Situation in China city volatile despite police crackdown
Financial Times
Published: September 04, 2009, 22:58
Urumqi: A crowd confronted anti-riot police in China's western city of Urumqi yesterday, when hundreds of Han Chinese tried to push past security barriers into an ethnic Uighur neighbourhood.
The confrontation came a day after thousands of Han Chinese took to the streets in Urumqi, regional capital of Xinjiang province, protesting that they were the targets of mysterious attacks with syringes and authorities had been too slow to punish Uighur rioters behind deadly ethnic violence on July 5.
China announced arrests and indictments over the July 5 violence between majority Han Chinese and Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim people native to the region, as officials sought to prevent fresh protests by Han Chinese demanding protection.
But the flare-up showed the city remains volatile despite a security crackdown.
"They have no right to block off the road like this. These Uighurs have been stabbing us with needles," one of the men trying to push through the barriers, sealing off a Uighur neighbourhood, said.
"We need to take care of the problem."
Thousands of Han Chinese protested in Urumqi on Thursday. Some demanded the resignation of the region's veteran Communist Party Secretary after a wave of reports of attacks with syringes.
Later, city streets were empty and guarded by troops carrying riot shields and rifles after authorities imposed a night-time curfew in response to the noisy 3,000-strong gathering in People's Square.
But the Xinjiang Daily, the region's official newspaper, raised the political stakes by saying that the syringe stabbings were part of a plot by separatist forces to sow conflict.
"They wantonly used this despicable method to sow mayhem and rile public feeling, further inciting ethnic hatred and antagonism," the paper said in an editorial.
China says Uighurs campaigning for independence have allied themselves with militants throughout the region, and there has been violence and sometimes deadly bomb attacks on government offices in Xinjiang.
Police and anti-riot troops would strengthen their presence on buses and in public places to deter attacks, the paper said.
The July 5 protest by Uighurs led to a spree of violence across the city in which 197 people were killed, most of them Han Chinese. Two days later, Uighur neighbourhoods in the city were attacked by Han Chinese demanding revenge.
Xinjiang's population is divided mainly between Uighurs, who were long the region's majority group, and Han Chinese, many of whom moved there in recent decades. Most Urumqi residents are Han.
Residents said the latest protests over the reports of syringe attacks also reflected Han Chinese feeling that punishment over the July rioting was too slow in coming.
The Xinjiang government, apparently trying to staunch that anger, announced on Thursday that 196 suspects have been charged over the July riot. Fifty-one were indicted and will face prosecution.
The announcement was reported by Xinhua news agency late on Thursday, and a similar message was sent via text messages to Urumqi residents by the government from Wednesday evening.
Financial Times
Published: September 04, 2009, 22:58
Urumqi: A crowd confronted anti-riot police in China's western city of Urumqi yesterday, when hundreds of Han Chinese tried to push past security barriers into an ethnic Uighur neighbourhood.
The confrontation came a day after thousands of Han Chinese took to the streets in Urumqi, regional capital of Xinjiang province, protesting that they were the targets of mysterious attacks with syringes and authorities had been too slow to punish Uighur rioters behind deadly ethnic violence on July 5.
China announced arrests and indictments over the July 5 violence between majority Han Chinese and Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim people native to the region, as officials sought to prevent fresh protests by Han Chinese demanding protection.
But the flare-up showed the city remains volatile despite a security crackdown.
"They have no right to block off the road like this. These Uighurs have been stabbing us with needles," one of the men trying to push through the barriers, sealing off a Uighur neighbourhood, said.
"We need to take care of the problem."
Thousands of Han Chinese protested in Urumqi on Thursday. Some demanded the resignation of the region's veteran Communist Party Secretary after a wave of reports of attacks with syringes.
Later, city streets were empty and guarded by troops carrying riot shields and rifles after authorities imposed a night-time curfew in response to the noisy 3,000-strong gathering in People's Square.
But the Xinjiang Daily, the region's official newspaper, raised the political stakes by saying that the syringe stabbings were part of a plot by separatist forces to sow conflict.
"They wantonly used this despicable method to sow mayhem and rile public feeling, further inciting ethnic hatred and antagonism," the paper said in an editorial.
China says Uighurs campaigning for independence have allied themselves with militants throughout the region, and there has been violence and sometimes deadly bomb attacks on government offices in Xinjiang.
Police and anti-riot troops would strengthen their presence on buses and in public places to deter attacks, the paper said.
The July 5 protest by Uighurs led to a spree of violence across the city in which 197 people were killed, most of them Han Chinese. Two days later, Uighur neighbourhoods in the city were attacked by Han Chinese demanding revenge.
Xinjiang's population is divided mainly between Uighurs, who were long the region's majority group, and Han Chinese, many of whom moved there in recent decades. Most Urumqi residents are Han.
Residents said the latest protests over the reports of syringe attacks also reflected Han Chinese feeling that punishment over the July rioting was too slow in coming.
The Xinjiang government, apparently trying to staunch that anger, announced on Thursday that 196 suspects have been charged over the July riot. Fifty-one were indicted and will face prosecution.
The announcement was reported by Xinhua news agency late on Thursday, and a similar message was sent via text messages to Urumqi residents by the government from Wednesday evening.
