July 2009 Ürümqi riots: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 12:01, 6 July 2009
 | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. (July 2009) |
| 2009 Ürümqi riots | |
|---|---|
 Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in red | |
| Location | Ürümqi, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region,  China |
| Date | July 5, 2009 |
| Deaths | at least 140 |
| Injured | 800 |
The July 2009 Ürümqi riots broke out on 5 July 2009, in Ürümqi, the capital city of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, in Northwestern China. They involved at least 1,000 Uyghurs,[1][2][3] although some estimates were as many as 3,000.[4] The total death toll has risen past 140, according to Chinese government sources.[5][6]
The violence was part of an ongoing ethnic conflict between Han Chinese and the Uyghurs, a Muslim minority. Many assume that these specific riots were sparked by dissatisfaction with the Chinese central government's handling of the deaths of two Uyghur workers in Guangdong province.[1][4][7][8] Xinhua said more than 800 others have been injured and that many motor vehicles were burned.[2] Police attempted to quell the riots with tear gas, water hoses, armored vehicles, and roadblocks.[2][9][10]
Causes
The riots were generally assumed to have started over the killings of two Uyghurs by Han co-workers in Shaoguan, Guangdong, on 25 June 2009[1][4][7][8]—the killings had been prompted by a false rumor, made up by a disgruntled former co-worker, that several Uyghur men had raped Han women in a Shaoguan factory.[11][12] The Ürümqi riots began after a protest held in the Grand Bazaar denouncing the government's handling of the incident and demanding a full investigation of the killings.[10] According to exiled leaders, the death toll in the Guangdong incident was much higher than reported; although Xinhua reported that the person responsible for spreading the rumours was arrested, Uyghurs alleged the authorities also failed to protect the Uighur workers, or to arrest any of the Han Chinese involved.[13]
Central government officials, on the other hand, said the riots were "a preempted, organized violent crime" which was "instigated and directed from abroad, and carried out by outlaws in the country", meaning the East Turkestan independence movement and external forces supporting Uyghur independence[14] led by Uyghur dissident Rebiya Kadeer working from abroad.[14] Kadeer has denied the charges.[11]
Initial demonstrations and escalation
The New York Times cites an eyewitness who said the riots started sometime after 6 p.m. on 5 July. The protesters took to the streets, burning and smashing vehicles and confronting security forces, following a protest there to denounce government handling of a conflict involving Han Chinese and Uighur factory workers in far southern China in late June, when two Uighurs died.[11]
The exiled World Uyghur Congress said the demonstration began as a peaceful assembly, but police started firing indiscriminately. There were thousands of people shouting to stop ethnic discrimination, demanding an explanation..."[7] According to third party accounts, the confrontation involved about 3,000 Uighurs some of whom were, according to a Han, armed with batons and knives. Apparently, some 1,000 police officers were dispatched with tasers and weapons. They fired gunshots into the air to try to quell the unrest, and that at least 300 protesters had been arrested.[15]
Xinhua reported that 140 people were killed and 816 injured, but did not specify the ethnic identities of the victims.[5] Sources outside the country also reported "hundreds" of people injured.[15]
Curfew and communications blackout
Chinese bloggers wrote that at least one bomb exploded during the incident and that about 100 public buses were destroyed. Xinhua reported that crowds attacked passers-by, burned or vandalized 30 buses and cars and interrupted traffic on some roads. The police imposed vehicular curfew, and had reimposed order by the morning of 6 July.[16]
China Mobile suspended its service in the region "to help keep the peace and prevent the incident from spreading further," while China Unicom said there was no interruption of its service in Xinjiang.[16] Internet connections in the region had been locked down,[17] and many unauthorized postings on local sites and Google were claimed to have been "harmonised" by government censors; images and video footage of the demonstrations and rioting, however, were soon found posted on Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.[18]
See also
References
- ^ a b c Epstein, Gady (5 July 2009). "Uighur Unrest". Forbes. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
- ^ a b c Agencies (5 July 2009). "Civilians die in China riots". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
- ^ "China's Xinjiang hit by violence". BBC News. 5 July 2009. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
- ^ a b c Macartney, Jane (5 July 2009). "China in deadly crackdown after Uighurs go on rampage". The Times. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
- ^ a b "Death toll in Xinjiang riot rises to 140, still climbing". Xinhua. 6 July 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2009.
- ^ "China says 140 dead in Xinjiang unrest". Reuters. 2009-06-06.
- ^ a b c Reuters (5 July 2009). "China calls Xinjiang riot a plot against its rule".
{{cite news}}:|author=has generic name (help) - ^ a b "Riots in Urumqi". New Dominion. 5 July 2009. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
- ^ Macartney, Jane (5 July 2009). "Uighur unrest threatens Beijing rulers' biggest party for a decade".
- ^ a b Branigan, Tania; Watts, Jonathan (5 July 2009). "Uighur Muslims riot as ethnic tensions rise in China". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
- ^ a b c Wong, Edward (5 July 2009). "Riots in Western China Amid Ethnic Tension". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
- ^ "'No Rapes' in Riot Town". Radio Free Asia. 29 June 2009.
- ^ "China Says 140 Die in Riot, Uighur Separatists Blamed (Update2)". Bloomberg News. 5 July 2009.
- ^ a b "Civilians and armed police officer killed in NW China violence". Xinhua News. 5 July 2009. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
- ^ a b Barriaux, Marianne. "Three die during riots in China's Xinjiang region: state media".
{{cite news}}: More than one of|author=and|last=specified (help) - ^ a b Demick, Barbara (6 July 2009). "140 slain as Chinese riot police, Muslims clash in northwestern city".
- ^ Graham-Harrison and Yu Le, Emma (6 July 2009). "Residents say Internet down in Xinjiang riot city".
{{cite news}}: More than one of|author=and|last=specified (help) - ^ Doran, D'Arcy (5 July 2009). "Savvy Internet users defy China's censors on riot". AFP.