China complains to Australia about Uighur's visit
(SMH) -China has repeatedly complained to the Australian government about the planned visit to a Melbourne film festival of the Uighur activist Beijing accuses of inciting ethnic riots in its far west, an official says.
Rebiya Kadeer - who lives in exile in the United States - is scheduled to attend the Melbourne International Film Festival on August 8 for the premier of a film about her life, 10 Conditions of Love.
She is also scheduled to address the National Press Club in Canberra on August 11 in a nationally televised speech, her host and film producer John Lewis says.
China has accused her of being behind this month's violence between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese in the Xinjiang region that has left nearly 200 dead.
She denies the claim and in turn has claimed that nearly 10,000 people "disappeared in one night" during ethnic unrest in the Chinese city of Urumqi early this month.
"Close to 10,000 people in Urumqi disappeared in one night. Where did those people go?" she said in Japan, speaking in her native language through a translator.
"If they died, where did they go?"
China's complaints are the latest in a string of objections to the screening and Kadeer's appearance: Festival director Richard Moore said an official from the Chinese consulate in Melbourne asked him to withdraw the film about three weeks ago. Two Chinese directors have pulled their films in protest.
The festival's website has also been hacked into - an attack Moore blames on his refusal to scrap the Kadeer film or her visit.
"I can confirm that the Chinese Embassy has made representations here in Canberra," a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman told The Associated Press under condition of anonymity, citing policy.
"The matter has been discussed several times, both in Canberra and Beijing," she said.
"We do not ordinarily comment on the details of bilateral discussions."
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Chinese Embassy said: "Facts have proven that the violent crime" that occurred in Xinjiang "was instigated, masterminded and directed by World Uighur Congress headed by Rebiya".
"We urge the international community not to provide any form of support or even encouragement for her separatist activities," the statement said. (JEG's: He means, HR team should group up and start claiming HRs for Uighurs, Nepals and others affected)
"Rebiya Kadeer is a criminal convicted by the Chinese judiciary authorities for committing crimes that jeopardise national security and major economic crimes," it said. (JEG's: oh the convenient criminal garbo of dictators..)
China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in a statement on Monday that China "expresses strong dissatisfaction" with the Japanese government for allowing the 62-year-old businesswoman to visit this week.
Kadeer is in Japan to urge global support for her "massacred" people following deadly unrest in western China, as Beijing pressed the United States to rein her in.
Kadeer, 62, the US-based head of the World Uighur Congress, has charged that "the Chinese government is trying to destroy the Uighur people. I want to tell the international community about our situation".
Beijing accuses the mother-of-11 of being a "criminal" who instigated the unrest pitting Uighurs against Han Chinese in China's Xinjiang region, which the government says left 197 people dead.
Kadeer charged that "the responsibility lies with the authorities who changed what was a peaceful demonstration into a violent riot".
"For Uighurs, taking part in demonstrations is like committing suicide," she added, speaking at a Tokyo press conference.
Agencies
