A prominent Uyghur organization in exile is challenging Chinese claims that the atack in which a car killed two people and wounded 38 others in Beijing's Tiananmen Square is the responsibility of Uyghur terrorists. The action also killed three men who were inside the vehicle. Police investigation is not yet closed, but police sources say that those inside the car were Uyghurs (an ethnic group originating in East Turkestan, a vast territory in Northwest China).

Similarly, the Chinese police has started looking for people suspected of having collaborated with the attack. The suspects, Voice of America reports, include seven people whose names are Uyghur and one person with a Chinese name.

The Tiananmen events have happened three weeks after the most recent repressive wave by the Chinese authorities in East Turkestan. During the first days of October, 139 Uyghurs were arrested for allegedly having spread jihadist propaganda through internet. The arrests were the culmination of a process against people using new technologies out of the authorities' control. According to Beijing's official version, those arrested where militants who help "terrorist", "fundamentalist" and "separatist" "attacks in the region".

World Uyghur Congress is skeptical about the official version

The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) has voiced skepticism about allegations from Beijing. Regarding the Tiananmen action, WUC -an organization which is based in Washington and is accused by China of helping the interests of US foreign policy- has said that the incident is unclear. The Uyghur organization wonders why the Chinese police arrested several journalists who wanted to report on the attack from Tiananmen. WUC fears that Bejing will use the attack as an excuse to "further impose repressive measures on the Uyghur people".

Regarding the early October arrests, WUC spokesman Dilshat Rexit said that the arrested ones were not terrorists, but people who "expressed discontent with Chinese rule and systematic repression in the area". According to Rexit, Beijing's real goal is to "suppress Uyghurs' use of the Internet to obtain information and express different points of view".