French journalist Ursula Gauthier kicked out of China for slamming Beijing's Uyghur policy
Chinese authorities say they're not renewing the press credentials for a French journalist whose recent reporting questioned Beijing's "ulterior motives" in standing in solidarity with France after the November Paris attacks, and criticized China's handling of its Uyghur minority.
Ursula Gauthier, a Beijing-based correspondent for French magazine L'OBS since 2009, wrote in an article published on November 18 -- less than a week aftercoordinated attacks killed at least 130 people in Paris -- that China had no basis in drawing parallels between the international pledge to fight against terrorism and its own version, that she calls "the merciless crushing of the Muslim Uyghur minority."
"In other words, if China declares its solidarity with nations threatened by Islamic State, in return it expects the support of the international community in its own entanglements with its most restless minority," she added.
The piece drew strong criticism from the Chinese authorities.
Embassies warn of threats against Westerners in Beijing
In a statement posted by the Chinese Foreign Ministry Saturday, Spokesperson Lu Kang said Gauthier's article "overtly advocates for acts of terrorism and killings of innocent civilians, and caused public outrage among the Chinese people.
"Given that Gauthier failed to make a serious apology to the Chinese people for her wrongful speech advocating for terrorism acts, it is no longer appropriate for her to continue working in China."
Nothing in common
In her article, Gauthier wrote that shortly after Chinese President Xi Jinping assured French counterpart Francois Hollande of China's commitment to fight against terrorism, Chinese police announced the capture of the leaders of a September 18 attack that claimed some 50 lives at a remote coal mine in Xinjiang's Baicheng County.
Xinjiang violence: Does China have a terror problem?
"But, bloody though it was, the Baicheng attack had nothing in common with the 13th November attacks," Gauthier wrote, according to an English translation of her original report published by China Digital Times.
"In fact it was an explosion of local rage such as have blown up more and more often in this distant province whose inhabitants, turcophone and Muslim Uyghurs, face pitiless repression."
Xinjiang attacks shifting to civilians
Chinese authorities and state media presented a different version of the event. They said security forces, along with local officials and residents, carried out a 56-day operation against a group of "violent attackers" responsible for ambushing police and civilians at the mine. The police said the attacks were directly planned by an "extreme organization outside the border," whose members had been watching and listening to extreme religious materials and received specific guidance before carrying out the attack.
All the alleged attackers were killed by November 12, according to the police.
While the Chinese police did not specify the ethnicity of the alleged attackers, Gauthier said they were a small group of Uyghurs "pushed to the limit, probably in revenge for an abuse, an injustice or an expropriation."
Who are the Uyghurs?
The Uyghurs are a predominantly Muslim ethnic group living primarily in China's northwestern Xinjiang, an autonomous region marked by occasional tensions between the Uyghur and the Han Chinese communities. Security has increasingly heightened in Xinjiang over recent years as the area has seen violent incidents such as the 2014 attack targeting civilians an Urumqi market that left at least 31 dead and 90 injured.
"But so long as the Uyghurs' situation continues to get worse, China's magnificent mega-cities will be vulnerable to the risk of machete attacks." Gauthier wrote.
China's bold ethnic experiment
Human rights observers accuse China of being heavy-handed and treating the Uyghurs unfairly by restricting their freedom of religion and speech.
Beijing officials say they are only going after perpetrators planning or carrying out terrorist attacks, and accuse western governments, rights activists and journalists of being hypocritical and applying double standards when criticizing China's ethnic policy and management of other domestic issues.
