A Uigher vixen up for the Nobel
I get so annoyed with American self-righteousness about Tibet and Fal ung ong. (Sorry, don't want to be blocked here.) Fal ung ong are a bunch of wackos, and while I concur that one shouldn't be imprisoned merely for being stupid enough to join a crazy cult, one must recognize that historically crazy cults have proven quite pesky in China.
The Tibetans have legitimate enough greivances, but they get lost in how the Western media fetishes their cause. It's all the fault of that nice little Oriental sage, the Da lai Lama. (Q: What does the Da lai Lama say in South America? A: Me llama lama. Q: What did they call the first cloned llama? A: Dolly Llama. Sorry.) My mom and Gege used to forward me speeches and articles by and about him, under the logic that it's 'Eastern' so I'd be into it. Um, actually? I'm down with the commie athiest Han Man oppressors here. While I believe the Han Man ought to be less hegemonic towards the exotic conquered minority, I'm not a big fan of theocracy either. The Llama, er, Lama is a shrewd and ruthless marketing genious: packaging the warm-fuzzy tenants of Buddhism into fortune cookie-cutter soundbites for Western consumption.
No wonder the cute cuddly little Tibetans get more sympathy than the swarthy Muslim Uighers. This woman Rebiya Kadeer, an enterpreneur and grandma, is so much cooler and more interesting than the truism-spouting little God-King. I'm so rooting for her to get the prize. While I don't think Xinjiang should be independent, like that would ever happen, I do hope that its theoretical autonomy will be put into actual practice. I debate how much international attention and pressure really help against human rights abuses (says the now-jaded once-president of a high school Amnesty International chapter), but as a journalist I cling to the delusion that information and knowledge matter for something.
Anyhow, since I'm superficial, Kadeer is also a babe. So thin for a Uigher woman! (Man, that fatty lamb'll kill ya.) I love her modern yet traditional Ikat jumper, the braids, the hat. Incidentally, she's wearing what is traditionally a man's hat: I know this because when I was in Xinjiang I bought a bunch of those hats, and got playfully teased for wearing them. "Silly foreign girl, wearing a man's hat!" I don't know if she's making a subtle statement here, or if she just likes the hat. They're good hats.
Freedom elusive for exiled Chinese Uighur Muslim leader
Twenty months after stepping out of prison, freedom remains elusive for Rebiya Kadeer, the exiled leader of China's Uighur Muslim minority and a top Asian nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize.
With about 100,000 Uighurs, including her three sons, languishing in jail for their political and religious beliefs, the 58-year-old grandmother says she remains a prisoner within herself. [Continue reading]
