JOURNAL: Leveraging Information Terrain

The Uighur protest/riot/crackdown in China provides some interesting data points on the uses of information terrain to disrupt social networks.  Note the amplification.

1. Rumors led to postings on the Internet that two Uighur men raped a Han woman at a Toy factory in Xinjiang.
2. An angry mob of Han men lynch two Uighur men, killing them. 
3. Pictures/video of the dead men are posted to the Internet. Here's one: "Chinese Commies Massacre Innocent Uyghur Workers 3"
4. Protest forms to march against the lynching.   
5. Combination of angry protestors and a harsh paramilitary response (China has a 1 million man paramilitary force to squelch domestic unrest) lead to a riot.  Cars, businesses are burned. 1,400 Uighurs are arrested.
6. Pictures of the crackdown by the paramilitaries are broadcast via the Internet/cell phones.  Also real-time news via SMS and Twitter flows out. 
7. The government restricts cell phone usage and shuts down Twitter and other social software systems in the area.  Images and information on the crackdown are "harmonized" (the creepy term for Chinese censorship). 
8. Pictures of Uighur violence against Han citizens (beatings, etc.) are allowed to spread and amplified by the official media.  Han gangs roam the streets beating Uighurs.  The army sets up curfew.
9. Official government media creates disinformation/information sites and equates the riots to terrorism.  Many Uighurs flee to avoid Han violence.  Tensions/anger on both sides is explosive.

Comments

[Andrew Yeoman]

This reminds me of how the same issues are presented in California, in the media and government response one group is always a victim, the other group is always an aggressor. Here's a recent incident in Ohio that illustrates how this kind of violence is spiraling: http://www.ohio.com/news/50172282.html

[James Bowery]

One child per family -> high male to female ratio.

I was warning people 30 years ago to start teaching their daughters Chinese.

[Chris]

When the next American Revolution takes place do you think FEDGOV will act differently?

[Duncan Kinder]

All of this is possible because the Chinese government appears to be inside the Uighur's OODA loops.

[dagezhu]

Good link, Andrew Yeoman.

Max and 111, I can't see your comments!

The Chinese government is increasingly aggressive on several fronts: diplomacy with SCO, border disputes with India, annexation attempts regarding Taiwan...

[JR]

Duncan, not sure I would conclude that, at least during the initial phases. Responding to the event quickly with video/etc. was inside the Chinese gov'ts loop.

[Wedding Girl]

You have to expect the government to always frame the facts in the light that makes them look best.

[dagezhu]

"The current outbreak of riots and unrest in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang in the northwest part of China, exploded on July 5 local time.

According to the website of the World Uyghur Congress, the “trigger” for the riots was an alleged violent attack on June 26 in China’s southern Guangdong Province at a toy factory where the WUC alleges that Han Chinese workers attacked and beat to death two Uyghur workers for allegedly raping or sexually molesting two Han Chinese women workers in the factory. On July 1, the Munich arm of the WUC issued a worldwide call for protest demonstrations against Chinese embassies and consulates for the alleged Guangdong attack, despite the fact they admitted the details of the incident were unsubstantiated and filled with allegations and dubious reports.

According to a press release they issued, it was that June 26 alleged attack that gave the WUC the grounds to issue their worldwide call to action.

On July 5, a Sunday in Xinjiang but still the USA Independence Day, July 4, in Washington, the WUC in Washington claimed that Han Chinese armed soldiers seized any Uyghur they found on the streets and according to official Chinese news reports, widespread riots and burning of cars along the streets of Urumqi broke out resulting over the following three days in over 140 deaths.

China’s official Xinhua News Agency said that protesters from the Uighur Muslim ethnic minority group began attacking ethnic Han pedestrians, burning vehicles and attacking buses with batons and rocks. "They took to the street...carrying knives, wooden batons, bricks and stones," they cited an eyewitness as saying. The French AFP news agency quoted Alim Seytoff, general secretary of the Uighur American Association in Washington, that according to his information, police had begun shooting "indiscriminately" at protesting crowds.

Two different versions of the same events: The Chinese government and pictures of the riots indicate it was Uyghur riot and attacks on Han Chinese residents that resulted in deaths and destruction. French official reports put the blame on Chinese police “shooting indiscriminately.” Significantly, the French AFP report relies on the NED-funded Uyghur American Association of Rebiya Kadeer for its information. The reader should judge if the AFP account might be motivated by a US geopolitical agenda, a deeper game from the Obama Administration towards China’s economic future.

Is it merely coincidence that the riots in Xinjiang by Uyghur organizations broke out only days after the meeting took place in Yakaterinburg, Russia of the member nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as well as Iran as official observer guest, represented by President Ahmadinejad? "

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14327

[Claymore]

This is how you agitate an insurgency and disrupt China's energy corridor ;)

[Claymore]

"All of this is possible because the Chinese government appears to be inside the Uighur's OODA loops."

This is not a dogfight, tank battle, or no where near as fluid. Being faster than your opponent does not mean you are inside their ooda loop. I say the Uighurs are inside China's ooda loop. They are smart enough to gambit the power of ethnic strife and coerce the han into losing their moral ground. It is classical David vs Goliath. Just watch, you will see jihadists recruiting and open sourcing off the internet just like they did in Chechya, Iraq, Afghanistan, ect. The shit should hit the fan here shortly :)

[Claymore]

Need I say more?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6DLGShOnEg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlgtxFIsmgo

:)