China police patrol tense but calm city after riot
URUMQI, China — Security forces kept a firm grip on the tense Xinjiang capital Thursday after days of ethnic violence that left 156 dead, as residents tentatively emerged to go about daily life.
Crowds of Han Chinese, China’s dominant ethnic group, cheered as trucks full of police and covered in banners reading, “We must defeat the terrorists” and “Oppose ethnic separatism and hatred,” rumbled by. But minority Uighurs in Urumqi became far more fearful about talking to reporters.
The government followed the region’s worst ethnic violence in decades with a dose of fresh propaganda, putting red stickers up outside apartment compounds saying, “Don’t listen to any rumors ” and “Keep calm and maintain public order.”
A heavy security presence remained, and military helicopters flew over the city of 2.3 million. Police in various neighborhoods unloaded truckloads of vegetables, where they were sold on sidewalks so people kept from local markets by the chaos would have something to buy.
With the city apparently under control, the next major test will come Friday, when large numbers of the largely Muslim Uighurs gather for their weekly prayers.
Officials have said 156 people were killed and more than 1,100 people hurt as the Turkic-speaking Uighurs ran amok in the city on Sunday, angry over the deaths last month of Uighur factory workers during a brawl in southern China.
The Uighurs (pronounced WEE-gers) say security forces gunned down many of Sunday’s protesters. Officials have yet to give an ethnic breakdown of those killed.
In response to the riot, hundreds of Han Chinese rampaged through the city Tuesday with sticks and meat cleavers, looking for Uighurs and revenge.
The violence forced President Hu Jintao to cut short a trip to Italy, where he was to participate in a Group of Eight summit and hold talks with U.S. President Barack Obama. Hu has not spoken publicly since his return Wednesday.
The People’s Daily, the ruling Communist Party’s main newspaper, ran an editorial Thursday saying the violence was “in extreme violation of China’s laws.”
Top leaders in Urumqi have said the rioters will be dealt with severely, and the official Xinhua News Agency said the prosecutors in Xinjiang had picked their “best workers” to investigate the riots.
State television Thursday showed repeated footage of China’s top police officer, Public Security Minister Meng Jiangzhu, touring areas of Urumqi (pronounced uh-ROOM-chee).
Fear was almost palpable in Saimachang, a Uighur neighborhood where two days ago a large group of sobbing women scuffled with police and accused them of rounding up their husbands and sons as suspects in the rioting.
On Thursday the Uighurs were far more cautious.
“We can’t tell the truth, my friend,” said one elderly man who would not give his name.
One woman led an Associated Press reporter to her home in a back alley. Four women quickly gathered and began complaining about their missing husbands and sons.
“The men they arrested still have not returned,” said one woman, who said her name was Guli. “It has been three days and we haven’t been able to talk with them. We have no news.”
After an hour, a Uighur official approached reporters and politely asked everyone to leave.
Government officials and state media continued to accuse U.S.-exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer and her overseas followers of being behind the violence. She has denied the allegations and accused China of inciting the violence.
Related News
Those spreading rumours will face jail terms in Xinjiang: Chinese authoritiesSeptember 8th, 2009 URUMQI - Authorities in riot-hit Chinese city of Urumqi have announced that those found spreading rumours will be jailed. In order to maintain peace between fighting Han Chinese and Uighur groups, police has also threatened that needle attackers would be liable to death penalty.
Life returns to normal in Xinjiang capitalSeptember 6th, 2009 URUMQI - Life gradually returned to normalcy Sunday in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang region Sunday, where police have eased traffic restrictions imposed in the wake of public protests. The city had witnessed widespread protests in the past several days after many people were stabbed by syringes.
Witnesses report new protest in western Chinese city Urumqi, torn by July ethnic riotingSeptember 3rd, 2009 New protest reported in China city of UrumqiBEIJING — Witnesses report a new protest has broken out in the western Chinese city of Urumqi, which was torn by deadly ethnic rioting in July. People living near the city center reached by telephone said hundreds, possibly thousands of members of China's majority Han ethnic group had gathered downtown to denounce the regional government and deteriorating law and order in the city.
China formally arrests 83 people over riotsAugust 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.
Friday prayers cancelled in riot-hit Urumqi: ReportJuly 10th, 2009 DUBAI - Friday prayers were cancelled in China's Urumqi city where riots have left at least 156 people dead and over 1,000 injured, a media report said. "Chinese authorities have cancelled Friday Muslim prayers in Urumqi amid security concerns as troops try to keep control following days of deadly unrest in the city," Al Jazeera reported Friday.
Some Urumqi mosques open for Friday prayers after crowds gatherJuly 10th, 2009 Some Urumqi mosques open for Friday prayersURUMQI, China — Several mosques in riot-hit Urumqi opened for Friday prayers, despite notices posted earlier saying they would be closed in the wake of ethnic violence that left 156 dead. It was not immediately clear if there was a change of policy or if the mosques were opened because crowds gathered outside them.
Urumqi crawls towards normalcy as China stresses stabilityJuly 9th, 2009 BEIJING - More traffic and shoppers returned to the streets of China's riot-hit city of Urumqi Thursday as thousands of paramilitary police patrolled. Markets and car parks were busier than Wednesday as the government appealed for calm and stressed after ethnic-related violence there that life in Urumqi was "returning to normal".
China says it will execute riot killersJuly 9th, 2009 URUMQI - A senior official has warned that China will execute anyone found to be behind the 156 riot killings in the north west city of Urumqi. Sky News quoted Li Zhi, the Communist Party boss of Urumqi, as saying that the government would seek the death penalty over bloody protests in the capital of Xinjiang.
Curfew lifted in China's riot-hit cityJuly 8th, 2009 BEIJING - Chinese authorities have lifted a curfew in the riot-hit CITY OF Urumqi after order was restored following deadly riots, a spokesman said. "The curfew was lifted in the morning and now the situation has normalised," the spokesman told RIA Novosti.
Riot-torn city calmer as Chinese leaders call for unityJuly 8th, 2009 BEIJING - China's riot-hit city of Urumqi appeared calmer early Wednesday, witnesses and state media said, a day after authorities imposed an overnight curfew following more ethnic-related protests and the gathering of armed gangs. "It's pretty normal," one foreign reporter said by telephone as he walked along a main road in the far western city midmorning.
Curfew lifted in riot-torn Urumqi, tension prevailsJuly 8th, 2009 URUMQI - Riot-hit Chinese city Urumqi appeared calm under heavy paramilitary police presence Wednesday after an overnight traffic curfew, though sporadic violence was still reported. Traffic restrictions continued to be imposed in some major streets Wednesday, with members of the Armed Police patrolling.
Uighurs stage new protest as China hosts reportersJuly 7th, 2009 BEIJING - Several hundred Uighurs staged a protest Tuesday as Chinese officials took a group of foreign journalists on a tour of Urumqi, the riot-hit capital of the far western region of Xinjiang. The protesters sat down after they were blocked by riot police, reporters in Urumqi said.
China riot death toll rises to 156 killedJuly 7th, 2009 URUMQI - The death toll from riots in the western Chinese cities of Urumqi and Kashgar has risen to 156. The official Xinhua news agency quoted senior government officials as saying that Beijing would take firm steps to bring the troubled desert province of Xinjiang under control.
Internet connectivity cut in Chinese city: OfficialJuly 7th, 2009 URUMQI - Internet connectivity was cut in parts of Xinjiang's capital Urumqi following Sunday's riot to prevent violence from spreading, an official said Tuesday. "We cut Internet connection in some areas of Urumqi in order to prevent violence from spreading to other places," said Li Zhi, the Communist Party of China (CPC) chief of Urumqi.
State media: Curfew declared in restive region in western China after violenceJuly 7th, 2009 Curfew declared in restive Chinese regionURUMQI, China — Chinese state media say that the government in the restive western region of Xinjiang has declared a curfew following the violence of recent days that has killed at least 156 people and paralyzed the main city of Urumqi. The official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday that the curfew from 9 p.m.
Loading ...