On July 18, 2011, the state sponsored People's Daily published an article entitled "Police Station in Hotan, Xinjiang Attacked, Several Attackers Shot Dead" (新疆和田派出所遭袭 数名袭击者被击毙). It published an English version of the article the following day entitled "Rioters Gunned Down, Hostages Rescued in Xinjiang Police Station Attack." Some excerpts:
These screenshots were taken on July 21, and show that a search for "Xinjiang" is returning results, and in fact provides “Xinjiang Hotan” (新疆和田) as a suggested search term. But when a user clicks on that link (outlined in red), they are taken to a page with no results, just a censorship notice.
The Global Times subsequently published several articles regarding the July 18 incident in Hotan, Xinjiang:
The last article included the following statement:
The Global Times’ website also put up a video entitled “Hu Xijin: Western Media Broadcasts On Behalf of the World Uyghur Congress, How China Handles It” (胡锡进：西媒替世维会传谣 中国怎应对) http://v.huanqiu.com/news/201107/20110721213034.shtml
The screenshot below was taken on July 22, and shows a search for the Chinese abbreviation for “World Uyghur Congress" (世维会) on the Sogou search engine returns no results, just a notice that says “The keywords you entered may relate to content that does not comply with relevant laws and regulations.” (您输入的关键词可能涉及不符合相关法律法规的内容。)
Police gunned down several rioters who attacked a police station and killed four people in Hotan city of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Monday noon, sources with the Ministry of Public Security said.These screenshots were taken on July 18, and show that on that day searches on Sina Weibo for "Xinjiang" (新疆) and "Hotan" (和田) returned no results, just a censorship notice.
Rioters broke into the police station shortly after 12 p.m.. They assaulted the police, took hostages and set fire to the station, according to the ministry.
A member of the armed police, a security personnel and two hostages were killed during the ordeal, the ministry said, adding that another security personnel was severely injured.
These screenshots were taken on July 21, and show that a search for "Xinjiang" is returning results, and in fact provides “Xinjiang Hotan” (新疆和田) as a suggested search term. But when a user clicks on that link (outlined in red), they are taken to a page with no results, just a censorship notice.
The Global Times subsequently published several articles regarding the July 18 incident in Hotan, Xinjiang:
- Yang Shu: Hotan Has a Little Incident, But Xinjiang's Sky is not Falling (杨恕：和田出点事，新疆的天塌不下来) http://opinion.huanqiu.com/roll/2011-07/1830424.html
- Sky Not Falling in Xinjiang After Hotan Attack http://www.globaltimes.cn/NEWS/tabid/99/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/666919/Sky-not-falling-in-Xinjiang-after-Hotan-attack.aspx
- Xinjiang Police Say the Surprise Attack in Hotan Was a Serious Terrorist Incident (新疆警方称和田袭击案属严重暴力恐怖事件) http://china.huanqiu.com/roll/2011-07/1835649.html
- Thugs' Surprise Attack Kills Innocents, Xinjiang Authorities Refute Foreign Rumors (暴徒搞突袭杀害无辜 新疆官员反驳境外谣言) http://china.huanqiu.com/roll/2011-07/1830512.html
- Investigation of Xinjiang Hotan Incident Finds 14 of 18 Thugs Killed at the Scene (新疆和田事件查明：18暴徒当场被毙14个) http://mil.huanqiu.com/china/2011-07/1833241.html
- Reporter Unmasks Foreign Rumors, Hotan Incident is a Terrorist Act and Not an Ethnic Conflict (本报记者拆穿境外谣言 和田事件系恐怖活动非民族冲突) http://world.huanqiu.com/roll/2011-07/1833330.html
The last article included the following statement:
On July 19, anti-terrorism expert Li Wei told the "Global Times," that this terrorist surprise attack in Hotan was a violent attack similar to the Mumbai surprise attack that took place several days ago, and the hostage taking, whether in terms of methods, tools, targets or form, were all consistent with a classic international terrorism incident. But the West ignores this, and conflates it with Han and Uighur ethnic contradictions, and panders to the "World Uygur Congress" version, and creates problems for China. So China faces a predicament that is similar to many non-Western countries when they trying to fight terrorism.
中国反恐问题专家李伟19日告诉《环球时报》，这次发生在和田的恐怖袭击和前几天发生在孟买的袭击事件一样是暴力攻击、劫持人质，不论从手法、工具还是袭击目标、表现形式上，都和国际上典型的恐怖主义事件如出一辙。但是西方不顾这一事实，将此与汉维民族矛盾结合起来，迎合“世维会”的说法，给中国制造麻烦。这是像中国一样的很多非西方国家在反恐时面临的人为困境。
The Global Times’ website also put up a video entitled “Hu Xijin: Western Media Broadcasts On Behalf of the World Uyghur Congress, How China Handles It” (胡锡进：西媒替世维会传谣 中国怎应对) http://v.huanqiu.com/news/201107/20110721213034.shtml
The screenshot below was taken on July 22, and shows a search for the Chinese abbreviation for “World Uyghur Congress" (世维会) on the Sogou search engine returns no results, just a notice that says “The keywords you entered may relate to content that does not comply with relevant laws and regulations.” (您输入的关键词可能涉及不符合相关法律法规的内容。)
