Police restore order in western China; 156 killed
By WILLIAM FOREMAN, Associated Press Writer William Foreman, Associated Press Writer – 56 mins ago
URUMQI, China – Chanting "Strike down the criminals," hundreds of paramilitary police with shields, rifles and clubs took control of the streets Monday in the capital of western China's Muslim region, a day after the deadliest ethnic violence in decades.
State media said at least 156 people were killed in the unrest, which did not bode well for China's efforts to mollify long-simmering ethnic tensions between the minority Uighur people and the ethnic Han Chinese in Xinjiang — a sprawling region three times the size of Texas that shares borders with Pakistan, Afghanistan and other Central Asian countries.
As darkness fell, security forces became especially tense and ordered residents off the roads near the main gate at Xinjiang University — the scene of some of the worst clashes Sunday.
As people watched from an apartment building across from the school, riot police in green camouflage uniforms and helmets pointed long sticks at the gawkers and barked, "Close those windows!"
Mobile phone service and the social networking site Twitter were blocked, and Internet links were also cut or slowed down. Some videos were posted on YouTube.
The government often says the Uighurs should be grateful for the roads, railways, schools, hospitals and oil fields it has been building in Xinjiang, a region known for scorching deserts and snowy mountain ranges.
Many Uighurs (pronounced WEE-gers) haven't been wooed by the rapid economic development. Some want independence, while others feel they're being marginalized in their homeland. The Han — China's ethnic majority — have been flooding into Xinjiang as the region becomes more developed.
"The Han Chinese say we all belong to the same country. We're all part of one big family," said Memet, a restaurant worker who like other Uighurs declined to give his full name because he feared the police. "But the Han always treat us separately."
A Han Chinese shopkeeper, who only gave his surname Wang because the ethnic issue is so sensitive, disagreed. "Those who cause such trouble are criminals," he said. "They're never happy with what they have."
Sunday's violence was notable because it happened in Xinjiang's capital, Urumqi, which has been relatively peaceful and hasn't been a hotbed of religious or political agitation. In other restive Xinjiang cities, red propaganda banners are filled with slogans encouraging ethnic harmony. But most of the banners in Urumqi touted anti-drug and fire prevention campaigns.
The population of 2.3 million is also overwhelmingly Han Chinese in the city, a mixture of drab concrete apartment blocks and gleaming new office towers.
The latest unrest began after 1,000 to 3,000 protesters — mostly students — gathered downtown at the People's Square and protested the June 25 deaths of Uighur factory workers killed in a riot in southern China. Xinhua said two died; others say the real figure was higher.
"There were several hundred people who marched past my shop. I didn't feel threatened. They were peaceful and chanting, 'Uighurs will be victorious,'" said a convenience store clerk who only gave her surname, Zhang.
Poor quality amateur video purportedly showing a surging crowd of hundreds running through traffic. It was shot from an upper floor of a building and was posted on YouTube.