China riots: 140 killed, 816 injured (Update-China)

October 8th, 2009 BEIJING - A prominent Al-Qaida militant has threatened to attack China in retaliation for the July 5 riots in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. The clash between the Han Chinese and Uighur communities had left 197 dead and 1,700 injured.

September 28th, 2009 URUMQI - The Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region legislature has passed a regulation prohibiting the instigation of ethnic separatist activities via the Internet, The China Daily reports. Online activities compromising national security, damaging national and social interests, undermining ethnic unity, instigating ethnic secession and harming social stability will be severely punished, according to the regulation.

September 25th, 2009 China charges 21 with murder in July riotsBEIJING — Chinese prosecutors brought murder and arson charges Friday against 21 people arrested in connection with riots in July that left nearly 200 dead in Urumqi. The riots in the capital of the western region of Xinjiang saw Muslim Uighurs attack members of the country's dominant Han ethnic group, followed two days later by Han attacks on Uighurs.

August 24th, 2009 BEIJING - Over 200 suspects have been arrested to face trial for their alleged involvement in Xinjiang's riots, China's deadliest in 50 years. The trials are expected to start this week in the capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in Northwest China.

August 9th, 2009 China reports bomb threat on plane in XinjiangBEIJING —China's state news agency says there has been a bomb threat on a plane from Afghanistan scheduled to land in Xinjiang, the restive western region of China that was rocked by ethnic riots last month. Xinhua News Agency earlier said the incident was a hijacking.

August 4th, 2009 URUMQI - Chinese authorities Tuesday formally arrested 83 people in connection with the July 5 riots that left 197 people dead and more than 1,600 injured in the country's northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, officials said. Prosecutor Utiku'er Abudrehman made the announcement at a press conference in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

August 3rd, 2009 URUMQI - Police in China's northwestern Xinjiang province have detained 319 more people in connection with the July 5 riots in this provincial capital. The arrests were made after the police said to have detained 1,572 people in connection with the clashes in which 197 people were killed and hundreds were injured.

July 30th, 2009 China issues most-wanted list for Xinjiang riotsBEIJING — China released a most-wanted list Thursday of 15 people it is seeking for their alleged roles in the worst ethnic violence to hit the country in decades. The government says 197 people died and more than 1,700 were wounded in the riots that broke out earlier this month in the western region of Xinjiang between minority Muslim Uighurs and majority Han Chinese.

July 29th, 2009 Uighur activist demands investigation of missingTOKYO — An exiled Uighur activist blamed by China for deadly ethnic riots demanded Wednesday that Beijing allow an international investigation into the disappearances of about 10,000 Uighur protesters she said are still missing. The July 5 riots in China's western region of Xinjiang in which the minority Muslim Uighurs clashed with majority Han Chinese were the country's worst ethnic violence in decades.

July 21st, 2009 BEIJING — China on Tuesday defended its policies on ethnic minorities, saying the violence in Xinjiang that killed nearly 200 people this month was triggered by separatists and not its treatment of Uighurs. During a televised news conference, the vice minister of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission blamed an underground separatist movement of Muslim, Turkic-speaking Uighurs and said China will never tolerate secession in its far western region.

July 9th, 2009 More than 300 injured by quake in ChinaBEIJING — State media says an earthquake has rocked southwestern China and injured at least 336 people. The Xinhua News Agency said the magnitude-6.0 quake in Yunnan province damaged some 2,700 homes on Thursday night.

July 6th, 2009 BEIJING - At least four persons, including three civilians and a policeman, were killed, and 20 were injured in clashes on Sunday in a regional capital in western China after days of rising tensions between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese. The rioting broke out Sunday afternoon in a large market area of Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang province, reports the New York Times.

July 3rd, 2009 China says deadly bus fire was deliberately setBEIJING — A Chinese bus fire that killed 27 people and injured dozens last month was deliberately set by a man who committed suicide, state media said Friday. The air-conditioned bus caught fire during the morning rush hour in the southwestern city of Chengdu and was destroyed within minutes.

June 21st, 2009 16 people killed in eastern China factory blastBEIJING — An explosion at a factory in eastern China killed 16 people and injured dozens early Sunday, authorities said. The blast happened at 3 a.m.

June 3rd, 2009 BEIJING - Extremist activities in China's Kashi region have taken a major hit with China destroying seven terrorist cells. Kashi which shares a border with India, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, has long served as a launching ground for terrorists, reports Ciu Jia.