Sep 09, 2009

East Turkestan: Taiwan Festival Hacked Over Uyghur Film


Active ImageAnonymous hackers have attacked a Taiwan film festival over plans to screen a documentary on the US-based leader of China's predominantly Muslim Uyghur minority, festival organizers said Tuesday [8 September 2009].

 

 

Below is an article published by Politics Inquirer :

 

 

Anonymous hackers have attacked a Taiwan film festival over plans to screen a documentary on the US-based leader of China's predominantly Muslim Uyghur minority, festival organizers said Tuesday [8 September 2009].

A message, posted on a blog run by one of the organizers of the Kaohsiung Film Festival, blamed Rebiya Kadeer for recent bloody unrest in northwest China's Xinjiang region, which is home to the Turkic-speaking Uyghurs.

"I don't know if you heard about the violence (in Xinjiang) and if you know how many people were left homeless. It is all because of that woman," said the message, referring to Kadeer.

The message accused her of being the "original culprit" behind unrest that broke out in Xinjiang in July, and demanded removal of the film.

The film festival, which takes place in Taiwan's second largest city Kaohsiung, is scheduled to show "Ten Conditions of Love" on World Uyghur Congress leader Kadeer in October.

"We welcome comment and feedback on the festival but we do not approve hacking as a means of doing so," said organizer Liu Hsiu-ying.

"We selected the film in April. Our decision is purely artistic and there is no political consideration," she told Agence France-Presse.

Observers have said screening the Kadeer film is likely to further irritate Beijing, which was already seething over the Dalai Lama's visit to Taiwan last week.

Beijing has labeled Kadeer a "criminal" and accused her of inciting ethnic violence in Xinjiang in July that led to the deaths of nearly 200 people, according to Chinese figures.

The Xinjiang capital of Urumqi was seized anew in recent days by mass Han protests against a wave of mysterious syringe attacks blamed on Uyghurs. Five people died in the violence.

Last month, China strongly protested at Kadeer's visit to Australia for the screening of her biopic at the Melbourne International Film Festival, while Chinese directors boycotted the event.

Organizers said they were not planning to invite Kadeer to Taiwan out of concerns that this could become a political issue and shift the focus from the festival itself.

More than 70 films from around the world are scheduled to be screened between October 16 and 29 at the festival, which is an annual event.