Riot-torn city calmer as Chinese leaders call for unity

September 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.

September 3rd, 2009 New protest in Chinese city torn by July riotBEIJING — Chinese residents protested deteriorating public safety Thursday in the western Chinese city of Urumqi where deadly ethnic rioting in July killed nearly 200 people, eyewitnesses said 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 of 2.5 million. Despite official claims of calm returning, safety fears have remained high since the July 5 riot among members of the region's main Uighur ethnic group who targeted Han, residents said.

September 3rd, 2009 New protest in China city torn by deadly riotingBEIJING — Hundreds of Chinese protested deteriorating public safety Thursday after a series of mysterious syringe attacks further unnerved residents in the western Chinese city of Urumqi where ethnic rioting in July killed nearly 200 people. People living near the city center reached by telephone said hundreds, possibly thousands, of members of China's Han majority marched peacefully in the city center.

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.

August 14th, 2009 Calif. officials brief sheriffs after prison riotCHINO, Calif. — Prison officials are briefing sheriffs across California on how a weekend riot that destroyed seven Southern California prison housing units might affect their jail populations in weeks to come.

August 10th, 2009 Los Angeles (US): A 11-hour riot, at the Reception Center West at the California Institution for Men in Chino, about 40 miles east of Los Angeles, on Saturday night and Sunday morning, has left 250 prisoners injured and 55 being admitted to hospital. Black prison gangs fought Latino gangs in hand-to-hand combat; the New York Times quoted the prison authorities, as saying.

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 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.

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 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 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.

July 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.

July 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.

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 6th, 2009 BEIJING - Over 100 people have been killed and 800 injured in riots that broke out Sunday in Xinjiang province in western China. nitial reports said that just four people had been killed in running battles with police that left burned-out cars and buses and several smashed shop-fronts, but according to The Telegraph, the death toll is far higher.