Post by Hawar on Sept 3, 2009 19:19:33 GMT 10
China Witnesses Report New Protest in Urumqi, AP Says
Protests have broken out in the city of Urumqi, scene of China’s worst ethnic rioting in decades two months ago, the Associated Press reported, citing witnesses.
Hundreds and possibly thousands of ethnic Han Chinese, who were the victims of riots and bloodletting in July, gathered in the city center to demonstrate against deteriorating law and order, AP said, citing people living nearby saying by phone.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said she was unaware of the AP report. “The Chinese government is competent to safeguard social stability and national unity,” she said.
Rioting broke out on July 5 in the capital of China’s westernmost province of Xinjiang. Ethnic Uighurs, the native people of the region who are outnumbered in the city after decades of state-sponsored Han migration, targeted the Chinese population in violence that left almost 200 dead and more than 1,000 injured.
Police ordered people off the streets, Agence France-Presse reported, without citing anyone.
Police sent a text message to Urumqi residents several days ago warning them to watch out for syringe attacks, Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post reported today, citing two officers. The message was in response to several attacks in the past week involving “harmful injections,” the paper said.
Fifteen people have been arrested for stabbing members of the public with syringes, Xinhua News Agency reported, citing a government official.
Businessmen taking part in the Urumqi trade fair left the city, while many residents stayed off the streets, the Morning Post said.
President Hu Jintao, who last week made his first visit to Xinjiang since the riots, had to cut short his meetings with world leaders at the Group of Eight meeting in Italy when the riots broke out. He said on his return that maintaining social stability was the government’s biggest priority.
www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=aJEFS6nVqp2Q
Protests have broken out in the city of Urumqi, scene of China’s worst ethnic rioting in decades two months ago, the Associated Press reported, citing witnesses.
Hundreds and possibly thousands of ethnic Han Chinese, who were the victims of riots and bloodletting in July, gathered in the city center to demonstrate against deteriorating law and order, AP said, citing people living nearby saying by phone.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said she was unaware of the AP report. “The Chinese government is competent to safeguard social stability and national unity,” she said.
Rioting broke out on July 5 in the capital of China’s westernmost province of Xinjiang. Ethnic Uighurs, the native people of the region who are outnumbered in the city after decades of state-sponsored Han migration, targeted the Chinese population in violence that left almost 200 dead and more than 1,000 injured.
Police ordered people off the streets, Agence France-Presse reported, without citing anyone.
Police sent a text message to Urumqi residents several days ago warning them to watch out for syringe attacks, Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post reported today, citing two officers. The message was in response to several attacks in the past week involving “harmful injections,” the paper said.
Fifteen people have been arrested for stabbing members of the public with syringes, Xinhua News Agency reported, citing a government official.
Businessmen taking part in the Urumqi trade fair left the city, while many residents stayed off the streets, the Morning Post said.
President Hu Jintao, who last week made his first visit to Xinjiang since the riots, had to cut short his meetings with world leaders at the Group of Eight meeting in Italy when the riots broke out. He said on his return that maintaining social stability was the government’s biggest priority.
www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=aJEFS6nVqp2Q