Humanity in Western China

The Philadelphia Inquirer had a story today about the continuing unrest in the Xinjiang region of western China. But, they included an incident which happened during the funeral of a Han Chinese family (a man, his wife and his parents) who had been killed during the ethnic riots. Three Uighur neighbors of the victims came near, but were tentative about approaching. And then one of them "grasped the hand of a mourning sister, walked to the altar with her and wailed in sympathy." This touch of humanity amid the strife, deaths and government crackdown was a powerful reminder that people, away from politics, are good. I am so glad the paper put that incident in the larger story. Not all Han Chinese and Uighurs hate each other. They find themsleves in a situation which pits them against each other for use of land and other natural resources and the government encourages it. I believe that same statement can be applied to many of the ethnic conflicts which are going on today. Just grab your White-out and replace Han Chinese and Uighur with Israeli-Palestinian, Black Darfurians and Arab Darfurians, Hutus-Tutsis, and so many etc's.