Interview: Rebiya Kadeer

A key Uighur leader speaks out on China, an "unbearable" situation and what President Obama should be doing about all of it.

News DeskAugust 1, 2009 07:30Updated May 30, 2010 12:04

Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer at a news conference in Tokyo, July 29, 2009. (Yuriko Nakao/Reuters)

In the month since protests in China's west turned deadly, the Chinese government has pointed a finger at one woman as an instigator of racial discord. Rebiya Kadeer, a 60-year-old mother of 11 who lives in the United States, planned and organized racial dissent among China's Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang, they charge. China has protested Kadeer's recent visit to Japan and the showing of a documentary about her at an Australian film festival.

The tactic is similar to that used against the Dalai Lama last year after Tibet erupted — criticizing countries that accepted visits from him and attacking him personally as a dangerous outside force intent on harming China.

But Kadeer does not have the same high-level global profile as the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader. It's unclear whether the move against her will take hold, either in or outside of China.

In a recent email interview, GlobalPost asked Kadeer about the situation, the Chinese response to Xinjiang, and the appropriateness of the American response.

GlobalPost: Beijing has accused you and your organization of being the "outside forces" that organized the protests in Xinjiang. How do you respond?

Rebyia Kadeer: The Chinese government accusations are absolutely false. Neither I nor the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) had any part in the protests. The Chinese government always accuses me for anything that happens in East Turkestan just like it always accuses His Holiness the Dalai Lama for anything that happens in Tibet. The Chinese government should stop blaming His Holiness and me for the problems its 60-year long repressive policies have created. Outsiders had no influence in the protest on July 5th. It was a reaction to the Chinese government's inaction in punishing those Chinese who were responsible in wounding and killing innocent Uyghur workers at the Shauguan toy factory.

How do you feel about being targeted for what has happened in Xinjiang and the aftermath?