History Professor William Wei at the University of Colorado at Boulder is an expert on China and can discuss the current ethnic clashes in western China.
According to Wei, the people in Urumqi have many legitimate grievances that are being ignored by the government.
"Instead of the government addressing these grievances, it has chosen the hard-line approach of suppressing these protests and prefers to focus on limiting information about them," Wei said. "The latter is nearly impossible in the information age. Authoritarian governments such as China and Iran have a tendency to follow this pattern drawn from a rather thin playbook."
Wei spent part of the summer of 2008 in western China.
Wei can be reached by calling 303-492-7655 or by e-mail at William.Wei@Colorado.EDU.
Associate Professor Timothy Weston of the CU-Boulder history department can comment on political movements in China, as well as how the government is responding.
Weston can be reached by e-mail at Weston@Colorado.EDU.
Or contact Dirk Martin in the CU-Boulder Office of Media Relations and News Services at 303-492-6431 or dirk.martin@colorado.edu.
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