China admits killing its ethnic Uighurs during recent riots in Xinjiang province (BBC)
An exiled leader of China's Uighur ethnic minority, Rebiya Kadeer, has given a speech in Australia despite pressure from Chinese diplomats not to. Speaking at Australia's National Press Club in Canberra, she compared the plight of her people to the Tibetans. China says that Mrs. Kadeer was behind ethnic unrest in July in Xinjiang region, home to the [Islamic] Uighur minority, in which at least 197 people died.
She denies being involved in the worst ethnic unrest in China for decades. "The situation of Uighur people is very similar to the situation of the Tibetans," she said. "We suffer the same suffering, under the same government, and it has been a long while that the Uighur people have not been able to raise our voice in the world as much as our Tibetan brothers did." More>>
BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
- China's tinderbox Ethnic riots shatter Chinese government myth of social harmony
