http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-new...in-chinas-urumqi-witnesses-20090708-dcsx.html
Chinese authorities put on a huge show of force in Xinjiang's capital Urumqi as hundreds of trucks full of armed police and soldiers poured in to prevent further deadly riots.
Army helicopters circled overhead as security forces filled the centre of the city, many carrying automatic weapons with bayonets mounted, according to AFP reporters at the scene.
Armed police, standing in military trucks, chanted "protect the people" as they drove by in front of thousands of bystanders in the capital of Xinjiang, a restive region that has long suffered from ethnic tensions.
Thousands of Han Chinese took to the streets Tuesday with makeshift weapons to protest 156 people killed in ethnic riots at the weekend.
Tuesday's protest came after a riot erupted in Urumqi Sunday, with thousands of members of the mainly Muslim Uighur ethnic minority taking to the streets in violence that saw more than 1,000 injured.
"The atmosphere in the city is extremely tense," a Han Chinese vegetable vendor who gave her name as Ma said.
"It is because of the Uighurs, they went too far, they killed so many Chinese -- we can't avoid this security if they have to try and prevent further loss of life."
Other army trucks lined a main road going from east to west, sealing off the south of the city where there is a strong concentration of Uighurs.
China's eight million Uighurs have long complained about the influx of Han Chinese into what they regard as their homeland, a vast area of mountains and deserts that borders Central Asia.
Chinese authorities put on a huge show of force in Xinjiang's capital Urumqi as hundreds of trucks full of armed police and soldiers poured in to prevent further deadly riots.
Army helicopters circled overhead as security forces filled the centre of the city, many carrying automatic weapons with bayonets mounted, according to AFP reporters at the scene.
Armed police, standing in military trucks, chanted "protect the people" as they drove by in front of thousands of bystanders in the capital of Xinjiang, a restive region that has long suffered from ethnic tensions.
Thousands of Han Chinese took to the streets Tuesday with makeshift weapons to protest 156 people killed in ethnic riots at the weekend.
Tuesday's protest came after a riot erupted in Urumqi Sunday, with thousands of members of the mainly Muslim Uighur ethnic minority taking to the streets in violence that saw more than 1,000 injured.
"The atmosphere in the city is extremely tense," a Han Chinese vegetable vendor who gave her name as Ma said.
"It is because of the Uighurs, they went too far, they killed so many Chinese -- we can't avoid this security if they have to try and prevent further loss of life."
Other army trucks lined a main road going from east to west, sealing off the south of the city where there is a strong concentration of Uighurs.
China's eight million Uighurs have long complained about the influx of Han Chinese into what they regard as their homeland, a vast area of mountains and deserts that borders Central Asia.
