Chinese curfew follows riot

THE government imposed a curfew last night in the capital city of western China after mobs of Han Chinese armed with cleavers roamed the streets looking for Muslim Uyghurs who had earlier attacked people in the country’s worst ethnic violence in decades.

Rioting broke out in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang autonomous region, on Sunday, killing at least 156 people.

Yesterday’s violence came despite police arresting more than 1,400 people.

Groups of 10 or so Uighur men with bricks and knives attacked Han Chinese passersby and shop owners around midday outside the railway station until police dispersed them, witnesses said.

For much of the day, a mob of 1,000 mostly young Han Chinese holding meat cleavers and clubs, chanting “Defend the country”, tore through streets trying to get to a Uyghur neighbourhood until they were deterred by police firing tear gas.

Some Han Chinese, China’s majority ethnic group, armed themselves with bits of lumber and shovels.

The central government has slowed mobile phone and internet services, blocked Twitter and censored social networking and news sites. It has accused Uyghurs living in exile of inciting Sunday’s riot.

The violence is further embarrassment for the Chinese leadership, preparing for the 60th anniversary of communist rule in October.

Ethnic Uighurs have watched growing numbers of Han Chinese move into the region, one of China’s fastest-growing, where oil and gas industries make up most of the €44 billion economy.

Wang Lequan, Xinjiang’s Communist Party secretary, imposed traffic restrictions and ordered people off the streets from 9pm to 8am “to avoid further chaos”.

Foreign Ministry spokes- man Qin Gang blamed Rebiya Kadeer, the US-exiled head of the World Uyghur Congress and Uyghur American Association, for the violence.

“Using violence, making rumours, and distorting facts are what cowards do because they are afraid to see social stability and ethnic solidarity in Xinjiang,” he told a news conference.

Qin said Kadeer was behind the violence, adding “she has committed crimes that jeopardise national security”. Evidence had been found against her, Qin said, but refused to give details.

In Washington, Kadeer denied the accusations.

Sunday’s riot started as a peaceful demonstration by Uyghurs over a deadly fight at a factory in eastern China between Han Chinese and Uyghur workers. It spiralled out of control, as mainly Uyghur groups beat people and set fire to the vehicles and shops of Han Chinese.

Uighur expatriates staged protests yesterday outside Chinese embassies in Turkey, Norway and Germany, denouncing the violence in western China

Like the Tibetans, Uighur unrest has not been muted by rapid economic development, although the government publicly is unwilling to address ethnic tensions.