China has vowed to crush any unrest in its far West after violent clashes left 156 dead and threatened to destabilise the region.
Senior government officials said they would tighten Beijing’s control on the troubled desert province of Xinjiang after riots in Urumqi threatened to spill over into other cities.
Wang Lequan, a senior member of the Politburo and party secretary of the region, said running battles between Muslim Uighurs and the Chinese police had been “a profound lesson learned in blood”.
He promised the authorities would “take the most resolute and strongest measures to deal with the enemies’ latest attempt at sabotage”.
Xinhua, the state newswire, said the attacks were a “pre-empted, organised violent crime, instigated and directed from abroad and carried out by outlaws in the country.”
Last year, the government launched a strike-hard campaign in Xinjiang after a series of attacks on policemen ahead of the Olympic games. The suppression included the closing of mosques and markets in some cities, and increased surveillance of Uighurs.
Wang spoke as there were reports of violence spreading with witnesses claiming several hundred rioters had fought with police in Kashgar, the second-largest Uighur city.
People’s Liberation Army trucks were spotted arriving in Kashgar yesterday evening. Mobile phone and internet communications had also been cut across several cities to prevent any attempts at another co-ordinated protest.
Uighur activists accused the Chinese authorities of machine-gunning protesters in the streets. Dilxat Raxit, a spokesman for the World Uighur Congress in Exile, said the police had opened fire on the crowd when it reached the local government offices.
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As much as I view Islamists as a serious threat, I do not want to see the Chinese to succeed too quickly in squashing this rebellion or with only a few casualties. So, I hope that we are helping the Uighurs to keep this fight going for as long as possible. The more the PRC bleeds, the better Western interests are served — provided that the Uighurs do not win in the long run.
How odd to find Muslim and Mosques mentioned in the same sentence with “violence” & “riots”. Amazed I am, just blinkin’ amazed. What with it being the Religion of Peace and all.