Police Rush To Impose Order After Xinjiang Riot
A man sits under a poster for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on a street in Xinjiang in August 2008.
July 5, 2009
BEIJING (Reuters) -- Rioters in China's far west Xinjiang region burned vehicles and blocked traffic in the regional capital, Urumqi, and police rushed to the scene to impose order, the state news agency has reported.
The rioters were "attacking passers-by and setting fire to vehicles," the brief Xinhua news agency report said. "They also turned over [a] traffic guardrail and interrupted traffic on some roads in the city," it added.
The report did not specify the ethnicity of those involved in the unrest.
A Beijing source who said he had spoken to an eyewitness who said they were Uyghurs, a largely Muslim group with a language and culture close to the Turkic peoples of Central Asia.
The conflict broke out near a city market, bringing thousands onto the street, said that source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Many Uyghurs resent Han Chinese rule, complaining they are marginalized economically and politically in their own land, which has rich mineral and natural-gas reserves.
The Xinhua report did not say how many people were involved in the unrest or what their grievances were.
Almost half of Xinjiang's 20 million people are Uyghurs. Many of them resent controls imposed by Beijing and an inflow of Han Chinese migrants.
The population of Urumqi is largely Han Chinese.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
China in deadly crackdown after Uighurs go on the rampage
China in deadly crackdown after Uighurs go on the rampage
Anti-riot troops confront Uighur protesters in Urumqi
(AP)
An image provided by an unnamed citizen shows police and anti-riot troops assembling to confront Uighur protesters in Urumqi
Jane Macartney, China Correspondent
Police fought to restore order last night after thousands of members of China’s Muslim Uighur minority rampaged through city streets, burning vehicles and blocking traffic.
At least three people were killed in a rare outburst of violence in Urumqi, the capital of China’s restive westernmost region of Xinjiang, where many Uighurs chafe at Beijing’s rule and the limits imposed on their religion and cultural traditions.
Witnesses said that up to 3,000 rioters went on the rampage, smashing buses and overturning police barricades during several hours of violence.
Thousands of police and anti-riot troops later swept through the city, using teargas and water hoses to disperse crowds. “Now the whole city is on lockdown,” one witness said.
Related Links
* Uighur unrest embarrasses Beijing rulers
* China fears 'year-long terror campaign'
The violence flared days after reports of ethnic clashes between Han Chinese and Uighur workers at a toy factory in the southern Guangdong province in which two Uighurs were killed and 188 wounded.
In the late-night brawl at the Early Light toy factory in Shaoguan city, a group of Han Chinese fought with Uighurs who had been recruited to the factory recently. A rumour that Uighur workers had raped two Han Chinese girls brought swift and violent retaliations from the Chinese workers.
Police have now arrested a Han Chinese for rumour-mongering after he was found to have made up the rape report in a fit of anger after losing his job at the plant.
Riots are rare in Urumqi, where ethnic Han already outnumber the local Uighur population, and the widespread presence of riot police has for years served as an effective deterrent to those wanting to stir up antiChinese unrest.
The latest violence erupted around the city’s Sunday market, an important weekly opportunity for Uighurs to meet.
Their gatherings take place under the watchful eye of police, always on the alert for any signs of unrest among the populace of China’s only Muslimmajority region.
Urumqi has for years been one of the most well-controlled cities in Xinjiang because of the high and rapidly growing population of Han and the large presence of security forces.
Uighurs are extremely reluctant to speak openly for fear of police retribution and are anxious that their conversations may be overheard by China’s all-pervasive secret police. Ilham Mahmut, the head of the Japan Uighur Association, said he had heard through internet communications with China that at least 300 people had been arrested by last night.
He said that the confrontation involved about 3,000 Uighur and 1,000 police who used electric cattle prods and fired gunshots into the air to try to break up the demonstration.
Dilxat Raxit, for the Germany-based World Uighur Congress, said sources told him that more than a hundred people had been detained.
Tensions are already running high in Xinjiang. On a recent visit to the fabled Silk Road trading town of Kashgar, The Times saw sullen, scared Uighurs watching with despair and resignation as officials demolished swaths of the ancient city, saying that its centuries-old mud-and-straw buildings could not protect residents against earthquakes.
They will be replaced by modern streets and the Uighurs moved out of their homes into modern apartments on the edge of town. Uighurs feel that Han immigrants to Xinjiang are depriving them of jobs and diluting their unique culture.
Days before the opening of the Olympic Games in Beijing last year, two Uighurs ploughed a truck into a group of Chinese police border guards on an early morning jog in Kashgar and then attacked the survivors with knives and home-made grenades. At least 17 police were killed. Both were later executed. Xinjiang has had a reputation for unrest over recent years.
The Shaoguan Mass Incident
The Shaoguan Mass Incident
2009-07-06
let's see how diverse medias reflect the same event.
(Xinhua) Guangdong toy factory brawl leaves 2 dead, 118 injured
A dispute led to a fight involving hundreds of people Thursday at the Xuri Toy Factory in Shaoguan City, a municipal government spokesman said. More than 400 police had to be called in to restore order. The injured were rushed to hospitals, but two workers died, the spokesman said. All the 118 injured were in stable condition, he said. No details about the dispute are available. Police are investigating the incident.
(Reuters) Ethnic tensions spark brawl at China factory-report
Ethnic clashes between Han Chinese and Uighur workers at a toy factory in China's southern Guangdong province killed two people and injured 118, a newspaper reported on Saturday. In a massive night brawl at the "Early Light" toy factory in Guangdong's Shaoguan city, a group of Han Chinese fought with Uighurs from China's northwestern Xinjiang region who had been recently recruited to the factory, Hong Kong's Ming Pao newspaper reported. The violence lasted until the early hours of Friday morning and at least 16 were seriously injured, the newspaper reported.
About 400 riot police had to be deployed to quell the unrest as the rival workers battled, some with knives and metal pipes. The violence was reportedly sparked by a spate of crimes at the factory following the arrival of around 600 Uighur workers in May this year, the newspaper said. "Some people carrying metal pipes entered a dormitory to attack Uighur workers. But the Uighurs fought back with knives, leading to a fierce brawl involving hundreds," the newspaper said.
The factory was reportedly owned by Hong Kong tycoon Francis Choi, one of the city's leading toy manufacturers.
Xinjiang's majority Uighur population is a largely Muslim group with a culture close to other Turkic parts of central Asia. Many Uighurs resent Han Chinese rule, complaining they're marginalised economically and politically in their own land, while having to tolerate a rising influx of Han Chinese migrants.
What kind of news reporting is this when you don't want to deal with the reason for the massive brawl? I know that such reporting should be verified, but can't you just say "unconfirmed Internet reports say that the reason was blah blah blah ...?"
Here is such an unconfirmed first-person Internet report:
(Boxun)
At 22:00 on June 25, I came back from drinking with my colleagues and we found several police vehicles present at the factory. At first, we did not know what was going on. Then we learned that the Uighurs dragged one of my Han sisters into their dormitory and attempted to rape her. This caused our Han compatriots to become outraged. They wanted to go and beat up the perpetrator. But the factory security guards stopped them. Even when the female victim identified the perpetrator, the factory security guards still refused to arrest him. This caused even greater public anger as the people upstairs tossed all garbage downstairs.
From the photos, it can be seen how angry we were. We tossed everything that we could rip apart downstairs. The factory security guards came upstairs to try to stop us. A colleague was seriously injured during the two brawls of that process.
Half an hour later, the Shaoguan city government sent another thirty to forty anti-riot police officers as reinforcement.
Soon after the anti-riot police officers arrived, the Uighurs organized several dozen people and armed them with restricted knives and iron rods. They charged out and assaulted all the Han men and women that they saw, causing severe injuries to many persons. The anti-riot police officers did nothing. Since we were unprepared for this eventuality, we retreated into the dormitories. The Uighurs broke all our windows.
The Han began to search for weapons inside their dormitories. They dissembled the beds and obtained iron rods and instruments. Then they charged out of the dormitories and took raging revenge against the Uighurs. They smashed all the window glass and car windows. They assaulted every Uighur that they came across, one dormitory room at a time.
Many Uighurs began to flee into the back hill. The riot continued until 4:30pm. There were dozens of Uighur casualties. The anti-riot police officers served only as spectators, eyewitnesses and body haulers.
By 5am, the city government sent in two divisions of anti-riot police officers to escort the Uighurs out. The riot finally reached an end.
The following is a news report in a Hong Kong newspaper based upon Internet information.
(Apple Daily)
According to a QQ BBS report made by a factory worker, the Early Light factory had hired a large group of Uighur workers last month. These people committed many robberies and raped a female worker on June 14. The rapist was only fired from his jog. Several days later, another female worker was dragged into the dormitory and gang raped. The suspect was arrested by the police but released several days later. A third rape occurred in the factory, but the management did nothing.
According to a former female Early Light factory worker, the first rape occurred in the woods behind the factory and the perpetrators were three Uighur male workers. One week later, another female worker went out for a midnight snack and was dragged into the Uighur dormitory and gang raped. When the security guards brought her out, she was stark naked. The factory offered her 10,000 RMB to keep quiet. This was the last straw for the Han workers.
On the night before yesterday, the Han workers in dormitory buildings number one and two began to chant: "Chase the Uighurs off!" They began to vandalize things. The space between the two buildings was littered with garbage receptacles and fire extinguishers. More than one hundred people went wild and used wood sticks to break the window glass. Some of them charged into the Uighur dormitory to assault people. They dragged one Uighur after another one and beat them.
The Uighur retaliated with knives. The Han summoned more than 200 people and the brawl got vicious. Since this incident involves an ethnic minority group, the police acted very cautiously because they wanted to avoid a political incident.
The Ming Pao article cited by Reuters also included more details:
The "King of Toys" Francis Choi was interviewed by us yesterday and he said that this was an ethnic conflict problem, mainly because the Uighurs were not accustomed to the lifestyle habits of the Guangdong people. He said that the government encourages the factories to hire poor people, which was why this factory hired these Uighurs.
... 118 persons were injured, of which 79 were Uighurs. There were two deaths, both Uighurs.
(Reuters) China police hold man over ethnic brawl-report June 28, 2009
Police in southern China have detained a man accused of spreading false rumours of rape over the Internet that sparked a deadly ethnic brawl at a toy factory on the weekend. China's official Xinhua news agency reported late on Sunday that the man, a former worker at the Xuri or "Early Light" toy factory in Shaoguan city, Guangdong province, posted a message on a local website claiming, "Six Xinjiang boys raped two innocent girls" at the factory. Police said the unfounded claim was behind the massive Friday night brawl between a group of Han Chinese and Uighur workers from China's northwestern Xinjiang region who had been recently recruited to the factory.
The brawl was an outburst of long-standing tensions between Han Chinese and Uighurs, a largely Muslim ethnic group with a language and culture close to the Turkic peoples of central Asia. In the fighting, two workers from Xinjiang were killed and 118 people were injured, Xinhua reported. The man, surnamed Zhu, "faked the information to express his discontent" over failing to find new work after quitting his job at the factory, said Xinhua. The brief report did not say what crime he has been accused of.
(Xinhua) Rumormonger held over south China toy factory brawl June 29, 2009
Police has detained a former worker at a toy factory for posting a web rumor that triggered a mass brawl in south China's Guangdong Province.
The fight Thursday night was between hundreds of local workers and workers from the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regionat the Xuri Toy Factory in Shaoguan City. The brawl left two Xinjiang workers dead and another 118 injured. A post on a local website that said "Six Xinjiang boys raped two innocent girls at the Xuri Toy Factory" caused the brawl, a municipal government spokesman said.
Police found that the former worker of Xuri, surnamed Zhu, faked the information to express his discontent as Zhu failed to get re-employed after quitting the job. Police found no rape
2009-07-06
let's see how diverse medias reflect the same event.
(Xinhua) Guangdong toy factory brawl leaves 2 dead, 118 injured
A dispute led to a fight involving hundreds of people Thursday at the Xuri Toy Factory in Shaoguan City, a municipal government spokesman said. More than 400 police had to be called in to restore order. The injured were rushed to hospitals, but two workers died, the spokesman said. All the 118 injured were in stable condition, he said. No details about the dispute are available. Police are investigating the incident.
(Reuters) Ethnic tensions spark brawl at China factory-report
Ethnic clashes between Han Chinese and Uighur workers at a toy factory in China's southern Guangdong province killed two people and injured 118, a newspaper reported on Saturday. In a massive night brawl at the "Early Light" toy factory in Guangdong's Shaoguan city, a group of Han Chinese fought with Uighurs from China's northwestern Xinjiang region who had been recently recruited to the factory, Hong Kong's Ming Pao newspaper reported. The violence lasted until the early hours of Friday morning and at least 16 were seriously injured, the newspaper reported.
About 400 riot police had to be deployed to quell the unrest as the rival workers battled, some with knives and metal pipes. The violence was reportedly sparked by a spate of crimes at the factory following the arrival of around 600 Uighur workers in May this year, the newspaper said. "Some people carrying metal pipes entered a dormitory to attack Uighur workers. But the Uighurs fought back with knives, leading to a fierce brawl involving hundreds," the newspaper said.
The factory was reportedly owned by Hong Kong tycoon Francis Choi, one of the city's leading toy manufacturers.
Xinjiang's majority Uighur population is a largely Muslim group with a culture close to other Turkic parts of central Asia. Many Uighurs resent Han Chinese rule, complaining they're marginalised economically and politically in their own land, while having to tolerate a rising influx of Han Chinese migrants.
What kind of news reporting is this when you don't want to deal with the reason for the massive brawl? I know that such reporting should be verified, but can't you just say "unconfirmed Internet reports say that the reason was blah blah blah ...?"
Here is such an unconfirmed first-person Internet report:
(Boxun)
At 22:00 on June 25, I came back from drinking with my colleagues and we found several police vehicles present at the factory. At first, we did not know what was going on. Then we learned that the Uighurs dragged one of my Han sisters into their dormitory and attempted to rape her. This caused our Han compatriots to become outraged. They wanted to go and beat up the perpetrator. But the factory security guards stopped them. Even when the female victim identified the perpetrator, the factory security guards still refused to arrest him. This caused even greater public anger as the people upstairs tossed all garbage downstairs.
From the photos, it can be seen how angry we were. We tossed everything that we could rip apart downstairs. The factory security guards came upstairs to try to stop us. A colleague was seriously injured during the two brawls of that process.
Half an hour later, the Shaoguan city government sent another thirty to forty anti-riot police officers as reinforcement.
Soon after the anti-riot police officers arrived, the Uighurs organized several dozen people and armed them with restricted knives and iron rods. They charged out and assaulted all the Han men and women that they saw, causing severe injuries to many persons. The anti-riot police officers did nothing. Since we were unprepared for this eventuality, we retreated into the dormitories. The Uighurs broke all our windows.
The Han began to search for weapons inside their dormitories. They dissembled the beds and obtained iron rods and instruments. Then they charged out of the dormitories and took raging revenge against the Uighurs. They smashed all the window glass and car windows. They assaulted every Uighur that they came across, one dormitory room at a time.
Many Uighurs began to flee into the back hill. The riot continued until 4:30pm. There were dozens of Uighur casualties. The anti-riot police officers served only as spectators, eyewitnesses and body haulers.
By 5am, the city government sent in two divisions of anti-riot police officers to escort the Uighurs out. The riot finally reached an end.
The following is a news report in a Hong Kong newspaper based upon Internet information.
(Apple Daily)
According to a QQ BBS report made by a factory worker, the Early Light factory had hired a large group of Uighur workers last month. These people committed many robberies and raped a female worker on June 14. The rapist was only fired from his jog. Several days later, another female worker was dragged into the dormitory and gang raped. The suspect was arrested by the police but released several days later. A third rape occurred in the factory, but the management did nothing.
According to a former female Early Light factory worker, the first rape occurred in the woods behind the factory and the perpetrators were three Uighur male workers. One week later, another female worker went out for a midnight snack and was dragged into the Uighur dormitory and gang raped. When the security guards brought her out, she was stark naked. The factory offered her 10,000 RMB to keep quiet. This was the last straw for the Han workers.
On the night before yesterday, the Han workers in dormitory buildings number one and two began to chant: "Chase the Uighurs off!" They began to vandalize things. The space between the two buildings was littered with garbage receptacles and fire extinguishers. More than one hundred people went wild and used wood sticks to break the window glass. Some of them charged into the Uighur dormitory to assault people. They dragged one Uighur after another one and beat them.
The Uighur retaliated with knives. The Han summoned more than 200 people and the brawl got vicious. Since this incident involves an ethnic minority group, the police acted very cautiously because they wanted to avoid a political incident.
The Ming Pao article cited by Reuters also included more details:
The "King of Toys" Francis Choi was interviewed by us yesterday and he said that this was an ethnic conflict problem, mainly because the Uighurs were not accustomed to the lifestyle habits of the Guangdong people. He said that the government encourages the factories to hire poor people, which was why this factory hired these Uighurs.
... 118 persons were injured, of which 79 were Uighurs. There were two deaths, both Uighurs.
(Reuters) China police hold man over ethnic brawl-report June 28, 2009
Police in southern China have detained a man accused of spreading false rumours of rape over the Internet that sparked a deadly ethnic brawl at a toy factory on the weekend. China's official Xinhua news agency reported late on Sunday that the man, a former worker at the Xuri or "Early Light" toy factory in Shaoguan city, Guangdong province, posted a message on a local website claiming, "Six Xinjiang boys raped two innocent girls" at the factory. Police said the unfounded claim was behind the massive Friday night brawl between a group of Han Chinese and Uighur workers from China's northwestern Xinjiang region who had been recently recruited to the factory.
The brawl was an outburst of long-standing tensions between Han Chinese and Uighurs, a largely Muslim ethnic group with a language and culture close to the Turkic peoples of central Asia. In the fighting, two workers from Xinjiang were killed and 118 people were injured, Xinhua reported. The man, surnamed Zhu, "faked the information to express his discontent" over failing to find new work after quitting his job at the factory, said Xinhua. The brief report did not say what crime he has been accused of.
(Xinhua) Rumormonger held over south China toy factory brawl June 29, 2009
Police has detained a former worker at a toy factory for posting a web rumor that triggered a mass brawl in south China's Guangdong Province.
The fight Thursday night was between hundreds of local workers and workers from the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regionat the Xuri Toy Factory in Shaoguan City. The brawl left two Xinjiang workers dead and another 118 injured. A post on a local website that said "Six Xinjiang boys raped two innocent girls at the Xuri Toy Factory" caused the brawl, a municipal government spokesman said.
Police found that the former worker of Xuri, surnamed Zhu, faked the information to express his discontent as Zhu failed to get re-employed after quitting the job. Police found no rape
Uighur unrest threatens Beijing rulers’ biggest party for a decade
Uighur unrest threatens Beijing rulers’ biggest party for a decade
Jane Macartney: Analysis
Riots in the restive, mainly Muslim region of Xinjiang could hardly have come at a worse time for Beijing as the Government prepares to celebrate its biggest party for a decade.
Nothing must rain on its parade. After all, the planned march past the capital’s famed Gate of Heavenly Peace — Tiananmen — where Chairman Mao declared the founding of the People’s Republic on October 1, 1949, is to be trumpeted as a moment of national unity and patriotic pride. Signs that minority Turkic-speaking Uighurs in the far West are disgruntled contradict all the official messages of harmony and ethnic unity.
Propaganda mandarins will have to move into overdrive to calm fraying tempers in the far West, while security forces will be beefed up in troublespots — such as Xinjiang and Tibet — where local people with grievances might try to spoil the fun. After all, this is a moment when the nation’s 1.3 billion people must be seen, above all, to be happy and living together as one. Unrest threatens to jeopardise the whole fiesta.
Security officials will start to see conspiracies behind the riot. They will attribute the unrest to outside influences, to a small minority with ulterior motives.
Related Links
* China in deadly crackdown on Uighurs
The chances are almost zero that the authorities will try to investigate why the Uighurs in this case, or the Tibetans last year, feel aggrieved.
Such analysis is at odds with the knee-jerk response to send in yet more troops and security reinforcements. They can afford to take no chances. With such an important anniversary looming, they will assess that this is no time to try to address possible grievances.
It is easier to attribute the troubles to a plot, implement a crackdown that will cow the populace and assure that no one dares to make trouble. They then have only to wait for the next outburst of ethnic strife, which will surely come.
* Have your say
xinjiang is chinese version of Eastern Turkestan but Turks was originally were in china so present china thinks that they can run the Turkick region buy them selves.If this region and Tibet becomes unstable it could like in the past histroy present china.Turks left china 1000AD and moved towards
suleyman tosun Beng, london, united kingdom
China ruled Xinjiang on and off. Look at the map of the Tang Dynasty. Why are the turks in Europe? Cause the Tang kicked them out of the steppe and triggered a massive Turkish migration to the west. The middle kingdom never directly ruled Tibet though.
James, Toronto, Canada
Xinjiang, like Tibet, is not part of Han China. Han China's historical boundary is defined by the Great Wall of China. Both Xinjaing and Tibet lie beyond the wall.
Unlike Tibet, Xinjiang is not a celebrity cause, even though it has just as much legitamacy to independence as Tibet, if not more!
Dr Albert Schadenfreude, London, United Kingdom
Jane Macartney: Analysis
Riots in the restive, mainly Muslim region of Xinjiang could hardly have come at a worse time for Beijing as the Government prepares to celebrate its biggest party for a decade.
Nothing must rain on its parade. After all, the planned march past the capital’s famed Gate of Heavenly Peace — Tiananmen — where Chairman Mao declared the founding of the People’s Republic on October 1, 1949, is to be trumpeted as a moment of national unity and patriotic pride. Signs that minority Turkic-speaking Uighurs in the far West are disgruntled contradict all the official messages of harmony and ethnic unity.
Propaganda mandarins will have to move into overdrive to calm fraying tempers in the far West, while security forces will be beefed up in troublespots — such as Xinjiang and Tibet — where local people with grievances might try to spoil the fun. After all, this is a moment when the nation’s 1.3 billion people must be seen, above all, to be happy and living together as one. Unrest threatens to jeopardise the whole fiesta.
Security officials will start to see conspiracies behind the riot. They will attribute the unrest to outside influences, to a small minority with ulterior motives.
Related Links
* China in deadly crackdown on Uighurs
The chances are almost zero that the authorities will try to investigate why the Uighurs in this case, or the Tibetans last year, feel aggrieved.
Such analysis is at odds with the knee-jerk response to send in yet more troops and security reinforcements. They can afford to take no chances. With such an important anniversary looming, they will assess that this is no time to try to address possible grievances.
It is easier to attribute the troubles to a plot, implement a crackdown that will cow the populace and assure that no one dares to make trouble. They then have only to wait for the next outburst of ethnic strife, which will surely come.
* Have your say
xinjiang is chinese version of Eastern Turkestan but Turks was originally were in china so present china thinks that they can run the Turkick region buy them selves.If this region and Tibet becomes unstable it could like in the past histroy present china.Turks left china 1000AD and moved towards
suleyman tosun Beng, london, united kingdom
China ruled Xinjiang on and off. Look at the map of the Tang Dynasty. Why are the turks in Europe? Cause the Tang kicked them out of the steppe and triggered a massive Turkish migration to the west. The middle kingdom never directly ruled Tibet though.
James, Toronto, Canada
Xinjiang, like Tibet, is not part of Han China. Han China's historical boundary is defined by the Great Wall of China. Both Xinjaing and Tibet lie beyond the wall.
Unlike Tibet, Xinjiang is not a celebrity cause, even though it has just as much legitamacy to independence as Tibet, if not more!
Dr Albert Schadenfreude, London, United Kingdom
Riots in Western China Amid Ethnic Tension
Riots in Western China Amid Ethnic Tension
Published on July 6, 2009 by brooks
A photograph taken by a local citizen showed protesters gathering in Urumqi, China, on Sunday
A photograph taken by a local citizen showed protesters gathering in Urumqi, China, on Sunday
BEIJING — At least 1,000 rioters clashed with the police on Sunday in a regional capital in western China after days of rising tensions between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese, according to witnesses and photographs of the riot.
The rioting broke out Sunday afternoon in a large market area of Urumqi, the capital of the vast, restive desert region of Xinjiang, and lasted for several hours before riot police officers and paramilitary or military troops locked down the Uighur quarter of the city. The rioters threw stones at the police and set vehicles on fire, sending plumes of smoke into the sky, while police officers used firehoses and batons to beat back rioters and detain Uighurs who appeared to be leaders of the protest, witnesses said.
At least three Han Chinese were killed in the rioting and 20 people were injured, according to Xinhua, the official news agency. Dozens of Uighur men were led into nearby police stations with their hands behind their backs and shirts pulled over their heads, one witness said. Early Monday, the local government announced a curfew banning all traffic in the city until 8 p.m.
The riot was the largest ethnic clash in China since the Tibetan uprising of March 2008, and perhaps the biggest protest in Xinjiang in years. Like the Tibetan unrest, it highlighted the deep-seated frustrations felt by some ethnic minorities in western China over the policies of the Communist Party.
Many Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim group, resent rule by the Han Chinese, and Chinese security forces have tried to keep oil-rich Xinjiang under tight control since the 1990s, when cities there were struck by waves of protests, riots and bombings. Last summer, attacks on security forces took place in several cities in Xinjiang; the Chinese government blamed separatist groups.
Uighurs taking part in the riot on Sunday were furious over an ethnic brawl between Uighur and Han workers that broke out on June 26 in a toy factory in Guangdong and that resulted in the deaths of two Uighurs. A total of 116 people were injured. The police later arrested an ex-employee of the factory who had ignited the brawl by starting a rumor that six Uighur men had raped two Han women at the work site, Xinhua reported.
There was also a rumor going around on Sunday in Urumqi that a Han man had killed a Uighur earlier that day in the city, said Adam Grode, an English teacher and former Fulbright scholar living in the neighborhood where the rioting took place.
“This is just crazy,” Mr. Grode said in a telephone interview on Sunday night. “There was a lot of tear gas in the streets, and I almost couldn’t get back to my apartment. There’s a huge police presence.”
Rumors of Uighurs attacking Han Chinese spread quickly through parts of Urumqi, adding to the panic. A worker at Texas Restaurant, a few hundred yards from the site of the rioting, said her manager urged the restaurant workers to stay inside. “My boss went home in the evening and called us saying he had heard that Uighurs were beating Han Chinese, so we’d better stay in the restaurant,” said the worker, a woman who gave only her surname, Wang.
Xinhua reported few details of the riot on Sunday night. It said that “an unknown number of people gathered Sunday afternoon” in Urumqi, “attacking passers-by and setting fire to vehicles.”
Uighurs are the largest ethnic group in Xinjiang but are a minority in Urumqi, where Han Chinese make up more than 70 percent of the two million or so people. The Chinese government has encouraged Han migration to the city and other parts of Xinjiang, fueling resentment among the Uighurs. Urumqi is a deeply segregated city, with Han Chinese there rarely venturing into the Uighur quarter and often warning visitors to stay away from the area.
The Uighur neighborhood is centered in a warren of narrow alleyways, food markets and a large shopping area called the Grand Bazaar or the Erdaoqiao Market, where the rioting reached its peak on Sunday.
Mr. Grode, who lives in an apartment there, said he went outside when he first heard commotion around 6 p.m. He saw hundreds of Uighurs in the streets; that quickly swelled to more than 1,000, he said. When public buses stopped at the scene, Uighurs riding inside opened the windows and joined the crowd in shouting slogans.
Police officers soon arrived. Around 7 p.m., protesters began hurling rocks, vegetables and other goods from the market at the police, Mr. Grode said. Traffic had ground to a halt, and some rioters threw stones at bus windows.
An hour later, as the riot surged toward the center of the market, troops in green uniforms and full riot gear showed up, as did armored vehicles. Chinese government officials often deploy the People’s Armed Police, a paramilitary force, to quell riots. The troops shot off tear gas canisters and might have fired other projectiles too, Mr. Grode said.
By midnight, he said, some of the armored vehicles had begun to leave, but bursts of gunfire could still be heard.
Uyghur people
The Uyghur, pronounced /’wiˌgur/ (UK) or /uj.ˈgur/ (US) which is closer to native /ʊɪ’ʁʊː/ (ooy’goor), are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (also known by its controversial name Uyghurstan or East Turkistan) in the People’s Republic of China.
There are Uyghur diasporic communities in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Australia, Germany and Turkey and smaller ones in Afghanistan, Russia and Taoyuan County of Hunan province in south-central Mainland China.[3] Uyghur neighborhoods can be found in major Chinese cities like Beijing and Shanghai. There are small communities in the United States, mainly in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City and Washington, DC, as well as Toronto and Vancouver in Canada.
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Published on July 6, 2009 by brooks
A photograph taken by a local citizen showed protesters gathering in Urumqi, China, on Sunday
A photograph taken by a local citizen showed protesters gathering in Urumqi, China, on Sunday
BEIJING — At least 1,000 rioters clashed with the police on Sunday in a regional capital in western China after days of rising tensions between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese, according to witnesses and photographs of the riot.
The rioting broke out Sunday afternoon in a large market area of Urumqi, the capital of the vast, restive desert region of Xinjiang, and lasted for several hours before riot police officers and paramilitary or military troops locked down the Uighur quarter of the city. The rioters threw stones at the police and set vehicles on fire, sending plumes of smoke into the sky, while police officers used firehoses and batons to beat back rioters and detain Uighurs who appeared to be leaders of the protest, witnesses said.
At least three Han Chinese were killed in the rioting and 20 people were injured, according to Xinhua, the official news agency. Dozens of Uighur men were led into nearby police stations with their hands behind their backs and shirts pulled over their heads, one witness said. Early Monday, the local government announced a curfew banning all traffic in the city until 8 p.m.
The riot was the largest ethnic clash in China since the Tibetan uprising of March 2008, and perhaps the biggest protest in Xinjiang in years. Like the Tibetan unrest, it highlighted the deep-seated frustrations felt by some ethnic minorities in western China over the policies of the Communist Party.
Many Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim group, resent rule by the Han Chinese, and Chinese security forces have tried to keep oil-rich Xinjiang under tight control since the 1990s, when cities there were struck by waves of protests, riots and bombings. Last summer, attacks on security forces took place in several cities in Xinjiang; the Chinese government blamed separatist groups.
Uighurs taking part in the riot on Sunday were furious over an ethnic brawl between Uighur and Han workers that broke out on June 26 in a toy factory in Guangdong and that resulted in the deaths of two Uighurs. A total of 116 people were injured. The police later arrested an ex-employee of the factory who had ignited the brawl by starting a rumor that six Uighur men had raped two Han women at the work site, Xinhua reported.
There was also a rumor going around on Sunday in Urumqi that a Han man had killed a Uighur earlier that day in the city, said Adam Grode, an English teacher and former Fulbright scholar living in the neighborhood where the rioting took place.
“This is just crazy,” Mr. Grode said in a telephone interview on Sunday night. “There was a lot of tear gas in the streets, and I almost couldn’t get back to my apartment. There’s a huge police presence.”
Rumors of Uighurs attacking Han Chinese spread quickly through parts of Urumqi, adding to the panic. A worker at Texas Restaurant, a few hundred yards from the site of the rioting, said her manager urged the restaurant workers to stay inside. “My boss went home in the evening and called us saying he had heard that Uighurs were beating Han Chinese, so we’d better stay in the restaurant,” said the worker, a woman who gave only her surname, Wang.
Xinhua reported few details of the riot on Sunday night. It said that “an unknown number of people gathered Sunday afternoon” in Urumqi, “attacking passers-by and setting fire to vehicles.”
Uighurs are the largest ethnic group in Xinjiang but are a minority in Urumqi, where Han Chinese make up more than 70 percent of the two million or so people. The Chinese government has encouraged Han migration to the city and other parts of Xinjiang, fueling resentment among the Uighurs. Urumqi is a deeply segregated city, with Han Chinese there rarely venturing into the Uighur quarter and often warning visitors to stay away from the area.
The Uighur neighborhood is centered in a warren of narrow alleyways, food markets and a large shopping area called the Grand Bazaar or the Erdaoqiao Market, where the rioting reached its peak on Sunday.
Mr. Grode, who lives in an apartment there, said he went outside when he first heard commotion around 6 p.m. He saw hundreds of Uighurs in the streets; that quickly swelled to more than 1,000, he said. When public buses stopped at the scene, Uighurs riding inside opened the windows and joined the crowd in shouting slogans.
Police officers soon arrived. Around 7 p.m., protesters began hurling rocks, vegetables and other goods from the market at the police, Mr. Grode said. Traffic had ground to a halt, and some rioters threw stones at bus windows.
An hour later, as the riot surged toward the center of the market, troops in green uniforms and full riot gear showed up, as did armored vehicles. Chinese government officials often deploy the People’s Armed Police, a paramilitary force, to quell riots. The troops shot off tear gas canisters and might have fired other projectiles too, Mr. Grode said.
By midnight, he said, some of the armored vehicles had begun to leave, but bursts of gunfire could still be heard.
Uyghur people
The Uyghur, pronounced /’wiˌgur/ (UK) or /uj.ˈgur/ (US) which is closer to native /ʊɪ’ʁʊː/ (ooy’goor), are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (also known by its controversial name Uyghurstan or East Turkistan) in the People’s Republic of China.
There are Uyghur diasporic communities in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Australia, Germany and Turkey and smaller ones in Afghanistan, Russia and Taoyuan County of Hunan province in south-central Mainland China.[3] Uyghur neighborhoods can be found in major Chinese cities like Beijing and Shanghai. There are small communities in the United States, mainly in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City and Washington, DC, as well as Toronto and Vancouver in Canada.
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Unrest among Uyghur residents in China
Unrest among Uyghur residents in China
* Story Highlights
* Ethnic Uyghur residents in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang region, take to the streets
* China's official media says protesters attacked passersby, burned buses
* Protest prompts a police lockdown of the city
* Protest may be a reaction to racial violence in southern Guangdong province
From Jaime Florcruz
CNN
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BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Ethnic Uyghur residents in Urumqi, capital of China's far west Xinjiang region, took to the streets Sunday afternoon in a rare public protest that prompted a police lockdown of the city.
China's official Xinhua News Agency said protesters attacked passersby, burned public buses and blocked traffic. The report did not say how many people took part in the protest or what their grievances were.
But a witness in Urumqi told CNN that, soon after the protest started around 5 p.m., "hundreds [of protesters] grew into easily over a thousand -- men, women and children, all ethnic Uyghurs, screaming and chanting."
Local police arrived quickly and tried to control the swelling crowd by erecting barriers in the street, but "people pushed them over," the witness said. "They were throwing rocks at passing cars and buses." As the violence escalated, hundreds of anti-riot police arrived on the scene, the witness said.
"They used tear gas and fire hoses to disperse the crowd. I saw fire trucks, ambulances, armed personnel carriers, and what looked like tanks. I heard random gunshots."
Late Sunday, the witness said Urumqi was in a lockdown, with hundreds of People's Liberation Army soldiers in the streets. He reported seeing riot police chasing protesters into alleyways and rounding up "many" of them.
* After 7 years at Gitmo, resettled Uyghurs grateful for freedom
* China executes 2 for attack before Olympics
*
The witness speculated that the protest, which took place in the predominantly Uyghur-populated Bazaar district, may have been a reaction to racial violence in southern Guangdong province.
The racial violence reportedly happened at a toy factory in Guangdong Province, where many migrants, including Uyghurs, have moved in search of work. A massive brawl reportedly broke out between workers of Uyghur and Han nationalities. Two Uyghurs reportedly died in the violent clash.
Xinjiang is home to many Uyghurs. China's constitution guarantees ethnic minorities equal rights and limited autonomy. However, ethnic tensions run deep. Minority groups like the Uyghurs complain that they are treated as second-class citizens and are subjected to discrimination by the majority Han nationalities.
"What was clear was the Uyghur protesters were not happy," the witness in Urumqi said. "They broke windows of public buses, threw bottles and rocks at the police and harassed what looked like Chinese of Han or Hui nationalities. I saw a Uyghur man kick a Han woman in the behind as she tried to get away from the crowds."
It was not clear, from official reports or the witness' account, if there were any casualties.
A spokesman for the World Uyghur Congress, a dissident Uyghur group based in Munich, Germany, told CNN that local Uyghur people in Urumqi and Xinjiang had told him by telephone that they had seen bodies thrown into military vehicles.
Dilxat Raxit added that tens of thousands of demonstrators had gathered in every Uyghur neighborhood in Urumqi to protest peacefully against what he described as the government's ethnic cleansing in Guangdong Shaoguan.
After about 40 minutes during which the crowd shouted slogans, calling the incident in Guangdong Shaoguan a planned ethnic cleansing, the Chinese military began to crack down by sending more than 50 military vehicles -- including tanks -- carrying troops into Urumqi.
All Uyghurs were ordered off the street, he said.
Sources in Kashgar said a "massive number" of Chinese PLA forces entered that city as well, and that students were ordered to remain inside.
People were also arrested along roads leading to Urumqi, he said.
"According to the Chinese law, people have the right to protest peacefully," the World Uyghur Congress said in an appeal. "We call for attention to this kind of ethnic discrimination."
* Story Highlights
* Ethnic Uyghur residents in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang region, take to the streets
* China's official media says protesters attacked passersby, burned buses
* Protest prompts a police lockdown of the city
* Protest may be a reaction to racial violence in southern Guangdong province
From Jaime Florcruz
CNN
Decrease font Decrease font
Enlarge font Enlarge font
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Ethnic Uyghur residents in Urumqi, capital of China's far west Xinjiang region, took to the streets Sunday afternoon in a rare public protest that prompted a police lockdown of the city.
China's official Xinhua News Agency said protesters attacked passersby, burned public buses and blocked traffic. The report did not say how many people took part in the protest or what their grievances were.
But a witness in Urumqi told CNN that, soon after the protest started around 5 p.m., "hundreds [of protesters] grew into easily over a thousand -- men, women and children, all ethnic Uyghurs, screaming and chanting."
Local police arrived quickly and tried to control the swelling crowd by erecting barriers in the street, but "people pushed them over," the witness said. "They were throwing rocks at passing cars and buses." As the violence escalated, hundreds of anti-riot police arrived on the scene, the witness said.
"They used tear gas and fire hoses to disperse the crowd. I saw fire trucks, ambulances, armed personnel carriers, and what looked like tanks. I heard random gunshots."
Late Sunday, the witness said Urumqi was in a lockdown, with hundreds of People's Liberation Army soldiers in the streets. He reported seeing riot police chasing protesters into alleyways and rounding up "many" of them.
* After 7 years at Gitmo, resettled Uyghurs grateful for freedom
* China executes 2 for attack before Olympics
*
The witness speculated that the protest, which took place in the predominantly Uyghur-populated Bazaar district, may have been a reaction to racial violence in southern Guangdong province.
The racial violence reportedly happened at a toy factory in Guangdong Province, where many migrants, including Uyghurs, have moved in search of work. A massive brawl reportedly broke out between workers of Uyghur and Han nationalities. Two Uyghurs reportedly died in the violent clash.
Xinjiang is home to many Uyghurs. China's constitution guarantees ethnic minorities equal rights and limited autonomy. However, ethnic tensions run deep. Minority groups like the Uyghurs complain that they are treated as second-class citizens and are subjected to discrimination by the majority Han nationalities.
"What was clear was the Uyghur protesters were not happy," the witness in Urumqi said. "They broke windows of public buses, threw bottles and rocks at the police and harassed what looked like Chinese of Han or Hui nationalities. I saw a Uyghur man kick a Han woman in the behind as she tried to get away from the crowds."
It was not clear, from official reports or the witness' account, if there were any casualties.
A spokesman for the World Uyghur Congress, a dissident Uyghur group based in Munich, Germany, told CNN that local Uyghur people in Urumqi and Xinjiang had told him by telephone that they had seen bodies thrown into military vehicles.
Dilxat Raxit added that tens of thousands of demonstrators had gathered in every Uyghur neighborhood in Urumqi to protest peacefully against what he described as the government's ethnic cleansing in Guangdong Shaoguan.
After about 40 minutes during which the crowd shouted slogans, calling the incident in Guangdong Shaoguan a planned ethnic cleansing, the Chinese military began to crack down by sending more than 50 military vehicles -- including tanks -- carrying troops into Urumqi.
All Uyghurs were ordered off the street, he said.
Sources in Kashgar said a "massive number" of Chinese PLA forces entered that city as well, and that students were ordered to remain inside.
People were also arrested along roads leading to Urumqi, he said.
"According to the Chinese law, people have the right to protest peacefully," the World Uyghur Congress said in an appeal. "We call for attention to this kind of ethnic discrimination."
Uighur unrest threatens Beijing rulers’ biggest party for a decade
Uighur unrest threatens Beijing rulers’ biggest party for a decade
Jane Macartney: Analysis
Riots in the restive, mainly Muslim region of Xinjiang could hardly have come at a worse time for Beijing as the Government prepares to celebrate its biggest party for a decade.
Nothing must rain on its parade. After all, the planned march past the capital’s famed Gate of Heavenly Peace — Tiananmen — where Chairman Mao declared the founding of the People’s Republic on October 1, 1949, is to be trumpeted as a moment of national unity and patriotic pride. Signs that minority Turkic-speaking Uighurs in the far West are disgruntled contradict all the official messages of harmony and ethnic unity.
Propaganda mandarins will have to move into overdrive to calm fraying tempers in the far West, while security forces will be beefed up in troublespots — such as Xinjiang and Tibet — where local people with grievances might try to spoil the fun. After all, this is a moment when the nation’s 1.3 billion people must be seen, above all, to be happy and living together as one. Unrest threatens to jeopardise the whole fiesta.
Security officials will start to see conspiracies behind the riot. They will attribute the unrest to outside influences, to a small minority with ulterior motives.
Related Links
* China in deadly crackdown on Uighurs
The chances are almost zero that the authorities will try to investigate why the Uighurs in this case, or the Tibetans last year, feel aggrieved.
Such analysis is at odds with the knee-jerk response to send in yet more troops and security reinforcements. They can afford to take no chances. With such an important anniversary looming, they will assess that this is no time to try to address possible grievances.
It is easier to attribute the troubles to a plot, implement a crackdown that will cow the populace and assure that no one dares to make trouble. They then have only to wait for the next outburst of ethnic strife, which will surely come.
Jane Macartney: Analysis
Riots in the restive, mainly Muslim region of Xinjiang could hardly have come at a worse time for Beijing as the Government prepares to celebrate its biggest party for a decade.
Nothing must rain on its parade. After all, the planned march past the capital’s famed Gate of Heavenly Peace — Tiananmen — where Chairman Mao declared the founding of the People’s Republic on October 1, 1949, is to be trumpeted as a moment of national unity and patriotic pride. Signs that minority Turkic-speaking Uighurs in the far West are disgruntled contradict all the official messages of harmony and ethnic unity.
Propaganda mandarins will have to move into overdrive to calm fraying tempers in the far West, while security forces will be beefed up in troublespots — such as Xinjiang and Tibet — where local people with grievances might try to spoil the fun. After all, this is a moment when the nation’s 1.3 billion people must be seen, above all, to be happy and living together as one. Unrest threatens to jeopardise the whole fiesta.
Security officials will start to see conspiracies behind the riot. They will attribute the unrest to outside influences, to a small minority with ulterior motives.
Related Links
* China in deadly crackdown on Uighurs
The chances are almost zero that the authorities will try to investigate why the Uighurs in this case, or the Tibetans last year, feel aggrieved.
Such analysis is at odds with the knee-jerk response to send in yet more troops and security reinforcements. They can afford to take no chances. With such an important anniversary looming, they will assess that this is no time to try to address possible grievances.
It is easier to attribute the troubles to a plot, implement a crackdown that will cow the populace and assure that no one dares to make trouble. They then have only to wait for the next outburst of ethnic strife, which will surely come.
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