Huge show of force in China's Urumqi: witnesses

[banova888]

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.

 

[banova888]

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-new...in-chinas-urumqi-witnesses-20090708-dcsx.html

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.

Nothing new since the Han Chinks now claim Singapore.

 

[banova888]

URUMQI, China — Sobbing Muslim women scuffled with riot police, and Chinese men wielding steel pipes and meat cleavers rampaged through the streets as ethnic tensions worsened in China's oil-rich Xinjiang territory, prompting President Hu Jintao to cut short a G8 summit trip Wednesday.

A Han Chinese man carries a spiked steel bar while using his cell phone to take photos as he joins a mob of Han Chinese men attacking Uighur properties in Urumqi, western China's Xinjiang province, Tuesday, July 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)


The new violence in Xinjiang's capital erupted Tuesday only a few hours after the city's top officials told reporters the streets in Urumqi were returning to normal following a riot that killed 156 people Sunday. The officials said more than 1,000 suspects had been rounded up since the spasm of attacks by Muslim Uighurs against Han Chinese, the ethnic majority.

In a rare move, Hu cut short a trip to Italy to take part in a Group of Eight meeting later Wednesday to travel home to deal with the outbreak of violence, the Foreign Ministry said on its Web site.

The chaos returned Tuesday when hundreds of young Han men seeking revenge began gathering on sidewalks with kitchen knives, clubs, shovels and wooden poles. They spent most of the afternoon marching through the streets, smashing windows of Muslim restaurants and trying to push past police cordons protecting minority neighborhoods. Riot police successfully fought them back with volleys of tear gas and a massive show of force.

Uighurs have said this week's rioting was triggered by the June 25 deaths of Uighur factory workers killed in a brawl in the southern Chinese city of Shaoguan. State-run media have said two workers died, but many Uighurs believe more were killed and said the incident was an example of how little the government cared about them.

There was a heavy security presence in Urumqi on Wednesday morning after an overnight curfew in the city of 2.3 million was lifted. Two helicopters flew over the city watching the scene.

The ugly scenes over the last several days highlight how far away the Communist Party is from one of its top goals: Creating a "harmonious society." The unrest was also an embarrassment for the Chinese leadership, which is getting ready to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Communist rule and wants to show it has created a stable country.

But harmony has been hard to achieve in Xinjiang, a rugged region three times the size of Texas with deserts, mountains and the promise of huge oil and natural gas reserves. Xinjiang is also the homeland for 9 million Uighurs (pronounced WEE-gers), a Turkic-speaking group.

 

[dysentry]

Details of the toy factory beating...800 Uyghurs attacked due to fake rape story?

http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/armedchinese-07042009104353.html

 

[dysentry]

More pics here :

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/07/ethnic_clashes_in_urumqi_china.html

 

[1sickpuppy]

How come everytime something like this happens like in Russia/China they must say a muslim state? They make it sound as if religion is at fault instead of the people or is really religion the cause of this uprising?

 

[dysentry]

it's not just religion but different race, language and values.

interesting demonstration of string theory at work - from a fake rape story to a mass massacre...

 

[Angelo]

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.

how about this, kekleng?

 

[Angelo]