Hu vows severe punishment over Xinjiang riots

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 6th, 2009 URUMQI - In the aftermath of Xinjiang riots that erupted on July 5, the party chief of Urumqi and police chief of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have been sacked. According to a decision by the CPC Xinjiang Autonomous Regional Committee, Li Zhi, secretary of the Urumqi Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), was replaced by Zhu Hailun.

September 5th, 2009 URUMQI - The communist party chief of Xinjiang capital Urumqi and the police chief of northwest China's Xinjiang region were removed from their posts Saturday. Li Zhi, secretary of the Urumqi Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), was replaced by Zhu Hailun, secretary of the CPC Xinjiang Autonomous Regional Political and Legislative Affairs Committee, according to a decision by the CPC Xinjiang Autonomous Regional Committee.

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 China welcomes 'moderate' US response to riotsWASHINGTON — A Chinese diplomat voiced appreciation Tuesday for what he called the "moderate attitude" of the U.S. toward the ethnic clashes in China's oil-rich Xinjiang region that killed nearly 200 people.

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 11th, 2009 URUMQI - Authorities in northwest China's Xinjiang province Saturday said that tourism and air transport have been affected by the July 5 ethnic violence that claimed at least 184 lives. Authorities in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region said Saturday both tourism and air transport have been hurt by the July 5 riot that left 184 dead in Urumqi, the regional capital.

July 9th, 2009 Politburo vows to keep stability after China riotsURUMQI, China — China's top communist leaders have declared that ethnic riots that killed over 150 people this week in the west of the country were orchestrated by overseas forces and vowed to maintain stability in the aftermath, state media said Thursday. The nine-member Politburo met Wednesday, led by President Hu Jintao, and called on Communist Party members and officials at all levels to mobilize to restore order, and promised punishment to rioters and leniency to participants who were misled by agitators.

July 9th, 2009 GUANGZHOU - Many tourist agencies are calling off group trips to China's Xinjiang region following the recent deadly riots in Urumqi city that left at least 156 people dead and over 1,000 injured. "We are hoping that travel can resume by July 20, but it depends on the status in Xinjiang", said Tang Qiting, deputy manager with Guangzhilu International Travel Service in Guangzhou, capital of southern Guangdong province.

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.