Ethnic Riots in China, Again

Wow, I remember I basically started my blog to write about my feelings about the riots in Tibet last year. Now, the story is all too similar.

Two muslim factory workers were killed on the job in western China. A large muslim crowd gathered to protest, claiming the Chinese government didn't care enough about them. Somehow on Sunday, these peaceful demonstrations erupted into riots, leaving 156 people killed. Tuesday, as retaliation, mobs of Chinese went out into the street with knives and other weapons to hunt down the muslims as revenge. It's pretty scary how serious the ethnic hatred is out there right now.

It reminds me of the ethnic riots in LA back in 1992. Those riots basically started when a Korean lady shot a black girl in her convenience store because she mistakenly thought the black girl was stealing. A week later, a black motorist was beaten by police officers. Everything just starts with misunderstanding, and distrust.

The Chinese government has brought huge economic changes in western China. While the economy has drastically improved, millions of Chinese have also poored into the predominantly Muslim region. The Muslims believe the government favors ethnic Chinese and the influx of Chinese is displacing them of their homes and jobs. The Chinese, on the other hand, seem to believe the Muslims are being too ingrateful and are lucky to live under Chinese rule.

President Hu Jintao was on a trip to the G8 conference in Europe, but cut short his trip to come home immediately to deal with the problem. I think that is pretty cool. America has come a long way in dealing with ethnic tensions, it'll be very interesting to watch how the race issue evolves and plays out in China.

This kind of stuff makes me mad. I think the Chinese should be proud and honored that they have other cultures and ethnicities in their country.