China foils terror attack

CHINA foiled a bid to cause an air disaster on a passenger jet en route to Beijing and the plane made a safe emergency landing, an official said yesterday, in what state media called an attempted terrorist attack.

The China Southern flight originated in Urumqi, capital of the far western Chinese region of Xinjiang, where militant Uighurs have agitated for an independent “East Turkestan”. It landed in the northwestern city of Lanzhou on Friday after the crew discovered and foiled the attempt to “cause an air disaster”, said Xinjiang Governor Nuer Baikeli.

“Who the people involved in the incident were, where they were from, what their aim was and what their background was, we are now investigating,” he said.