Page 225 - Communist Chinas Policy of Oppression in East Turkestan

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There is a huge difference in living standards in those areas of East Turkestan inhabited by
Chinese settlers and those where the Uighur Turks form the majority. Urumchi (above), for
instance, the capital, with its large numbers of Chinese, looks just like a modern city, while
Kashgar, with its mainly Muslim population (left) suffers from lack of infrastructure and
poverty caused by the exploitation of its natural resources. Most of the people have great
difficulties making ends meet, and transportation is by horse and cart over earth tracks. The
basic reason for this is the continuing cruelty inflicted by the Chinese government on the
people of East Turkestan for more than half a century. The people have had all their eco-
nomic, political and legal rights taken away from them, and are forced to live within the para-
meters set out for them by the Communist Party. Few Muslims live in Urumchi, with its
luxury hotels, shopping centers, plazas and motorways, and those who do run small restau-
rants or work as cleaners or janitors etc. The people have no right to invest or engage in
commerce, and are therefore restricted to certain kinds of jobs. This shows that the people
of East Turkestan, the cradle of a deep-rooted civilization which enjoys rich natural re-
sources, are treated as second-class citizens in their own land.

Harun Yahya - Adnan Oktar