Ordinarily one would not wish the Chinese officials to behave with their wonted ruthlessness. Certainly we would not wish them to do in Tibet. When it comes to dealing with Muslims, however, a little wonted ruthlessness is something we can all contemplate with grim satisfaction, and possibly just a little envy. So one hopes they will come down hard on that apparently Muslim-dominated (by the guards? by the prisoners? by both?), not in any spirit of justice or fairness or stuff like that, but only because the Chinese must recognize that they are not threatened by those pining for an opening of lamaseries in Tibet, but by those who conduct campaigns of Da'wa, and intimidation of non-Muslims, and their efforts are not confined to Xinjiang in the West, any more than Muslim efforts at Da'wa and terrorizing of non-Muslims is confined, in the rest of the world, only to those places where Muslims are a clear majority.

So, as Glenn Headley says to Steve Martin and Michael Caine at the end of "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" -- "let's go get 'em." Some will, in dealing with Islam, then be willing to "learn from" -- as the Mao-era propaganda posters used to say --"China."

Posted by: Hugh at March 26, 2008 8:44 AM

Hugh, this shows how frail a reed Communist China really is. Christians behave themselves and seek only religious freedom, and they are treated like dirt; Muslims (at least Hui rather than Uighurs)riot, burn down Party HQ, burn police vehicles, and leave the streets in a shambles and get treated with kid gloves. The persecution of some Li Laosan (Chinese for Joe Blow) Christian is not going to rock any diplomatic boats in the West; but nastiness towards Muslims in China can have repercussions with the Middle East.

Further, Xinjiang is not the only part of the Chinese Empire where there are Muslims. Much of Gansu province (the venue of the story), along with Ningxia, Shaanxi, Yunnan, and pockets in Henan and Beijing itself are heavily Muslm, too.

My guess is that since the venue is Gansu province, Liu Huiwen could be getting it from both prison staff and other inmates. At this point, adherence to Communist ideology among prison staff is probably a thin veneer, and cultural identity/prejudice will probably have a lot more input into how people behave.

Posted by: Kepha at March 26, 2008 9:13 AM

you know how badly Christians and other religious are treated in Muslim majority areas by Muslims why would it be any different in a Chinese prison with a Muslim majority staff and population is lamb in my opinion is nothing more than a vehicle for Arab imperialism and unfortunately they have not really advanced in 1700 years and is still very much barbarians underneath the veneer of civilization they've managed to acquire heck most of their grandparents if not desert nomads were living as tenet farmers in one room buildings and education meant being able to memorize by rote the Koran and for the most part were illiterate and unfortunately people like that often seem to feel that their way of life is superior to those of us who are educated

Posted by: crusader at March 26, 2008 9:41 AM

So, he is in prison within a prison.
His "crime"? Just a leaflet, just something to think about....Must not think.

Posted by: interestinconundrum at March 26, 2008 10:13 AM

The Chinese treat their Muslims with kid gloves because they need oil from the Middle East, and realize that the Muslim world would treat an attack on Muslims by infidels as an attack on ALL Muslims

Like any bully, the Chinese prefer victims who don't hit back

Posted by: PapaBear at March 26, 2008 10:16 AM

"...a Muslim-majority prison,"

Now we hear of China holding a lot of Muslim prisoners. There are a lot of Muslims in prison throughout the world. Why is that?

Posted by: Isabellathecrusader at March 26, 2008 10:35 AM

I think that anyone who goes to China, especially for the Olympics, have their heads up their cheeks - the ones located below the waist.

Posted by: R_not at March 26, 2008 11:07 AM

PapaBear,

That all changed not too long ago when there was an attempted airplane hijacking by Muslim terrorists. The Chinese did fight back and they are still getting that MidEast oil.

Posted by: bigcatgirl13106 at March 26, 2008 11:28 AM

It's hardly like Chinese prisons are bastians of humanity and fairness.

Posted by: Dumbo at March 26, 2008 11:41 AM

I believe that the Chinese understand the nature of the Muslim problem much better than we do in the West and that, as a consequence, they are better able to keep their Muslims under control. Chinese Muslims (like Chinese Christians) are just that: Chinese first and Muslim second.

I was in Beijing last November and I happened to visit the 'Muslim Quarter' in Ox Street. Apart from a few very old men wearing the distinctive Muslim headpiece, you would not be aware that this was a 'Muslim area'. Indeed, there would very likely be a riot if any woman was foolish enough to walk through the streets in a burka.

I was taken by a Chinese friend to a famous Muslim restaurant on the shores of Lake Houhai where both beer and pork are served. Can you imagine a Chinese restaurant which doesn't serve pork?

Posted by: LondonBorn&Bred at March 26, 2008 1:00 PM

Once again our antagonists in the curiously named "war on terror" prove it.

Brutality Works !

Posted by: joeblough at March 26, 2008 1:20 PM

Why does allah have enemies and why does he require that fear be struck in infidel lives?

Posted by: David England at March 26, 2008 1:47 PM

"Why does allah have enemies and why does he require that fear be struck in infidel lives?"

Well, it has something to do with being punished for tempting Eve, having to slither on his belly all his days and not being allowed to create life. That's one of the reasons he hates women with such ferocity.

Posted by: Isabellathecrusader at March 26, 2008 2:03 PM

Ordinarily one would not wish the Chinese officials to behave with their wonted ruthlessness. Certainly we would not wish them to do in Tibet. When it comes to dealing with Muslims, however, a little wonted ruthlessness is something we can all contemplate with grim satisfaction, and possibly just a little envy. So one hopes they will come down hard on that apparently Muslim-dominated (by the guards? by the prisoners? by both?), not in any spirit of justice or fairness or stuff like that, but only because the Chinese must recognize that they are not threatened by those pining for an opening of lamaseries in Tibet, but by those who conduct campaigns of Da'wa, and intimidation of non-Muslims, and their efforts are not confined to Xinjiang in the West, any more than Muslim efforts at Da'wa and terrorizing of non-Muslims is confined, in the rest of the world, only to those places where Muslims are a clear majority.

So, as Glenn Headley says to Steve Martin and Michael Caine at the end of "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" -- "let's go get 'em." Some will, in dealing with Islam, then be willing to "learn from" -- as the Mao-era propaganda posters used to say --"China."

Posted by: Hugh [TypeKey Profile Page] at March 26, 2008 8:44 AM

-----------------

Have the Red Chinese encountered a strong foe or one which fights back instead of running rag-tag to some little island, or one which stands still, unarmed and quoting Thomas Jefferson while Mongolian peasants drive over them with tanks, or the millions starved out, or the naive countless who happened to show up on a list somewhere as being unreformable and, therefore, to be exterminated, or Buddhist monks and their genuflecting populace.

Red China hasn't been involved in a straight up fight.

Posted by: Hyman Roth at March 26, 2008 6:23 PM

Hyman Roth: Actually, in 1950, when Communist China attacked Jinmen Island (after the Nationalist government retreated to Taiwan), they took a drubbing from the much reduced "hard core" of the Nationalist Army. That and the Korean War are reasons why Taiwan is still separate.

One reason why the Eastern Turkestan problem is such a perennial tough nut is because the resistence there is willing to bleed and let bleed.

Posted by: Kepha at March 27, 2008 9:12 AM

Isabella said "...There are a lot of Muslims in prison throughout the world. Why is that?"

There are a lot of Muslims in the World. If they are predominant in any particular place it's only logical that they will also be predominant in the criminal population (in that place).
As much as I'd like to blame their, ummm, 'culture', it's more likely it's because they're human.

What's missing from the original posted info is what they're in prison FOR! Cuba's prison population tends to get a free pass from N.A.media because we know that a lot of them are guilty only of aggravating the Communist machine. Amongst them however, are the same sociopaths and scammers found everywhere else in the world.

Posted by: DaninVan at March 27, 2008 3:11 PM

The unholy trinity

Nazism + Communism + Islamism = Nazislamism

The latest and most complete form of totalitarianism.

For the first time in history Communists and nazis are united in supporting Islam.

Posted by: Stephen Gash SIOE England at March 27, 2008 10:28 PM

For the first time in history Communists and nazis are united in supporting Islam.

Posted by: Stephen Gash SIOE England at March 27, 2008 10:28 PM

That's a very interesting point. Do you believe that Nazism has a large following in today's world? That may be a stupid question, but I tend to think of Nazis as yesterday's villians except for a handful here and there.

I can understand why Nazis would support islam/muslims due to their mutual hatred of Jews, but why godless commies? Religion is anathema to communists, at least it used to be. I have noticed how the Christian-hating ACLU grovels to muslims in America while simultaneously bashing Christians and Christianity at every opportunity. They are closet communists who call themselves "progressives" like Madame Clinton, and many of them are secular Jews. They have actually teamed up with CAIR to promote the islamic agenda--sickening and suicidal!

Another mystery to me is why so many Jews are Democrats and why many believe that Christians are more of a threat than muslims. I cannot undo the injustices inflicted upon Jews by Christians long ago but I am confident they are ancient history. The onslaught against Jews by muslims has been consistent for almost 1400 years! Muslims are the most passionate haters among humankind and their venomous abhorrence appears to intensify with each new generation. No sign of mellow muslims on the horizon. The average person, whether Christian or not, is simply incapable of feeling the depth and intensity of hatred that is inherent in muslims, especially their profound detestation of Jews. After sixty years of continuous muslim assaults on Israel and the perfidious "refugee" debacle in Palestine, perpetuated by the insidious United Nothing, surely Jews realize that muslims are their eternal and deadly enemies.

Posted by: Susanp at March 28, 2008 1:52 AM