As the one-year anniversary of the July 5 Xinjiang riots approaches, police are on high alert. From the Associated Press:
Teams of police armed with guns and batons patrolled streets in the western region of Xinjiang on Sunday, part of stringent security precautions put in place ahead of the one-year anniversary of China’s worst ethnic violence in decades.
Though visitors were able to travel freely in the traditionally Muslim region, their bags were checked at airports, train stations and bus stops, as well as government offices, said a receptionist surnamed Fang at the Yilong Hotel in the regional capital of Urumqi.
SWAT teams were patrolling the streets in groups of about 10, she said, many of them armed.
Read also about the recent installation of surveillance cameras in Xinjiang, via CDT.
