Urumqi

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After Protests, China Relaxes Lockdown in City

Anger over fatal fire leads to demonstrations in Xinjiang

(Newser) - Authorities in China's western Xinjiang region opened up some neighborhoods in the capital of Urumqi on Saturday after residents held extraordinary late-night demonstrations against the city's draconian "zero-COVID" lockdown that had lasted more than three months. The displays of public defiance were fanned by anger over a...

'Serious Violent Terrorist Incident' Strikes China

31 dead as bomb-laden SUVs plow through market

(Newser) - Assailants in two SUVs plowed through shoppers while setting off explosives on a busy street market in China's volatile northwestern region of Xinjiang today, killing 31 people and injuring more than 90, local officials say. The attack in the city of Urumqi was the bloodiest in a series of...

China Executes 9 Over Uighur Riots

Executed were convicted of murder during Xinjiang province unrest

(Newser) - Nine people convicted of murder and arson during July riots in China’s Xinjiang province were executed today. Chinese news services did not identify the executed, but previous statements suggest that they are Uighurs. The riots in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region, left 197 people dead as Uighurs...

Dozens 'Disappeared' After China Riots

Rights group: Uighurs vanished after being detained by police

(Newser) - Dozens of Uighur men and boys rounded up in the wake of the riots that shook China's Xinjiang province over the summer are missing, according to a reports from a human rights group. Interviews with families in Urumqi found evidence that 43 people had vanished since being taken away by...

9 Busted in China Syringe Attacks

Spate of random stabbings unsettle western Urumqi

(Newser) - Chinese authorities have arrested nine suspects in connection with the recent spate of syringe attacks in Urumqi, reports state media. Some 531 people had been stabbed with hypodermic needles in Urumqi, most but not all of whom were Han Chinese, according to police. The attacks had set off another round...

China Closes Urumqi Mosques, Imposes Curfew

(Newser) - Chinese authorities forced mosques in Urumqi to stay closed today and reimposed a curfew in the restive western city, reports the BBC. The curfew was lifted after thousands of troops had seemed to restore order between Han Chinese and Uighur Muslims, who have battled in the worst ethnic violence China...

As Riots Quiet, China Vows to Execute Killers

Anyone found guilty of murder will be executed, says party head

(Newser) - After thousands of troops were deployed to quell ethnic unrest in the Chinese city of Urumqi, “the situation is under control,” said officials—who vowed to execute anyone behind the riot's 156 deaths. Most of those charged with murder so far have been students, said the city’s...

Chinese Prez Ditches G8 to Grapple With Ethnic Crisis

(Newser) - Chinese President Hu Jintao abandoned plans to attend the G8 summit and returned to China from Italy to deal with growing unrest in Xinjiang after some 160 people were killed in riots there, the Financial Times reports. Troops have flooded into the provincial capital, Urumqi, in a bid to restore...

Han Chinese Retaliate Against Uighurs

(Newser) - Thousands of ethnic Han Chinese rioted in the western city of Urumqi today, destroying shops and property belonging to Muslim Uighurs in retaliation for Han deaths over the weekend, the Guardian reports. Police tried to disperse the mob with tear gas, but many rioters remained, throwing rocks at mosques and...

China Locks Down Xinjiang as Fresh Protests Erupt

(Newser) - China has clamped down hard on Xinjiang province after at least 156 people died in riots in Urumqi Sunday night, the New York Times reports. More than 1000 people have been detained and 20,000 security forces deployed in the capital. Cell phone and Internet services have been cut off...

As Riot Death Toll Mounts, China Blames Uighur Exiles

Uighur activists claim police opened fire on peaceful demonstration

(Newser) - Chinese state media are reporting that 156 people are dead and at least 828 injured and in the western city where clashes broke out between paramilitary police and Uighur demonstrators, Al Jazeera eports. Though the protests in Urumqi, Xinjian province, seemed to have died down, police are said to be...

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