Chinese unrest and the biased Western Media
The violence in the western XinJiang province of China, is said to be ethnic in nature, between the minority Uighurs and the majority Han. As a matter of fact, it is not exactly an ethnic clash that's being going on but more of a religious clash
THE WORLD news section of the media reports around the sub-continent for the last few weeks were dominated mostly by violence in China. The violence, which started a week back, in the western XinJiang province of China, is said to be ethnic in nature, between the minority Uighur community and the majority Han, with the nature being so serious that it forced the Chinese president Hu Jintao to cancel his G8 trip and fly back to Beijing to order a fierce crackdown.
Already according to the state media reports, 156 people were killed, mostly Han chinese, more than 2000 injured and nearly 1400 arrested, for direct and indirect charges of crime, and instigating violence. The Uighurs have countered the claim, saying many more have died and that most of the dead were from their community.
So far it is normal. The claim and counter-claim, as we know, goes on and we don't have independent view point to judge, in highly secretive communist society and supremely controlled Chinese media. And frankly, I don't rely much on the "Twitter revolution," and Youtube videos. While they are good, in portraying the scenario, they are in nature, naturally partial to the cause of the party uploading or reporting them.
I was appalled by the so-called unbiased, untilted and unpartial western media. The trained journalists, with a tendency to look down upon the alternative media, are supposed to be people on whom we can rely on, during these times. They are supposed to provide us with feeds that should carry both sides of the story. But no. The "paranoic obsession with godless communism" of the western media, prevents it from being so. Apparently there is a subtle and sometimes overtly gross attempt of the Western media to portray these events as an ethnic clash, with the Chinese authorities mercilessly crushing the movement.
Photos of Han chinese groups, marching the streets armed with clubs and spears is circulating across the net. While not a single word or photo, on how the Uighurs rampaged, torched properties and looted for the first four days of the riots. The BBC, with its obsession of victimhood, condemned of the state cracking down on rioters and arresting them. What it didn't justify, is why won't the state. No state is supposed to tolerate hooliganism, in the name of poverty and religion, howsoever much liberal and democratic it might be.
I was appalled by the so-called unbiased, untilted and unpartial western media. The trained journalists, with a tendency to look down upon the alternative media, are supposed to be people on whom we can rely on, during these times. They are supposed to provide us with feeds that should carry both sides of the story. But no. The "paranoic obsession with godless communism" of the western media, prevents it from being so. Apparently there is a subtle and sometimes overtly gross attempt of the Western media to portray these events as an ethnic clash, with the Chinese authorities mercilessly crushing the movement.
Well, as a matter of fact, it is not exactly an ethnic clash that's being going on but more of a religious clash. The minority Uighurs, primarily Muslims, are clashing with the Buddhist majority Hans. This is a fact that is being carefully avoided, with no real cause of the fights being reported.
Photos of Han chinese groups, marching the streets armed with clubs and spears is circulating across the net. While not a single word or photo, on how the Uighurs rampaged, torched properties and looted for the first four days of the riots. The BBC, with its obsession of victimhood, condemned of the state cracking down on rioters and arresting them. What it didn't justify, is why won't the state. No state is supposed to tolerate hooliganism, in the name of poverty and religion, howsoever much liberal and democratic it might be.
And about the Han groups, while I am not justifying violence in any form, we all know that its a community survival instinct, to come out protecting oneself, on your own, when the government is powerless. After all there were almost minimal to no state presence in the in the first couple of days and its them who bore the brunt of the rioting by the Uighurs, with their shops being burnt and looted and their women and children being killed.
If one notices carefully, their is not a single photo anywhere, of the violence by the Uighurs, while all the photos were of either the Hans marching, and beating up a Uighur man or of the security forces. And almost a subtle attempt to bestow martyrdom to the Uighurs, as their women demand the freeing of their menfolks, who were arrested on charges of arsoning, rioting to a more serious murder.
While, having a personal opinion is good and promoting a cause is also reasonable, it wouldn't harm anyone, to show both sides of the coin, would it? Otherwise the "trained, unbiased" journalists, stand no way better than the flocks of citizen youtube uploaders, and bloggers, who they despise and look down so much.
If one notices carefully, their is not a single photo anywhere, of the violence by the Uighurs, while all the photos were of either the Hans marching, and beating up a Uighur man or of the security forces. And almost a subtle attempt to bestow martyrdom to the Uighurs, as their women demand the freeing of their menfolks, who were arrested on charges of arsoning, rioting to a more serious murder.
While, having a personal opinion is good and promoting a cause is also reasonable, it wouldn't harm anyone, to show both sides of the coin, would it? Otherwise the "trained, unbiased" journalists, stand no way better than the flocks of citizen youtube uploaders, and bloggers, who they despise and look down so much.
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.I would like to congratulate you for your article. The Western Media has become a discredited bunch.
Thanks honestly...I guess you wrote the other article on the Riots...it was equally good, even better...nice research work...
.Sumantra, very good job. One of most sensible articles about the recent riots in Xinjiang. As an Chinese myself, I would to thank you for your good sense of justice and objectivity. I totally agree with you about the western media's coverage of the riots. I am particularly alarmed by the pictures selected BBC showing the Han Chinese carrying a club with an almost distorted face. I also think these images are reflecting the journalist's stereotyped image about China. Any thing Chinese movement doing must be evil. All ethnic minorities in China must have been deprived their basic human right. The Western media like BBC are waiting pictures and incidents like this to happen to suit their needs. Again and again, they have lost their credit among Chinese people. Looked at the words they use, Uighurs on streets are peaceful protesters. Han people on the streets, they are mobs. Do they really care human right, do they ever mentioned the devastated family and relatives of the 156 killed innocent people. Do they really care why these Han people on the streets. Because their biased mind, they probably have already filtered out the horrific images the injured and killed Han people. To their audience and reader in west, reporting the suffering of the Han innocent people is not newsworthy. Nobody will be interested. How about "Angry Uighurs defy Chinese police"? Too many things to mention about their bias.
Thanks mate...but as a reporter, I guess you people are losing the propaganda war. You people should start writing more on CJ websites like this and the-latest.com , that way you can pay them back by their own coin...
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