Chinese President cuts short G8 summit visit due to Xinjiang violence

September 5th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - China has said that Pakistan saved Beijing from embarrassment by persuading certain Islamic countries not to take the issue of ethnic violence in Xinjiang before the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. Replying to a question while interacting with media persons at the Chinese embassy here, Chinese Ambassador Lou Zhaohui said: "Yes, Pakistan played its role in doing so." Zhaohui said Islamabad has been very helpful in assisting China counter the Xinjiang violence and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM).

August 26th, 2009 UYGUR - Chinese President Hu Jintao, who made his first trip to the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region since last month's deadly riot, has warned the separatists that they are "doomed to fail". The July 5 riot, which killed 197 people and injured more than 1,600, were masterminded by the "three forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism both at home and abroad, he said.

July 28th, 2009 Chinese leader stresses ethnic unity to minoritiesBEIJING — China's president called Tuesday for the strengthening of ethnic unity in the country — his first public comments on the issue more than three weeks after deadly riots in the far west killed nearly 200 people. President Hu Jintao did not directly refer to the violence in Xinjiang between minority Uighurs and majority Han Chinese.

July 11th, 2009 URUMQI - The death toll in the riots in China's Urumqi city has risen to 184, authorities said Saturday. The dead comprise 137 people from the Han community, including 26 women.

July 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP Shafiqur Rahman Barq Friday said the Indian government should appeal to the Chinese government to stop the ethnic violence in Urumqi city of Muslim-dominated Xinjiang province of China. "Our government should appeal to the Chinese government to stop the ongoing violence in Urumqi city," Barq told IANS.

July 10th, 2009 URUMQI - Some mosques in Xinjiang's capital Urumqi were closed Friday following Sunday's deadly riot that left at least 156 people dead, a Chinese official said. All five major mosques near the Southern Jiefang Road, centre of Sunday's violence, were closed Friday morning.

July 9th, 2009 BEIJING - Chinese President Hu Jintao vowed "severe punishment" for the perpetrators of the Xinjiang riots that left at least 156 people dead and over 1,000 injured, a statement said Thursday. Hu Wednesday night presided over a meeting of the Communist Party of China's (CPC) standing committee of the politburo of the central committee.

July 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.

July 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".

July 8th, 2009 FLORENCE - Chinese President Hu Jintao cut short his stay in Italy and left for home early Wednesday without attending the G8-G5 summit following the violence in Xinjiang region that has left at least 156 people dead and over 1,000 injured. State Councillor Dai Bingguo will attend the summit meetings in the central Italian city of L'Aquila on Hu's behalf.

July 8th, 2009 ROME - Chinese President Hu Jintao has pulled out of the Group of Eight summit that starts Wednesday, Italy's Ansa news agency reported. The decision not to attend the meeting was due to ongoing violence in China's western region of Xinjiang.

July 8th, 2009 China says its president cuts short G8 tripBEIJING — China says President Hu Jintao has cut short an official trip to Europe to deal with the outbreak of violence in western Xinjiang where at least 156 people have died in rioting. The Foreign Ministry said on its Web site Wednesday that Hu had left Italy, where he was on a state visit before he was to take part in a Group of Eight meeting with major developing countries.

July 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.

July 8th, 2009 DHARAMSALA - Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama Wednesday expressed concern over the ethnic clashes in China's Xinjiang province that have left at least 156 people dead and over 1,000 injured. "I am deeply saddened and concerned with the worsening situation in East Turkestan (Xinjiang), especially with the tragic loss of lives," the Nobel peace laureate said in a statement.

July 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.