Uighur Leader Calls for Right to Self-Determination

Tokyo, July 29 (Jiji Press)--A visiting Uighur leader said
Wednesday that Uighurs in China are calling for the right to
self-determination recognized in international human rights covenants, not
independence.
Rebiya Kadeer, president of the World Uyghur Congress, said in an
interview with Jiji Press that Uighurs want to hold talks with Chinese
authorities to solve this issue.
Speaking of ethnic violence in China's Xinjiang region earlier this
month, Kadeer said that some 10,000 Uighurs who joined demonstrations went
missing. She said she wants Chinese authorities to reveal the truth and give
an appropriate answer.
China has criticized that Kadeer and the Uighurian body are behind
the violence in the region.
Kadeer said in the interview that she learned about the
demonstrations on the Internet, claiming that Chinese authorities should be
held responsible for developing demonstrations into violence.
She said she even found the courage of demonstrators standing
against police awesome.
Warning that something grave would happen in the Xinjiang region
unless China changes the current way, Kadeer asked the international
community including Japan to urge China to accept dialogue with Uighur
leaders.
She added that the Uighurian body is keeping contact with the Dalai
Lama. Tibet's spiritual leader is appealing for peace, and so is she, Kadeer
said.
Meantime, China expressed strong dissatisfaction with the Japanese
government's approval for Kadeer's visit to Japan. In Beijing, Chinese Vice
Foreign Minister Wu Dawei summoned Japanese Ambassador to China Yuji
Miyamoto and protested against the approval.
Wu called on the Japanese government to take steps to prevent
Kadeer from engaging in anti-China activities. Miyamoto told Wu that Japan
took appropriate action under law, according to the Japanese embassy in
Beijing.