Bruce Lui (Lui Ping-Kuen) is Hong Kong Cable TV’s China correspondent and was on the scene at the early July ethnic clash in Xinjiang. Danwei asks him about the reaction of Hong Kong media as well as other views.
Danwei: How did you feel when you stepped into Urumqi to report the recent conflict?
Bruce Lui: Being the first batch of non-mainland reporters arriving in Urumqi on the morning of July 6, I was shocked by the death toll which jumped drastically from 2 to 140 without any interim announcement from a government press session. Then I saw numerous armed, geared up wujing police troops blocking all the main roads, armored vehicles patrolling with sirens on the street, burnt wreckage of cars and shops leaving a burnt smell in the air.
I was also arranged to see the dying victims and the injured in a hospital. All this gave me the sense that the riot was much more serious than the one in Tibet last year. Moreover, the confrontational emotions between the Uyghurs and the Han Chinese is hard to alleviate due to the killing and the revenge of innocent people on both sides.
Danwei: Is there a contrast in how ethnic relations is perceived when you compare this trip to Xinjiang and when you went this time?
BL: I have been to Xinjiang several times － the last time I went to Kashgar, on the southern border of Xinjiang, to report on the terror attack killing 16 police officers on the border post last year. Ethnic relations has more or less been the same these past two years. During casual talk and interviews, Uyghurs had always told me that they found it harder to get a job than the Han Chinese; that income and social status was lower, too.
Danwei: Do you feel that the government’s attitude towards domestic and foreign reporters was more open this time?
BL: In my opinion, the government was quite open up this time towards the press. At least they didn’t arrest reporters upon their arrival which we’d always encountered in the past during on-the-spot news or disaster coverage. In a scene where Uyghur women demonstrated unexpectedly during a press tour, press officers didn’t stop us from reporting.
However, they cut the number of outdoor visits during the coming days. All in all, they have made some breakthroughs in the press arrangements, including the issue of press cards and setting up a press center for such news, and free reporting in most of the places, such as funeral homes, victims’ families center and most of the Uyghur zones.
However, press freedom was tightened again after cops gunned down two terrorists a week later, and some foreign journalists were being arrested too.
Danwei: How are the Hong Kong media reacting to the events?
BL: Generally speaking, Hong Kong media are always the fastest non-mainland press to reach the scene in China after a disaster or on-the-spot news due to our Chinese nationality, mobility and keen competition.
During the Xinjiang riot, we did a full range of reports and analysis on the relationship between Uyghurs and Han Chinese, filmed exclusive footage of police arresting suspects… Furthermore, we also asked questions of why such a predictable event had an escalated killing of nearly 200 people without effective and timely crackdown, and how many Han and Uyghurs were being murdered on July 5 and July 7 respectively.
Danwei: Is there a big discrepancy between how you are reacting and how the western media are reacting?
BL: Western media used an international point of view to see the issue, while HK media viewed the problem as a national issue. Also, most of the reporters being arrested are from the foreign media, and this will provoke some angry comments.
In China there are three tiers of press management: mainland Chinese media, Hong Kong media and the foreign press, the latter down the list the more restrictions on press arrangements.
Danwei: One week after the protests, has your view changed?
BL: I am still confused about how such a small group of separatists could provoke such a riot. What are the internal problems between the ethnicities that allowed the bomb to explode? What can be done?
Danwei: How do you think viewers of your program see the conflict － are they taking sides?
BL: I haven’t done any viewer-surveys yet. I think most of our viewers have a balanced point of view on this issue.