Sold for 'Filthy Fish'

I just received a letter from Mark Mulloch-Brown in response to some lobbying I have done on behalf of Rebiya and the ethnic Uighurs in East Turkisthan. He is Minister of State for Asia among many other things, and a knowledgable man of some standing.

I do appreciate that it takes time to change even one tiny bit of the world, and being in charge of Africa, Asia and the UN is a very big job. I appreciate that mentioning the concerns about human rights in China, specifically including the Uighurs and specifically Rebiya Kadeer, to ones counterparts in China is the right thing to do by the usual politically correct diplo-speak methods. But they don't get anywhere fast, if at all. Rebiya's children remain tortured and lost. TORTURED AND LOST.

Could Lord Mulloch-Brown possibly find a way to stop beating about the bush, stop kow-towing to the bloody Chinese government and reunite this family. Whilst he is about it he could also 'mention' that the Uighur people have a right to their language, their religion, their land and their livlihood.

Have Rebiya's children been sold for a load of lead-laced children's toys, contaminated seafood and faulty tyres? I can live without Chinese imports, so can everyone else.

(Filthy Fish http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6275758.stm)

Money Rules

Yes folks, now we know for sure. Money rules us.

Gordon Brown had a clear message to take to Beijing. He wants the UK to be the "number one destination" for Chinese businesses to invest. Mr Brown was a little less clear about his human rights message. In fact I am not sure he had one.
Increasing our income from China from £20.2bn to £30bn will not help one iota to relieve the beleagured minorities in East Turkestan. Obviously the price of their human rights is too high for Britain and the rest of the West. Our right to cash versus their right to humanity.

"Kerching!"

Vigil on 5th February, Chinese Embassy, London

On the 5th February every year vigils are held outside Chinese embassies around the world to mark the occasion when Chinese security forces opened fire on Uighur ethnics who were asking for equal rights in their own country.
Only a few people turn up for the vigil, and I wonder why. I wonder why there are not hundreds of British based Uighurs joining hands to mark their unhappiness at the treatment of their countrymen.

Are they afraid to be seen at a public gathering? Have they become so comfortable here in the UK that they have forgotten how hard it was at home? Of course I don't know the reason, but I would be very grateful if someone would tell me.

On February 5th 1997 a demonstration in Gulja City ended in violence and rioting after Chinese security forces opened fire on the crowd killing several people. The demonstrators were calling for equal rights for the Uighur ethnic people in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China. Following the massacre many people were detained. Some are still in prison while others have been executed. Many of those detained received no trial while other trials were manifestly unfair. (See Steve's link on the right.)