Uighurs Rally In Central Asia

The story of China's crackdown on their Uighur minority might have already faded from the Western press, but the story's still big in Central Asia. This weekend as many as 5,000 Uighurs gathered in Kazakhstan to protest the riots and mass arrests earlier this month in China's Xinjiang province. Though both Uighurs and Han Chinese were involved in the riots, Chinese authorities responded by arresting over 1,000 Uighurs in massive sweeps through Uighur neighborhoods.

The protesters called for the release of Uighur prisoners in Xinjiang and a full investigation on what really happened over the weekend of July 5th, led by an independent, international body like the United Nations or Human Rights Watch. Though members of the World Uyghur (Uighur) Congress were realistic, doubting that China would allow such an investigation or that Western governments would risk angering their Chinese business partners by pushing for one.

Still the fact that a big-time protest happened in Kazakhstan on behalf of the Uighurs is news. Kazakhstan is the most powerful of the Central Asian states, thanks to their oil reserves, and one China is hoping to build a relationship with. Kazakhstan's government also keeps a tight lid on what happens in their country, so such a large protest couldn't happen without their (at least informal) consent, a sign perhaps that unlike governments in the West, they’re willing to stand up to China.