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Letter and spirit

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-05 07:52

According to the Chinese media, children and relatives of the alleged mastermind of the Urumqi riot wrote two letters: One to her, appealing that she wash her hands off activities which harm her motherland and ruin peace in her hometown; the other to the victims' families, expressing apology.

The two handwritten letters, dated and signed, were shown on TV, and their contents were published in the print media and posted on the Internet, too.

But our Western colleagues are unconvinced. Quoting denials by overseas Uygur separatists, they doubt the authenticity of the letters. They suspect that the letters, if not forged, must have been written under pressure.

Government officials in Xinjiang, on the other hand, call the "forgery" theory "very ridiculous".

Admitting that the letters took them by surprise, the officials disclosed that they had received several letters from those people condemning her involvement in separatist activities and association with the July 5 rioting. They would not have made them public until their authenticity was verified.

One side must be untrue given such conflicting accounts. But that will not be difficult to find out;

after all, everybody involved in the matter knows what the truth is. However, it is not difficult for skeptics to produce evidence in support of their allegations.

In the absence of such evidence, we find it implausible that the Chinese government would bother to squeeze such letters from the family members of someone they so dislike.

For one thing, what meaningful message can a couple of letters like these convey? That you are betrayed even by your own family? That you have caused trouble for your kids? So what? We have not seen the Chinese government do that before. And believe that no authority will stray so far from the path of reason because it will totally destroy the government's credibility.

According to one of the letter writers, one goal of the letter to victims' families was to tell the public that they are not involved in the incident, which appears to be a logical response in the current circumstances. Given the prevailing anger targeted at anyone who is, or was, one of their family, distancing themselves from a hated plot is perfectly sensible and understandable.

That is clearly the spirit behind the letters: To distance the family members from guilt or taint by association.

The letter writers, as innocent citizens, deserve a peaceful life free of prejudice and misunderstanding. All that said, we cannot imagine the Chinese government would risk its credibility to forge two letters like these.

(China Daily 08/05/2009 page8)