A Painful Event: why only a woman and a child in the Uyghurs game poster and why Twitter of Taiwanese board game “Reversed Front” Suspended
Reversed Front Gaming, Translated by: Hong Kong Echo
The idea behind the Uyghur illustration in “Reversed Front”
Some asked us why the character designs for different camps look valiant, but only the Uyghuria camp is illustrated as a woman and a child? This is because the developers wish all players would remember The 2014 Yarkand Massacre.
The drawing here is to commemorate thousands of Uyghur women and children who died in the 2014 Yarkand Massacre. They have been brutally killed by Chinese soldiers. Soldiers destroyed and rolled over civilian houses by tanks then carried away bodies with big trucks.
The boy in the drawing is holding a Yengisar dagger. He protects his family until the end despits his fear. Even though he is just a fragile kid, Uyghurs do not fear death. They would rather fight to the death than run away. The kid is as brave as all of his fellow East Turkestan warriors.
Taiwanese artist put this design into the game to hope everyone in the world remembers Yarkand Massacre.
Below is a message delivered by Uyghur survivors: (Source in reference 1)
On July 28, in the numbers 14, 15, and 16 villages in Ailixihu Township, Shache County, Xinjiang, the village women gathered to recite passages from the Koran on the last night of the holy month of Ramadan. There were 45 women altogether. The village men were at the mosque. Chinese government soldiers and police came to where the women were praying with their children and began shooting them to death. More than 50 people were killed. When the men came back the soldiers and police were gone. The furious men carried the corpses to the police station and were arrested for attempting to attack a police station. The village imam that night drove to 3-4 neighboring villages announcing “Our women and children were slaughtered, can we continue to stand idly by? Where is our faith? This is a holy war!” When the authorities heard about this, they dispatched more soldiers and there was another bloodbath.
After the three villages were bombed, soldiers entered to finish off survivors and the wounded. Some victims’ heads were even cut off. Children who had not yet been weaned, women still recovering from childbirth, the elderly… each and every resident of the three villages were killed, with the exception of servants of the Chinese state. Seventeen Uyghur military police responsible for finishing off the massacre lied and reported that they had not found any survivors. However, when the village party secretary reported that thirteen survivors still remained, these seventeen Uyghur military police were executed on the spot. The remaining thirteen survivors were also brought out to be executed: among them was an elderly man, a mother who had recently given birth, and a few children. After the massacre in these three villages, they continued on to nearby Nuoheshigeman, Naxikuduke Village as well as nearby Huangdi , East Bage, West Airike, and other nearby villages to continue their killing. They sealed off East Bage on one side and West Airike on the other, preventing anyone from leaving or entering these four villages, where the killing continues. They have also been frantically arresting people in Gulibage, Tuomuniaositang, Wodanlike, Qiareke, Tahaqi, Pakeqi, Misha, Yishikuli and other townships in the interior of the Ye’erqiang River. And they have not even shown any mercy to those marking the end of Ramadan. As a result, people have been afraid to gather together to mark the end of Ramadan, because groups of even two or three people together will all be arrested. It is still not clear how many died in Huangdi, because it is still impossible for anyone besides the military to enter this village. I personally saw a person who broke down in tears because his 7-year-old daughter and uncles were killed, but he could not make it to Ailixihu. The mutilated bodies were carried away on a truck. Heads and limbs were strewn on the road behind it, but anyone attempting to pick these parts up and give them a proper burial was arrested.
Compatriots, Ailixihu is the largest township in Shache. The smallest township already has a population of 500 to 600, so it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to estimate that between 3000 and 5000 people were killed in Ailixihu. In fact, the actual numbers may be even higher. They have tightly sealed off all channels of information. Three Uyghur military police who leaked information about these events were executed. Compatriots, every word that I write here is true.
*For more information, please read reference 1
Why would the official Twitter account get suspended
The official Twitter account of “Reversed Front” has been suspended. Many fans asked why “Reversed Front” got neither an official website nor an official social media account. And this is the risk, any pages involve in promoting the game would be attacked and reported by the Chinese internet water army (commonly known as “Wumao”).
“Reversed Front” combines elements including actual historical event, revealing Communist Party of China (CCP)’s evil acts and proposing anti-CCP strategies. It did scare the hell out of Chinese online police despite being a board game.
Perhaps the Wumaos would tease the game for only stroking Taiwanese’s ego. However, why would the official Twitter account get suspended if it was of no threat at all?
We won’t submit to CCP’s suppression. We will uphold freedom of speech and continue to draw and work on our game. The fundraising campaign would eventually happen no matter how they attack us.
If things go well the board game would release a Chinese version in 2020 and an English version in 2021.
Source:
https://www.surveycake.com/s/P4qny
https://linktr.ee/ReversedFront
#Genocide #YarkandMassacre #2014 #Uyghurs #China #Killings #Ramadan #CommunistParty