in The Hague, installed in the . . Promenade Hotel alongside leaders from seven other rebellious regions of the defunct Soviet Union - Abkhazians and Circassians, the Chuvash, the Mari, the Crimean Tartars, the Gagauz and the Ingush. They rubbed shoulders with Tibetans and Turkestanis from China, with Karens from Burma with Kosovan Albanians and Sanjaks from Serbia, with East Timorese, Sumatrans and South Moluccas from Indonesia, with Batwa tribesman of Rwanda, Ogoni from Nigeria The purpose of the conference was to prevent conflicts, to bring the plight of the dispossessed to international attention before it is too late...
The people of Eastern Turkestan are squeezed into a corner, said Erkin AIptekin, the president of the Eastern Turkestan Union in Europe and de facto 'foreign minister' of a Turkic speaking territory in western China that has taken up arms against Beijing 42 times in two centuries.
Our people are forced to choose between enforced assimilation and a moral struggle to defend their cultural identity by heroic resistance, Alptekin said. Few places fit the profile of a new conflict more exactly that Eastern Turkestan. which China calls its province of Xinjiang. Its 7.5 million indigenous people are almost . ..forgotten by the outside world and extremely restless.
Xinjiang/Eastern Turkestan's instability threatens not only China, the world's most populous nation, but... an enormous crescent of Turkic speaking Asia that embraces 120 million people stretching from the grasslands of Mongolia across five former Soviet republics to Turkey itself.
It was Erkin AIptekin, the Eastern Turkestani delegate, who warned of an explosion that could shake the earth to its foundation,' unless immediate steps are taken to mollify the tense situation in Eastern Turkestan Eastern Turkestan's people, the Uighurs, enjoyed independent statehood until 1759, when they were conquered by the Manchu dynasty. Over the next century, they just up against Beijing every two years on average. Estimates of their loses run up to 1.5 million dead and 700,000 refugees.
"The pattern of revolt and repression continued into the 20th century, with an autonomous Eastern Turkestan defying Chinese armies as recently as the 1940's. Since 1984, the province has been rocked by bombings, riots and the imposition of martial law in certain districts.
Our goal is full independence, AIptekin said flatly, dismissing any notion of some autonomous half-state.
AIptekin, is a diplomatic figure, a rebel in an impeccably tailored suit... "If the fight for self-determination is the sole criterion, the Uighurs of Eastern Turkestan have an unassailable case.

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The aim of the Eastern Turkestan Information Bulletin is to disseminate objective current information on the people, culture and civilization of Eastern Turkestan and to provide a forum for discussion on a wide range of topics and complex issues. ETIB is published bi-monthly by the Eastern Turkestani Union in Europe(ETUE), established January 11, 1991 in Munich, Germany. Neither ETIB nor ETUE claim or accept responsibility for views otherwise identified within our pages. We hope that those using information from our publication in published works will be courteous enough to cite its source. All inquiries and contributions should be addressed to Eastern Turkestan Information Bulletin, Asgar Can, Editor, St. Blasien Str. 2, D-80809 Munich, Germany.

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Last updated 06/29/99