China's executions policy

THE START of a crackdown by Chinese security forces in troubled western Xinjiang province has been heralded by an announcement by the authorities that they have executed nine people for their roles in unrest there in July. Turkic Muslim Uighur separatists are blamed for inciting the July riots in Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital, in which crowds attacked ethnic Han Chinese and were themselves attacked by Han rioters two days later. Some 197 people, mostly Han, were allegedly killed and 1,600 injured. Now eight of the nine executed are reported to have been Uighur.

Meanwhile, in a report last month, Human Rights Watch claimed some 43 Uighur men and teenage boys remained unaccounted for after being detained – along with hundreds of others – in police sweeps following the July crisis. The group called on the Chinese government to account for all detainees and allow independent investigations into the protests.

An official spokesman in the People’s Daily describes the latest crackdown as “a thorough ‘strike hard and punish’ campaign to further consolidate the fruits of maintaining stability and eliminate security dangers”. But another heavy-handed campaign by Beijing against the Uighur will do nothing but create martyrs in a resentful community which sees the Han as planters brought in to prop up Chinese rule. It, and the executions, will play into the hands of separatists. China continues to execute more people every year than any other country in the world. While Amnesty International estimates it carried out at least 1,718 in 2008, a US-based NGO, the Dui Hua Foundation, puts the figure much higher at between 5,000 and 6,000, based on figures obtained from local Chinese officials.

The announcements, coming in the run-up to President Barack Obama’s first trip to China next week, will add to the clamour of voices demanding that he speak up forcefully on human rights during his visit. In truth Beijing appears to be moving backwards in this regard – since his election, the Chinese government has disbarred human-rights lawyers, rolled back key legal reforms, imprisoned critics and further tightened internet and press censorship. It has tried to impose new filtering software on computers sold in China. It has executed Tibetans suspected of taking part in March 2008 protests as well as the Uighurs. US economic interests will dominate the Obama visit but the president should also remind Beijing of its human rights obligations under international law.