China’s Xinjiang ‘Isolated’ by Email, Phone Blocks
Though it has been nearly 4 months since the July riots, Xinjiang residents still have limited access to the Internet and international phone calls. From AFP:
The government says terrorists, separatists and religious extremists used the Internet, telephones and mobile text messages to spread rumours and hatred as the July violence erupted in Urumqi.
But nearly four months later, residents in Xinjiang said they still had very limited access to the Internet.
“Emails can’t be sent and received, Internet can only be used in Xinjiang and text messages can’t be used,” a receptionist at a hotel in Kashgar, another big city in the region, told AFP by phone.
One businessman in Urumqi, who also wished to remain anonymous, said his company had not relocated but was having to contact all clients by fax.
Read also this past CDT post for more background information.
For more on life in Xinjiang post-July 5, see this post from the Far West China blog (which was posted during a trip out of the region, when the blogger briefly had Internet access).
