新疆騷亂發生一年之後，北京重申了令當地穆斯林群眾為之憤怒的政策，這有可能成為另一個動亂的凶兆。/維吾爾在線翻譯（中文版維吾爾在線首發）

在接受法新社採訪時，維吾爾教授、維吾爾在線創建者伊力哈木•土赫提（Ilham Tohti）直言不諱地表示，中共政府「胡蘿蔔加大棒」的經濟發展政策和嚴厲的管控措施令維吾爾人感到失望。他說，國家的對疆政策只讓大批湧入新疆的漢族移民受益，而800萬（譯者註：《根據新疆統計年鑑》2009，2008年末新疆維吾爾族總人口為9831760人），維吾爾人在自己的故鄉日益被邊緣化。「新疆的局勢對維吾爾人而言在持續惡化」，40歲的伊力哈木•土赫提在位於中國北京民族大學校園的家裏如是說。在這所大學，雖然有人監視，他還是定期會舉辦以維吾爾族和經濟為主題的講座。「在這樣的風氣下，很難讓維漢兩族、移民者與當地人走到一起，這是一個巨大的問題，但是政府顯然沒有提出相應的計劃。」

信仰伊斯蘭教、操突厥語的新疆維吾爾人聲稱，在緊鄰中亞的新疆的大片區域裏，本民族的政治、宗教信仰和文化權益受到當局數十年的壓制。他們的憤怒終於在2009年7月5日爆發，維吾爾暴徒野蠻地襲擊漢族人。官方稱此次事件導致近200人死亡、1700多人受傷。當時，作為維吾爾人的高級知識分子，伊力哈木•土赫提被安全部門拘禁近6周時間。當局以煽動騷亂之名關閉了他創辦的維吾爾在線網站，該網站主要批評中共政府的對疆政策並積極提倡維漢和解。在國內，該網站雖然還在被封鎖，但是伊力哈木•土赫提利用國外的伺服器重新開放了它。即使當局會定期干預，他還是恢復了在學校的講座。他說他非常注意遣詞造句以免激怒當局。

4月，中共政府對在疆實行鐵腕政策長達15年的黨委書記王樂泉予以免職，並稱會提高當地人民的生活水平。但是「除了宣傳之外，沒有發生任何實質的變化」，伊力哈木•土赫提用流利的普通話說道。他說，經濟的增長，即便讓維吾爾人受益，已無法讓尋求真正自治的人民感到滿意，「這就好比頭疼的人去醫院看病，醫生卻給他開了治腳痛的藥一樣。」「我們需要經濟生活，但我們也需要文化生活，我們需要被尊重」。他認為，中共政府首先需要停止踐踏自己制定的法律，尤其是承認新疆為「維吾爾自治區」的相關法律。他說「自治區」的稱號只停留在紙面上，新疆實際上是在中共的管控之下。

避免激進的手段，維吾爾人應該利用中國的法律尋求改變，「沒有別的路可走」他補充道。出於這個目的，他將《民族區域自治法》翻譯成了維吾爾文，通過電子版和印刷版發給在疆的讀者們，他認為維吾爾人必須首先衝破無知的枷鎖。「問題？我們不知道自己的問題所在，我們不知道自己的權利，我們也不知道如何維護自己的權利。當下最迫切的任務是教育我們的人民並且傳播知識」他說。除了教育之外，還有生育問題。他鼓勵作為少數民族的所有維吾爾人，利用自己的合法權益多生育子女，這是擴大本民族聲音的一種途徑。然而在中共政府以海外勢力利用網絡煽動鬧事者為藉口，切斷當地網絡之後，這種聲音變得極其微弱。雖然在5月份當局表示解除網絡管控，但是據伊力哈木•土赫提介紹，目前仍有至少80個維吾爾語網站無法登錄。

新疆的安全管控變得更為嚴厲，他補充道。當土耳其同胞指責中國的行徑時，許多維吾爾人都為之振奮。伊力哈木•土赫提則認為維吾爾人不應該把希望寄托在他們身上。他說土耳其無意就此問題挑戰日益強盛的中共政府，維吾爾人不應該指望海外勢力。針對大批維吾爾人確信中共政府不會提供真正的文化和政治自治，他回應道「我只能說，讓我們靜待以觀之」。

原文：

China's Xinjiang seethes a year after riots: Uighur activist

y Staff Writers

Beijing (AFP) June 13, 2010

One year after deadly riots in China's Xinjiang, Beijing has reaffirmed policies that have angered Muslims in the region, raising the specter of further unrest, a top Uighur activist said.

In an interview with AFP, Ilham Tohti � an outspoken professor, blogger and member of the Muslim Uighur minority -- said China's "carrot and stick" pairing of economic development with tight security controls had failed Uighurs. It has instead benefited members of China's majority Han ethnicity who are flooding into the region, while Xinjiang's eight million Uighurs are becoming further marginalised in their ancient homeland, with no end in sight, he said. "The situation for Uighurs in Xinjiang is increasingly bad," Tohti, 40, said in his modest flat on the campus of Beijing's Minzu University of China, where he lectures -- under watchful eyes -- on economics and Uighur issues. "In this climate, it is very hard to bring together Uighurs and Han, immigrants and locals. This is a huge problem but the government has come up with no plan for it." Xinjiang's Uighurs -- a Muslim, Turkic-speaking people -- have for decades alleged Chinese political, religious and cultural oppression in the vast region abutting Central Asia. Their anger erupted on July 5 last year when Uighur rioters savagely attacked Han in the capital Urumqi, leaving nearly 200 people dead and up to 1,700 injured, according to official figures. Amid the unrest, Tohti -- perhaps the top Uighur activist within China -- disappeared into police custody for six weeks. Authorities also shut down his Uighur Online website -- which criticised government policy in Xinjiang while advocating Han-Uighur understanding -- alleging it was fuelling the unrest. Tohti has since relaunched the site on an overseas server, though it remains blocked in China, and has resumed his lectures despite periodic interference by the authorities. He says he carefully measures his words to prevent provoking the authorities. In April, China's government removed Xinjiang's unpopular hardline Communist Party boss, Wang Lequan, who had held the post for nearly 15 years, and pledged to raise living standards in the region. But "nothing has really changed. Only the propaganda has changed," said the diminutive, chain-smoking Tohti, speaking fluent Mandarin. Economic growth alone -- even if it did benefit Uighurs -- cannot appease a people with centuries of history and culture who seek true autonomy, he said. "It's as if someone went to a pharmacy with a headache and they gave them medicine for foot pain," said Tohti, an animated figure who punctuates his points with wry smirks, raised eyebrows, and heavy sighs. "We need an economic life but we also need a cultural life. We need respect," he said. First, he said, China must stop flouting its own laws to oppress Uighurs -- especially the law making Xinjiang a "Uighur Autonomous Region". The designation exists only on paper, he said, with the Beijing-dominated Communist Party in control. Eschewing radicalism, Tohti says Uighurs must seek change through Chinese law, adding: "There is no other way out." To this end he has translated the autonomy law into Uighur, distributing it electronically and via printed copies through a network of supporters in Xinjiang, and arguing that Uighurs must break their own shackles of ignorance. "The problem? We don't understand our own problem. We don't understand our own rights. We don't understand how to protect our rights. The most pressing task is to cultivate our people and spread knowledge," he said. Besides education, there is the issue of procreation. Tohti urges all Uighurs to take advantage of their legal right, as an ethnic minority, to have more than one child as a way of magnifying their voice. Yet that voice has been stifled since the riots, he said, as China shut down Xinjiang's Internet access during the unrest, saying instigators were using it to foment violence. The government touted the lifting of those restrictions in May as a return to normalcy but Tohti said at least 80 Uighur sites that were accessible before the riots remained blocked.

Security in Xinjiang has become draconian, he adds. Many Uighurs were buoyed when ethnic cousin Turkey criticised China's handling of the unrest. But Tohti calls that misplaced, saying Turkey is unlikely to challenge a rising, economically powerful China on the issue and that Uighurs cannot expect overseas help. What does he tell the many Uighurs convinced that China will never allow true cultural and political autonomy? "I can only say, let us wait and see," he said.