英字新聞

May 05, 2014
EDITORIAL: Xinjiang bombing reflects China’s flawed policy toward minorities
（社説）中国新疆テロ　民族政策の失敗だろう

China has been hit by a string of violent incidents linked to problems concerning ethnic minorities in the country.
　中国で少数民族問題を背景とする事件が相次いでいる。

Last week, a bombing incident in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, caused many casualties. The two suspects, who both died, were reportedly Uighur men.
　新疆ウイグル自治区のウルムチで先週、爆破事件があり、多くの死傷者が出た。死亡した２人の容疑者はウイグル族の男性だという。

The attack came at the conclusion of a four-day visit to Xinjiang by President Xi Jinping. During his inspection tour in the region, Xi urged local officials to make every possible effort to ensure public safety.
　その当日まで、習近平（シーチンピン）国家主席が４日間にわたり新疆各地を視察し、治安対策に万全を期すよう指示した矢先だった。

The timing and location of the attack appear to signal a bold challenge to the Xi administration.
　事件の時間と場所の選び方には、習政権に挑みかかるかのような意図すらうかがわれる。

It is infuriating that the attack, carried out in front of a train station, a public place, caused casualties among innocent citizens who happened to be there at the time. Such indiscriminate terrorism, whatever the purpose may be, is absolutely unpardonable.
　駅前という公共の場所で罪のない市民を巻き込むことに強い憤りを覚える。こうした無差別テロは決して許されない。

Having said that, we want to pose a question to the Chinese government. Why do incidents of violence related to Uighurs keep occurring so frequently even though successive governments in Beijing have pledged to respect the rights of ethnic minorities as their policy?
　そのうえで中国政府に問いたい。歴代政権は少数民族の権利を尊重する方針を掲げてきたのに、なぜウイグル族に関係する事件がこうも続発するのか。

In another incident last autumn that is still fresh in our memories, a car with three members of a Uighur family inside plowed into Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
　昨秋、北京・天安門にウイグル族の一家３人が自動車ごと突っ込んだ事件は記憶に新しい。

Since then, reported incidents related to Uighurs have taken place at a rate of about one a month.
以後、伝えられるものだけでほぼ１カ月に１度、ウイグル族に絡む事件が起きている。

These gloomy episodes indicate a failure of the policy toward ethnic minorities adopted by the Communist Party administration, which is composed mainly of Han Chinese, who constitute 90 percent of the country’s population.
　これは、人口の９割を占める漢族主体の共産党政権が、少数民族政策に失敗したことを意味しているのではないか。

Every time such an incident happens, the Chinese government describes the culprits as “violent elements seeking to break up China while acting in concert with an organization based overseas.”
　犯行グループは「国外組織と連絡をとりつつ我が国の分裂を図る暴力分子」。中国政府は事件のたびに、そう説明する。

By issuing such statements, Chinese leaders are effectively claiming that the government is making ardent efforts to promote economic development of Xinjiang, and that its policy toward Uighurs is working. Beijing is trying to characterize the perpetrators of these incidents as heretics isolated in society.
　中国政府は新疆の経済発展に力を注いでおり、ウイグル族への施策はうまくいっている。事件を起こすのは民意から遊離した連中だ――というわけだ。

Indeed, there has been a movement for political independence among Uighurs. There is also an organization to promote the movement outside China.
　確かにウイグル族の間で政治的独立をめざす動きはあった。国外にも組織がある。

But these facts do not necessarily support the argument that all these incidents were politically motivated.
しかし、だからといって、これほど相次ぐ事件は政治的動機だけでは説明しきれない。

Many of the reported incidents were apparently triggered by troubles concerning the daily lives of Uighur people.
むしろ、日常の中でのトラブルから発展する事件のほうが目につく。

Last summer, for example, a standoff between locals and police turned violent in Hotan, a city in Xinjiang. The Chinese government described that incident as rioting by an armed group. But it was actually a disturbance triggered by the move of local authorities to shut down a mosque used by Uighurs.
　例えば昨年夏、同じ新疆の都市ホータンで「武装集団による騒ぎ」とされた事件は、ウイグル族のイスラム教礼拝所が地元当局の圧力で使えなくなったことによる騒動だった。

The family that carried out the Tiananmen Square attack last autumn is said to have repeatedly filed complaints with the local authorities over a certain problem.
　昨秋の天安門突入事件を起こした一家は、地元政府に何らかの不満があって陳情を繰り返していたと伝えられる。

It seems there is deep distrust between authorities and Uighurs stemming from administrative problems.
　行政の現場で、当局者とウイグル族住民との信頼関係が壊れているのではないか。

The distrust will only grow if, under these circumstances, the Chinese government tramples on the social and religious customs of Uighurs under the pretext of anti-terrorist measures.
そのうえさらにテロ対策の名のもとに、生活や信仰上の習慣をふみにじるようなことになれば、不信感の増大を招くだけだ。

The situation cannot improve as long as this cycle of terrorism and suppression continues.
　テロと弾圧の応酬では事態の打開はありえない。

What China, as a multiracial nation, needs now to ensure social stability is not the use of force but a wise and effective policy to bring about reconciliation.
多民族国家中国の安定にいま必要なのは、力の行使ではなく、融和を導く賢明な政治ではないか。

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 4