Originally published by THE ASAHI SHIMBUN,17 May 2010-05-17

 By Naoko Mizutani

It was supposed to be my first visit to China in four and a half years. However, when I arrived in Beijing airport on Feb. 27, I was refused entry. Two hours later, I had to board the same plane that brought me there to return to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.

Last summer, three weeks after riots broke out in Urumqi, the capital city of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in northwestern China, I invited Rebiya Kadeer, president of the World Uighur Congress, to give a talk in Tokyo, serving as her guarantor. The congress is an international organization of exiled Uighur people. Since I had published a book about Uighurs who were imprisoned, I knew that I was not welcome by Chinese authorities.

As soon as the All Nippon Airways flight landed in Beijing, there was an announcement on the PA system, asking passengers to stay seated until further notice from immigration control. Then, my name was called twice. I was asked to alight from the aircraft before the other passengers and was met by four or five immigration control officers at the hatch. They asked me to accompany them to an office at the back of the immigration counter. A young man videotaped me from the moment I left the aircraft.

In the office, two young women sat by my side to keep an eye on me. They neither questioned me nor went through my luggage but simply kept me waiting in that room. They seemed determined to avoid getting into an argument with me.

About two hours after my arrival, a middle-aged man entered the room to inform me that I was refused entry into China and asked me to return to Japan on the next flight.

Since he did not give a reason, I demanded to see his superior. Soon, an ill-tempered man appeared. In answer to my demand for an explanation, he simply said that he would not give a reason because it is the right of a sovereign state to decide whether to allow entry of foreign nationals.

When I switched on my cellphone to call a friend who was waiting for me in the airport’s arrival lounge, the middle-aged man said in a sullen tone: “That is not allowed. If you use it, we will use force.” That was the only time Chinese officials threatened me.

The refusal for entry this time was a warning that China is determined not to allow the entry of foreigners who extended favors to persons that the Chinese communist government regards as its political enemies. It clearly shows that control of free speech by Chinese authorities is also targeted at foreigners.

After the incident, a reporter of the Global Times, a daily Chinese newspaper, tried to smear me by labeling me “a Xinjiang pro-independence element.” But the criticism is off the mark.

As a researcher of modern Chinese history, I invited Rebiya to Japan because I believe we should also listen to people whose views differ from those of their governments.

Up to now, I have always maintained that “as a Japanese, I have nothing to do with such matters as independence, which is up to the people of Xinjiang to decide.” I have made an effort to prevent the issue from being used to incite nationalism or provoke confrontation between states.

While I am disappointed at the way Chinese security authorities treated me, I am even more chagrined at China’s suppression of free speech.

I urge the Chinese government to change its political stance into one that can be supported by diversified people who live in Xinjiang. Instead of controlling speech and thoughts with terror and force, I want Beijing to make a serious effort to realize equality between its ethnic minorities and the Chinese people.

Naoko Mizutani is a researcher of modern Chinese history.

http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201005160156.html