The Party attacked the new President of Taiwan in the name of “all Chinese.” Uyghurs are not Chinese, however, and many Chinese do not like the CCP either.
by Kok Bayraq and Rebiya Kadeer
China’s May 23 press conference focused on the Taiwan issue and was filled with provocative, uncivilized, and unrepresentative statements against independence movements in China and their “supporters,” including US and Japan. The statements followed China’s joint military exercises around Taiwan, what it called “strong punishment” for “separatist acts.”
As Uyghurs, we would like to respond to the part of these statements that concerns us.
China’s spokesperson Wang Wenbing said: “The 1.4 billion strong Chinese people will resolutely push back any separatist activity for ‘Taiwan independence.’” China’s official statistics count Uyghurs, Tibetans and Southern Mongolians as part of the 1.4 billion population. So, first of all, we Uyghurs declare that we are not part of the Chinese people and we have never been and will never be on the same side as the Chinese state, that is, the Communist Party, regarding Taiwan’s independence.
Wang Wenbing s continued “‘Taiwan independence’ is doomed to fail… The Chinese people will not be deterred from defending our sovereignty and territorial integrity. …All these seeking ‘Taiwan independence’ will find themselves crushed by the historic trend of China’s complete reunification.”
Due to our faith in our historical struggle for East Turkestan Independence, it is not possible for us to share this outdated statement of tyranny.
East Turkestan was occupied by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) under the leadership of the CCP with the help of the Soviet Union in 1949. To end this colonialism, the Uyghur people have not stopped their struggle for independence even for a single day since the beginning of the occupation. Leaders of this movement such as Exmetjan Qasimi and Elihan Tore, and heroes such as Gheni Batur and Rizwangul Wahidi died in war, exile, and “flight incidents.” Heroes such as İlham Tohti, Miradil Hesen and Gülmire Imin have moved towards the same goal with different slogans, and are in prisons and camps for this cause.
In addition to the price we have paid, today we are faced with genocide.
We know very well what it means to live under Chinese rule, so we do not want what we went through to happen to anyone, including the people of Taiwan. We are a people waiting for a solution to our problem from international justice. The annexation of Taiwan means the loss of a member of the free world, it means its weakening, and therefore we want Taiwan not to be touched. Therefore, we are not and cannot be a part of that 1.4 billion.
On May 20, China’s Ambassador to Japan Wu Jianghao issued a serious warning to the Japanese side due to its recent moves regarding the Taiwan issue. “If Japan attaches itself to the chariot of dividing China, the Japanese people will be dragged into a fire pit,” Wu said.
This is not only inappropriate, it is a reckless and terrorist statement.
As a nation, unlike the CCP, we are civilized in real life, not on paper, and we believe that living under the same state should be with the consent of the human groups that make up that state. Just as marriage cannot be maintained by force, state unity cannot be achieved through military force. Marriage can never be achieved or preserved by threats to neighbors.
From the point of view of the values we carried traditionally and currently, we cannot be part of 1.4 billion Wang Wenbin referred to.
It is impossible for the captive peoples in occupied land to have the same thoughts, positions, and feelings as the occupying regime on national liberation issues such as the Taiwan issue. That is why we wholeheartedly believe that Tibetans and Southern Mongolians share the same thoughts and feelings with us.
It is doubtful that the Han Chinese themselves, the dominant population in China, share the same views as the CCP. Because the CCP has not held a single election since its came to power, but on the contrary, the Tiananmen Square movement demanding democracy was brutally suppressed. Some Han Chinese may want Taiwan to return, but they may not want it to return to the CCP’s hand, because Taiwan’s accession could strengthen the CCP’s fist, which has been ruling over the head of Chinese people for decades.
Therefore the figure of 1.4 billion people in the statement is wrong, strange, deceptive and, in the Uyghur case, an insult.
Of course, the CCP knows that the Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Southern Mongolians do not have the same stance as them on Taiwan’s independence, and that the Party cannot really represent the Chinese people either. By repeating their lies, they want to make the world forget the truth, not give the truth a chance to emerge, and normalize tyranny.
It is hard to overcome truth with illogical statements, so the CCP is trying to hide behind the large figure of “1.4 billion.” The CCP’s constant claim to represent 1.4 billion of human beings living within Chinese borders is not only an attack on the will of these people, but also an insult to the mental capacity of the international community.
Therefore, while we call on the CCP to stop deception, we also call on the international community to provide an immediate and adequate response to China’s lies.
Shohret Hoshur (who until 2025 used the pseudonym of Kok Bayraq) is a political émigré from East Turkestan (Ch. Xinjiang) and an opponent of the Sinicization of his homeland. He left China in 1995 when his journalism got him “into trouble with the authorities,”and is now living in Washington, D.C.. His unique thoughts and feelings published in Taipei Times and Global Voice comment on the ongoing Uyghur genocide.
