Manic Monday

Well the arguably worst day of the week is almost at an end. Thank God! After a very disturbed sleep last night it was a long day at work followed by a very lazy night tonight! Therefore today's blogging is going to be minimal to say the least!

Well theres been some interesting and deadly developments in the Chinese region of Xinjiang. A protest on Sunday of about 300 Uighurs (Turkic Muslims) soon swelled to around 1000 before disturbances and violence broke out. As is usual in these circumstances Beijing claimed the Uighurs went on the rampage, however Uighurs leaders living in exile claimed the police shot at students. Either way it led to the arrest of hundreds of Uighurs over the weekend.

Governement sources said that hundreds of shops and cars have been attacked by weapon carrying Uighurs. In the following hours around 156 people are said to have been killed, mostly believed to be Uighurs who claim police have fired upon them indiscriminately. There was said to be previous tension between Uighurs and the Han ehtnic groups but this has yet to be established.

Certainly it is the largest scale public unrest for some time in China and the fear is that it has been dealt with with the same ferocity as in previous times. Reports are already suggesting posts on social networking sites have been removed or blocked to ensure the events are kept hidden from the outside world. This is a side issue regardless though and one that is inevitable when dealing with occurrences in China that may be viewed negatively by other countries.

The real issue is ethnic tension. Is it possible for those of different ethnicities to live safely, securely and perhaps most importantly happily alongside each other? In every country people are divided by various differences from the obvious to not so obvious. Campaigns and education go some way to enlighten people of others rights, views, religion, fears, beliefs and outlook but sometimes it feels too little.

Integration seems to be the key factor- when groups of people go into a different, possibly unknown environment it is only natural for them to associate with those who seem to hold common values or backgrounds. Then those outwith begin to fear this new unkown that has appeared in greater numbers and the cycle of disassociation continues.

Community leaders and educators need to take the lead in putting greater emphasis on cultivating a society of openness and acceptance. Perhaps there has always been tension and always will but we should never give up the courage to reach out to people we dont undertsand and foster new, productive relationships with those around us.