Several weeks ago, Google announced that because of a "highly sophisticated attack" on the e-mail accounts of Chinese dissidents, that the company would no longer filter Google search results in that country.  As search engines are required to agree to this stipulation in order to operate in China, many suspect that this will lead to Google's eventual withdrawal from the country. Because of the size of China's population (and what this means for Google's market share), Google's increasing entrance into other product markets (operating systems and cell phones), and the increasing importance of China as a world power, this announcement was almost entirely unexpected. And despite the view articulated in the Business Week article linked above, although there may be some business considerations for the decision, when Google announced the decision, the reasons articulated had nothing to do with profits, but were about people.

I have shared several times in previous blogs about the Uyghurs, a minority Muslim people group in Western China.

The men in this video are mutual friends of people I know who are working, or had worked, in Kashgar. Since this video was made, these men were sentenced to fifteen years in hard labor camps. Please keep them and their families in your prayers. "Remember your brothers in chains," Hebrews tells us.

Below is an excerpt from an article on ChinaAid.org regarding a man with whom I have mutual friends. He has been in prison for a year and a half, and his trial is scheduled for tomorrow. In light of the conflict in the Xinjiang region of China, things are not hopeful for Alim, apart from a mighty act of God. 

Please pray for Alim's trial tomorrow.

XINJIANG – The trial for Uyghur Christian prisoner Alimujiang Yimiti has been set for the morning of July 28. Alimujiang Yimiti has been arbitrarily detained at Kashi Municipal Detention center since January 12, 2008, charged with “revealing state secrets or intelligence to overseas organizations.” However, ChinaAid contacts say the reason for his imprisonment is his Christian faith and witness among the Uyghur people.

Following is a link to an excellent article by Nicholas Bequelin of Human Rights Watch explaining the background of recent ethnic violence in Xinjiang.  I highly recommend it.

Please continue to pray for this broken region.

Behind the Violence in Xinjiang

HONG KONG — The eruption of ethnic violence in China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, the most deadly recorded in decades, seems to have taken both Beijing and the world by surprise. It should not have.

The violence continues in western China, and more deaths are reported. From CNN.com ("Ethnic Unrest in China Leads to Mass Arrests"):

"Police halted people who had gathered in nearby Yili Kazak Prefecture and Aksu City and dispersed more than 200 people who had tried to gather in nearby Kashgar at the Id Kah Mosque, the largest mosque in China, the news agency said.

Along the road into Kashgar from the airport, many areas were deserted; residents said police had set up blockades in some areas and were rerouting traffic.

The regional public security department put the toll from riots at 156 deaths and more than 800 injuries, according to Xinhua, the state-run news agency."