She is likely to arouse even more anger by her claim Wednesday that nearly 10,000 people "disappeared in one night" during ethnic unrest early this month in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang region, home to most Uighurs.

China accuses the US-based Kadeer of instigating the July 5 riots that the government says left nearly 200 people dead, and has now expressed anger at her current trip to Japan.

The 62-year-old grandmother and mother-of-11 spent six years in prison in China before being deported in March 2005 to join her family in the United States.

The former millionaire businesswoman, who calls herself the "daughter of the Uighur people" was once touted by the government as a role model for the country's women.

But Beijing turned on her over a decade ago after her Uighur husband, Sidik Rouzi, a former political prisoner, fled China for the United States in 1996.

Kadeer was detained in August 1999, on her way to meet a visiting delegation from the US Congressional Research Service to complain about political prisoners in Xinjiang. Beijing jailed her for endangering national security.

"I am now free and I hope my people will also be free some day," she said.

Beijing has denounced her as a terrorist and separatist who is "not qualified" to represent the Uighurs.

The Chinese government says she is responsible for the riots in Xinjiang that killed at least 197 people and led to the arrests of hundreds, according to state media. Kadeer strongly refutes those charges.

"These accusations are completely false. I did not organize the protests or call on people to demonstrate," she has said.

State media said the deaths occurred when Muslim Uighurs went on a rampage in some of the deadliest ethnic unrest in China in decades.

But Uighur leaders said the riots started after Chinese police attacked a peaceful protest.

An autonomous region bordering Afghanistan and central Asia that is four times the size of California, Xinjiang has long seethed with anger over allegations of Chinese political, cultural and religious repression.

Kadeer, a forceful speaker with an infectious smile, has said some 100,000 Uighurs are languishing in jail for their political and religious beliefs.

Since her release from prison four years ago, she and her family have been plagued by troubles, including the dissolution of her businesses in Urumqi, and the detention of four children who remain in China.

Before her arrest, Kadeer was a successful entrepreneur who also ran the 1,000 Families Mothers' Project, which helped Uighur women start businesses.

She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 and is the subject of a documentary called "Ten Conditions of Love" which premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival on Sunday.

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