Muslim reaction to China unrest mostly muted

Paramilitary police officers patrol as Uighur men walk by in Urumqi, western China's Xinjiang province, Monday, July 13, 2009. More roads reopened and shops unlocked their doors in Urumqi on Monday, but sporadic incidents reflected the underlying tensions in the city in western China where at least 184 people died in recent ethnic unrest. The July 5 riots and subsequent unrest in Urumqi also left 1,680 wounded, and state media have warned that the death toll could rise. Of the more than 900 people still in hospital, 74 have life-threatening wounds, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Eugene Hoshiko / AP Photo

China has poured tens of thousands of troops into the western Xinjiang region over the past few days, imposing tight control on the capital of Urumqi and surrounding areas after ethnic violence left more than 180 people dead and 1,680 wounded last week.

The Uighurs, who number 9 million in Xinjiang, have complained about an influx of Han Chinese and government restrictions on their Muslim religion. They accuse the majority Han community of discrimination and the Communist Party of trying to erase their language and culture.

China is a major trading partner for many Arab countries including Sudan, Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich Gulf nations. It is Jordan's third-largest largest trading partner, following Saudi Arabia and the United States. Jordan also is seeking to attract Chinese investment in projects such as renewable energy, railroads and water desalination.

Iran has been one of the few Muslim countries to speak out on the crackdown. On Sunday, the official IRNA news agency reported that Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki had discussed the ethnic clashes in a phone conversation with his Chinese counterpart and "reflected concerns among Islamic countries."

High-ranking clerics also condemned the crackdown and urged the government to complain to China.

"Silence and indifference toward such oppressions on the people is an unforgivable vice," said Grand Ayatollah Youssef Saanei, a major religious figure who has criticized his own government's violent response to mass protests over the disputed June 12 election. Iran's crackdown on protesters has drawn international condemnation from both Western governments and human rights groups.

The most powerful response from the Muslim world came from Turkey, where some 5,000 people protested in Istanbul on Sunday to denounce the ethnic violence and call on their government to intervene.

Turks share ethnic and cultural bonds with the Turkic-speaking Uighurs. The Chinese violence has sparked almost daily protests in Turkey, mostly outside heavily guarded Chinese diplomatic missions in Istanbul and Ankara where some protesters have burned Chinese flags or China-made goods. Sunday's protest, however, was the largest.

Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has compared the situation in Xinjiang to genocide, the foreign minister has conveyed Turkey's concerns to China, and Turkey's industry minister has urged Turks to stop buying Chinese goods. The government, however, has no plans for an official boycott.

In the Arab world, two extremist Islamic Web sites affiliated with al-Qaida called for killing Han Chinese in the Middle East, noting large communities of ethnic Chinese laborers work in Algeria and Saudi Arabia.

"Chop off their heads at their workplaces or in their homes to tell them that the time of enslaving Muslims has gone," read one posting.

In the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, Foreign Ministry official Ahmed Youssef said his Islamic militant movement said the unrest would harm China's relations with the Muslim world.

"We hope that the Chinese government improves its relations with the Muslims of the Xinjiang region, and not to harm those relations by harming the Uighurs," he said.