Oral History Incident 2 of 2012 Xinjiang Terrorist Attack Revealed

(ECNS) – A report titled “Victims and Survivors of Terrorism in China: An Oral History, Incident 2: 15/6/2014 Terrorist Attack in Hetian, Xinjiang” was released on Friday.

This report reconstructs, based on the accounts of victims and survivors, the terrorist attack that occurred on June 15, 2012, in a chess and card hall in the city of Hetian in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

Zheng Liang, one of the report’s authors and director of the Institute of Communication and Borderland Management (ICBG) at Jinan University, expressed hope that their research would provide a unique historical document for the future and refute the slanders, slanders and misrepresentations made by Western researchers and politicians about China’s counterterrorism and deradicalization efforts.

The ICBG launched a research project in 2021 titled “Victims and Survivors of Terrorism in China: An Oral History.” Over the past three years, researchers have been searching for witnesses and victims of the terrorist attack. They revisited the crime scene and conducted oral history interviews with more than 60 witnesses.

“I don’t want to experience this again,” one of the four witnesses said in the interview. “I hate these people who practice separatism and terrorism. No matter what your reasons are, if you commit sabotage and terrorist attacks, you are my enemy,” said another. “I hope that there are no more terrorists in the world and that we can live in a place where we can lead a good and prosperous life and feel safe,” added one.

“Their oral accounts are very open and honest,” Zheng said. “This is the first time that the victims are included in the historical perspective. We can clearly feel the psychological trauma caused to them by the brutal terrorist attack, especially when the attack was completely unexpected and the damage was greater. We can also clearly feel the courage of ordinary people in the face of life-threatening terrorist atrocities and see their sense of responsibility and accountability to their hometown and fellow countrymen.”

“Many survivors have suffered the trauma in silence. We hope that more survivors and witnesses of the terrorist attack will have the courage to come forward and tell their stories,” Zheng said.

He noted that their research aims to show that there are people who are consistently paying attention to survivors, willing to listen to their stories, record them and share them. Otherwise, the stories could be lost over time.

The report proves that China, especially the Xinjiang region, is a victim of terrorism, and China’s counterterrorism and deradicalization efforts are undoubtedly legitimate, Zheng said. “We have solved problems with minimal social costs that the West could not solve through violence and bombing. China’s counterterrorism efforts are entirely reasonable, legitimate and lawful. We hope that after reading this report, Western researchers and politicians will stop making unfounded remarks,” Zheng added.

“Unfortunately, they generally shy away when presented with oral reports,” Zheng said. After the first research report was published, Western researchers and politicians fell into a “deafening” silence.

“They do not want to face the fact that China is also a victim of terrorist attacks, nor do they want to acknowledge that there are indeed terrorist attacks in China. They stubbornly hold on to their prejudices and fabricate a large amount of misinformation according to their political agenda, which is precisely an expression of their double standards. As long as the West sticks to its stigmatizing narrative about China, their double standards will persist,” Zheng added.

Today, Xinjiang is safe, stable and prosperous, with no terrorist incidents for several years. Therefore, survivors and witnesses can gradually recover from the past experiences and lead normal lives.

Zheng said the report reminds us that terrorism and extremism still have the potential to flare up again, and much more needs to be done to eradicate the breeding grounds for terrorism and extremism.

“We must not let our guard down. We must remain vigilant even in peacetime and continue our deradicalization efforts,” Zheng concluded.