It was a moment of bravery, an act of defiance following decades of oppression that finally brought the plight of the Uyghurs in China to the attention of the world. A lone Muslim woman was dressed in hijab and jilbaab, hobbling on a crutch, and standing up to the Chinese state paramilitary forces in Urumchi, shaking her fist and demanding that her husband and four brothers be released by the authorities...
On September 14, the establishment of a “Government of the Republic of East Turkestan in Exile” was declared in Washington DC by the East Turkestan National Freedom Centre (ETNFC), an Uigurexile group based in Washington...
When Richard Armitage, US deputy secretary of state, announced in Beijing on August 26 that the US has classified the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) as a terrorist organisation, the move was interpreted as a “nod to China”, in acknowledgement of its apparent agreement not to sell missile technology to “aggressive states”.
