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China news tagged with: Urumqi protests 2009 (12)

• Xinjiang’s Bleached Bones and Turquoise Tombs

  

  Paul Mozur, a Taiwan-based correspondent, traveled through Xinjiang shortly after the July riots and filed a three-part report for Asia Sentinel. Read also Parts One and Two. From Part Three:

  Throughout our conversation Iparhan broke off to joke with her Han friend Mei, whom she had brought for an excursion outside the city. Iparhan is typical of more and more Uighurs, who are educated in Mandarin at an increasingly younger age and leave Xinjiang to attend college in eastern China. Though on the surface their integration would seem to neutralize them as potential threats, in many ways they are the greatest threat to China. As Human Rights Watch’s Nicholas Bequelin explains: “The source of political and religious radicalism in Muslim societies has often been people who were both educated and disaffected.”

  Iparhan said there were many others like her. “It is this way everywhere, there is no chance of success opened to us.” It is this fact, she told me, that helped her to see through the propagandistic side of her education. “Many of my Han classmates simply believe what the teachers or the government tells them. If they hear it is foreigners who caused a problem in Xinjiang, they believe it, they don’t ask for proof and they don’t ask why,” she complained. “I think because growing up we know we are a minority and then we see discrimination everyday we learn not to listen to the government.”

  Even if the economic realities on the ground are addressed, Bequelin still believes the region will remain restive. “The promotion of economic development cannot make up for restrictions on cultural expression, and there is no look to change these cultural policies. Ultimately the party leadership is still clenching onto ideological clichés that encourage ethnic polarization.” Across Xinjiang’s urban areas young Uighur kids have become reliable speakers of crisp Mandarin. If in a matter of a decade the Chinese government can succeed in forcing the province’s education system to switch from Uighur to Mandarin, it doesn’t seem unrealistic that it could at least partially succeed in teaching cultural understanding, instead of falling back on banal socialist phrases.

  But for now the government has shown itself content to simply squelch violence and retain stability at all costs.

  » Read more
  • October 16, 2009 1:54 PM

• China Sentences 6 More to Death for Xinjiang Riot

  

  Fourteen more individuals are being tried over the riots in July in Urumqi, after six were sentenced to death last week. From AFP:

  “The trials started at around 10:00 am today and they’re still not over. Fourteen defendants are being tried,” a spokesman for the Xinjiang government, who asked not to be named, told AFP.

  The defendants are charged with murder, robbery, arson and vandalism, the official Xinhua news agency reported, in connection with the violence that left nearly 200 dead — the worst ethnic unrest in China in decades.

  The regional capital Urumqi erupted in chaos on July 5 as members of the Uighur minority — most of whom are Muslims — went on a rampage in attacks directed mainly at members of China’s dominant Han ethnic group.

  The 14 were the last in a batch of 21 people who have so far been charged with crimes relating to the unrest. Six have already been sentenced to death and a seventh sentenced to life in prison.

  Update: AP reports that six more defendants have been sentenced to death in today’s trials:

  Hou Hanmin, a spokeswoman for Xinjiang’s regional government, said six new defendants were sentenced to death and three other people were given life sentences by the Urumqi Intermediate People’s Court. Five others were given prison terms, she said, but did not provide details.

  The defendant’s names were not immediately available and it was not clear if they were Uighur.

  On Monday, six Uighur defendants were sentenced to death by the same court. Those sentences were the first to be handed down in the trials of scores of suspects arrested during and after the riots.

  » Read more
  • October 14, 2009 1:43 PM

• China Sentences Six Men to Death over Ethnic Riots (Updated)

  

  Just after handing down the death sentence to one man for the deadly factory brawl in Shaoguan, six men, all apparently Uighur, have been sentenced to death for instigating the riots in Urumqi that followed. From The Guardian:

  The convicts – all of whom have names suggesting they are from the Uighur ethnic minority – were found guilty of murder, arson and robbery during the riots, which left almost 200 people dead.

  The sentencing – announced by the state-run China Central Television – appeared to be aimed at mollifying the anger of the Han Chinese majority, many of whom rallied in the regional capital of Urumqi last month to call for swift retribution.

  But overseas Uighur groups warned that the harsh punishments and lack of due legal process could further inflame tensions.

  Fears of new unrest prompted the authorities to step up security in Urumqi ahead of the sentencing.

  Update: See a post from the China Law & Policy blog about this trial.

  » Read more
  • October 12, 2009 2:43 PM

• Classes Resume In Riot – Torn City Of Urumqi, China

  

  Reuters reports on lingering safety concerns as schools open in Urumqi:

  A police warning about syringe stabbings led to hundreds of people reporting attacks with needles in early September, when schools opened for the fall semester after bloody ethnic riots by minority Muslim Uighurs in July.

  About 600 people reported they were attacked with needles, often on crowded buses, but only just over 100 showed any sign of injury. Parental anxiety about sending children to school alone may have contributed to the reports of attacks, many on women and children.

  The city is now trying to contain outbreaks of the H1N1 flu, which Chinese health authorities have warned can spread quickly among children at schools.

  Han Chinese took to the streets on September 3, demanding the resignation of regional party secretary Wang Lequan for failing to ensure their safety. Many in the crowds cited having to accompany their children to school and take other precautions as part of the reason for their dissatisfaction, in addition to concern about a lack of information on trials for the rioters.

  » Read more
  • September 14, 2009 2:28 PM

• China Sentences 3 to Prison over Syringe Attacks

  

  From AP:

  A court in western China’s Xinjiang region sentenced three people to up to 15 years in prison Saturday for a series of mysterious syringe attacks that led to mass protests against the local government.

  The protests by tens of thousands of Han Chinese earlier this month said the government can’t guarantee their safety. More than 500 people in Urumqi have reported being attacked, though state media said only about 100 showed evidence of being pricked.

  The Intermediate People’s Court in the regional capital, Urumqi, sentenced 19-year-old Yilipan Yilihamu to 15 years for inserting a needle into a woman’s buttock on Aug. 28, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

  China Central Television said the teen was just about to start college and had no previous criminal record. He plans to appeal, the report said.

  » Read more
  • September 12, 2009 12:51 AM

• Needle Attacks and Rumours Spread in China’s Xinjiang

  

  Mysterious syringe and needle attacks, both real and imagined, are continuing in Xinjiang and spreading outside Urumqi, Reuters reports:

  Nearly 600 people in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, home to the native Muslim Uighurs, have said they were stabbed with needles over the last two weeks, leading to mass demonstrations by Han Chinese against a government they said could not guarantee their safety.

  Nine suspects were detained in the cities of Hotan, Altay and Kashgar, the China Daily said.

  The pattern of real and imagined attacks appears to be continuing. Of nine reported attacks in Hotan, three were actually pricked, while in Altay, four of five reported attacks were false alarms and in Kashgar, three of five were false alarms, the paper said, citing local officials.

  Officials and state media blamed the attacks in Urumqi on separatists bent on destroying ethnic unity.

  Read previous coverage of the protests over the syringe attacks via CDT.

  » Read more
  • September 10, 2009 8:38 PM

• China Official Regrets ‘Beating’

  

  The Straits Times reports on the beating of three Hong Kong reporters in Xinjiang during recent protests:

  The three journalists were tackled and detained by paramilitary police while trying to escape tear gas fired to disperse crowds on September 4 when Han Chinese protested inadequate security in the city.

  ‘We are regretful over the incident,’ Hou Hanmin, Xinjiang spokeswoman told Xinhua news agency. Xinhua said Ms Hou was expressing regret over what it described as an ‘alleged beating.’

  ‘Of the three journalists, only one had a temporary press card that allowed him to conduct interviews in the city, but the other two didn’t. They violated our regulations,’ he said.

  See more on this story from ESWN.

  » Read more
  • September 8, 2009 11:08 PM

• Was Needle Panic in China a Fake Frenzy?

  

  The Toronto Star looks at whether recent reports of organized syringe attacks in Xinjiang, which subsequently sparked protests, are truth or rumor:

  Demonstrations by frightened Chinese erupted in the Xinjiang capital last week amid claims that the region’s native Uighurs had launched a wave of politically motivated syringe attacks against Han Chinese.

  But days after reports of the attacks in state media, credible evidence seems in short supply. Some are questioning whether there were any organized attacks at all.

  [...] “Some of those who said they had been stabbed actually suffered from mosquito stings and other psychogenic reasons,” Xinhua said.

  Other agency reports noted that of the four people officially charged last week, most were drug addicts involved in acts of plain criminality.

  On her blog, Reuters reporter Lucy Hornby writes about the rumors floating around the streets of Urumqi:

  The syringe scare was started by a police department text message last Monday, warning residents against attackers with syringes. Based on the indictments so far, some drug addicts had robbed a cab driver by threatening him with a syringe; another tried to fend off police who were trying to rescue them. And then there was a teenager who stuck a needle in a fruit seller’s buttock.

  The government warned of a coordinated separatist attack. The effect of the text message, especially in buses crowded with Urumqi residents who are fearful and suspicious of each other, was panic. Over 500 people have gone to the police saying they were attacked; only 106 of them had a clear mark, bump or rash on their skin, official figures show.

  But it’s not all hysteria. Those 106 people were pricked with something. Xinhua, the state news agency, said some were mosquito bites. But others were indeed injured, albeit slightly. Doctors, who reassured reporters that it was unlikely the attacks could spread AIDS, said that at least some of the verifiable injuries could be pin or sewing needle pricks.

  So who is sticking needles into people? Angry copycats who got an idea from that text message? People who want to enjoy the fuss? People who want to arouse tension and strife in Urumqi, the divided city?

  Xinhua, however, issued a report today calling the syringe attacks, “violent terrorist crimes…[and] organized and planned major adverse events.”

  » Read more
  • September 8, 2009 1:44 PM

• China to Tear Down Kadeer Buildings in Restive Urumqi

  

  Three buildings in Urumqi owned and lived in by the family of exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer are to be demolished as reports of syringe attacks in the city continue, Reuters reports:

  The government ordered shops and businesses in central Urumqi to close early on Monday, giving rise to a wave of rumours of new unrest among citizens panicked by mysterious needle attacks.

  Police received another 77 reports of needle attacks between Sunday evening and Monday evening, despite threatened punishments for both attackers and rumour-mongerers, Xinhua said. A Han Chinese crowd also tried to beat up a Uighur on Monday after another alleged needle attack.

  [...] The Akida Trade Center, a building full of Uighur shops owned by the Akida Industry and Trade Co founded by Kadeer, were slated for demolition due to cracks in the walls and sunken footings, Xinhua said, confirming a report on Aug. 19 by the Uyghur American Association.

  More than 30 members of Kadeer’s family, including siblings, children and grandchildren, had been living on upper floors of the building, the UAA said.

  » Read more
  • September 7, 2009 9:25 PM

• China Xinjiang Chief Survives Political Firestorm

  

  Despite calls for him to resign following protests over random syringe attacks on residents, Xinjiang’s powerful Party secretary Wang Lequan remains in office, AP reports:

  Angry protesters poured into the streets of the regional capital Urumqi last week, demanding the removal of Wang and other officials over deadly ethnic rioting in July and a string of unnerving needle attacks blamed by the government on Muslim separatists. Officials say five people died in the protests and 21 have been detained on suspicion of stabbing people with needles.

  On Saturday, the protesters won a partial victory with the firing of Urumqi’s Communist Party Secretary Li Zhi and Xinjiang’s regional police chief. Wang, 64, escaped without so much as a reprimand.

  “Wang Lequan is too big,” said an Urumqi beverage seller on Sunday, who would give only his surname, Chen, for fear of official reprisals. “There is nothing you can do.”

  If anything, last week’s protests may have strengthened Wang’s position because Beijing will always favor a tough approach toward ethnic unrest, even if that just aggravates the tensions, said Michael Davis, a professor of law at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

  A Washington Post report gives a slightly different picture of Wang Lequan’s current status:

  Beijing has long relied on Wang to make sure that the long-standing discontent among Xinjiang’s Muslim Uighur population does not spread and thus pose a threat to broader political stability in China. The July riots and the ongoing protests have damaged that trust. The Communist Party is even more determined to maintain stability than usual as it prepares to reaffirm its grip on power with celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China on Oct. 1.

  That is why on the streets of Urumqi, the theory is that Wang has less than a month left in office. Many Xinjiang residents believe he must be in trouble with Beijing because he has not appeared on state television since last week’s protests.

  But analysts say removing Wang would be close to impossible. “As a provincial party chief, you will only be demoted if you’re corrupt or if you’re dead,” said Russell Leigh Moses, a Beijing-based political analyst.

  See also a report from Reuters about conditions in Urumqi following this week’s protests:

  Calm descended on most of Urumqi after two high officials were fired and doctors reassured fearful city residents, but another alleged needle stabbing on Sunday sparked the angry outburst by dozens of Han Chinese. Police dispersed them by firing tear gas, according to witnesses.

  On Thursday and Friday tens of thousands called for the resignation of Xinjiang region Communist Party Secretary Wang Lequan, saying he had failed to ensure their security after hundreds of reported syringe attacks blamed by authorities on separatists. Some tried to storm Uighur areas.

  Han Chinese said they were relieved by military doctors’ assurances that the needle attacks would not spread AIDS, but not fully satisfied by the sacking of city party secretary Li Zhi and regional chief of police Liu Yaohua.

  A Washington Post report goes into more detail about Wang Lequan’s status:

  Beijing has long relied on Wang to make sure that the long-standing discontent among Xinjiang’s Muslim Uighur population does not spread and thus pose a threat to broader political stability in China. The July riots and the ongoing protests have damaged that trust. The Communist Party is even more determined to maintain stability than usual as it prepares to reaffirm its grip on power with celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China on Oct. 1.

  That is why on the streets of Urumqi, the theory is that Wang has less than a month left in office. Many Xinjiang residents believe he must be in trouble with Beijing because he has not appeared on state television since last week’s protests.

  But analysts say removing Wang would be close to impossible. “As a provincial party chief, you will only be demoted if you’re corrupt or if you’re dead,” said Russell Leigh Moses, a Beijing-based political analyst.

  » Read more
  • September 6, 2009 6:20 PM

• China Ousts Top Party Official in Wake of Unrest

  

  The New York Times reports on political developments following the recent unrest in Urumqi:

  The top Communist official in Urumqi in western China was dismissed on Saturday as a large deployment of the military police appeared to have brought a measure of peace to the city after two days of large street protests.

  Li Zhi, the party secretary of Urumqi, lost his post, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday evening. He became the most senior person to be removed since ethnic tensions erupted there in rioting in early July.

  Beijing officials also sent to Urumqi last week a special medical inspection unit from the People’s Liberation Army to investigate reports that people had been stabbed with needles.

  It is somewhat unusual for China’s leaders to replace a senior local official so quickly after protests — in this case, while large deployments of armed police officers are still blocking intersections in Urumqi and most shops are still closed. The Beijing leadership has often sought to avoid giving the impression of giving in to public pressure.

  Read more reports about the protests via CDT.

  » Read more
  • September 5, 2009 8:50 AM

• China Official: 5 Killed During Urumqi Protests (Updated with Video)

  

  AP reports on the ongoing protests in Urumqi following reports of a string of syringe attacks. Five people have been killed in the protests:

  Deputy Mayor Zhang Hong reported the casualties at a news conference in the city, capital of the western region of Xinjiang. He said they died Thursday.

  Thousands of Han Chinese flooded the streets in angry protests for a second day Friday to demand increased security in the city after a string of bizarre attacks of needle stabbings that appear to be ethnically motivated.

  Police used tear gas and public appeals to break up crowds marching on government offices and called on authorities to punish those responsible for ethnic rioting in early July that left 197 people dead.

  See also:
  - “Police chief visits Urumqi to defuse unrest” from China Daily
  - “Urumqi imposes rules to ban unlicensed demonstrations” from Xinhua
  - “China blames ethnic separatists for needle attacks” from AP
  - A slideshow from the BBC
  - Previous reporting on the unrest via CDT.
  - “Xinjiang ethnic groups united in hostility” from the Financial Times.
  - “China Says Five Dead in Latest Xinjiang Unrest” from the New York Times.

  Here is BBC’s video:

  And from France 24:
  

  » Read more
  • September 4, 2009 9:24 AM

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