March 28, 2005

Peaceful Freedom and the Red Light on the Silk Road

According to KyrgyzInfo, a non-state information agency, there were either 67 or 76 requests for medical care during the protests in Bishkek which toppled the government.

As revolutions go, that's not a bad record.

There is still confusion as to whether the old bicameral parliament or the new unicameral body is the one with the powers to legislate. For now the executive branch of government seems fairly stable and that should see the country through this time of transition.

One neighbour not happy with developments in Kyrgyzstan is China. According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, China has closed its border.

China has a large Uighur (or Uyghur) population in the adjoining and aptly named Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. "Autonomous" means "you can do what you want, as long as you want to do exactly as we have told you to do." In this area is also known as East Turkestan, Beijing has two overriding interests: to protect the borders of its empire and to prevent any of the ethnic groups it oppresses from getting a whiff of freedom.

Posted by david at March 28, 2005 12:41 AM
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