four times the size of California in the northwestern part of the country . Reports vary on the number of people killed , ranging from around 200 to many more . The problems began in late June , after two Uyghur migrant workers at a toy factory in Guangdong province were killed after a brawl between Uyghurs and ethnic Han Chinese -- the majority group in China . Uyghurs protested in Urumqi , the Xinjiang capital , hundreds of miles from the toy factory . Uyghurs and Han reportedly attacked each other . Nur Bekri , the Chinese government 's top official in Xinjiang , accused Kadeer and the World Uyghur Congress she leads of instigating the unrest via the Internet . `` The violence is premeditated , organized violent crime , '' Bekri said . `` It was instigated and directed from abroad and carried out by outlaws in the country . '' China 's constitution guarantees ethnic minorities equal rights and limited autonomy . And the Chinese government has implemented several programs designed to help ethnic minorities , but Kadeer says China still treats Uyghurs as second-class citizens -- and she blames China for most of the recent
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- She 's been compared to the Dalai Lama , the Chinese Tibetan Buddhist leader , but the name Rebiya Kadeer does n't ring a bell to many people outside of China . Rebiya Kadeer has been dubbed `` the Mother of All Uyghurs . '' Nevertheless , the world-famous man and the relatively obscure woman share similarities that chime with political relevance . A diminutive northern Virginia resident , Kadeer has emerged as the voice of the restive but relatively unknown Uyghur Muslims , a Turkic-speaking ethnic minority in China , and the group 's far-flung diaspora . And like the Dalai Lama , she 's revered by supporters and reviled by the Chinese government . `` Even though one is a man , and the other is a woman , they have one thing in common , and that is they engage in activities to split the motherland and damage national unity , '' said Qin Gang , a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry . Kadeer , 62 , emerged in the world media spotlight after China blamed her for stoking July 's unrest in China 's remote Xinjiang Autonomous Region , an area