Uyghur Terrorists or Anti-Uyghur Propaganda ?
The Washington Post came out with a story today entitled, “China Group Asserts That It Bombed Buses; Officials Play Down Claims on Video, Which Includes Threats to Olympics.”
The article refers to a YouTube video that purports to show members of the “Turkestan Islamic Party” claiming responsibility for the bus blasts in Yunnan and as a follow-up, threatening the Olympics and the PRC. The translation was by IntelCenter, a terrorism research firm based in Alexandria, Va.
The video follows the official PRC announcement that the bus bombings in Yunnan were NOT the work of terrorists and the article says that Chinese officials “played down the group’s claims, some of which were inconsistent with details of the incidents.”
A posting on the Uyghur American Association online forum suggests that errors in the video indicate that the video is Chinese government propaganda.
So, to summarize:
1. The Chinese government is downplaying the threat posed by the ‘Turkestan Islamic Party” and rejecting the statement of a non-Chinese accusation of terrorism, and,
2. Exiled Uyghurs are suggesting that the video is a fabrication by the Chinese government.
Something is wrong with this picture. Either the Chinese government is really scared about the threat posed by these alleged thugs, (so much that they completely discount them) or it is a tacit admission that the threat is manufactured.
Hopefully, in the near future, the Uyghur community-in-exile will translate the video into English and indicate where the errors prove that it is not from one of them.
For Freedom,
Freedom’s Herald
