More than one hundred knife-wielding “terrorists” were repelled after attacking a police station in the volatile Chinese province of Xinjiang, state media claimed on Saturday.
The Global Times newspaper said casualties were “still being counted” after
rioters on motorcycles launched a noon assault on the building in the city
of Hotan.
The incident came just two days after at least 35 people were killed during
bloody clashes in Turpan, a city in the same province in China’s extreme
west.
State news agency Xinhua said eleven rioters were gunned down by police and
another four were captured after armed groups targeted government
installations and a building site on Wednesday morning, torching police cars
and killing 24 people.
Almost half of Xinjiang’s 22 million-strong population is composed of Uighurs,
a largely Muslim, Turkic-speaking group who often oppose the growing influx
of Han Chinese immigrants.
Uighur rights groups criticise Beijing’s alleged attempts to restrict their
religious and cultural freedoms and argue that the Uighurs have largely been
excluded from the region’s economic boom.
Xinjiang has been the scene of repeated inter-ethnic clashes, including confrontations between Han Chinese and Uighurs in July 2009 that left nearly 200 dead.
In a lengthy editorial on Saturday, the state-run Global Times blamed this week’s violence on “am absolute minority in Xinjiang” and said the incidents represented “a rare situation”.
“There is zero possibility that Xinjiang’s overall social stability will be overturned,” the newspaper argued. “China, including Xinjiang, is experiencing unprecedented prosperity and we must have full confidence that we can solve the problems we are confronted with.”
On Friday, the Uighur American Association disputed the government’s account of Wednesday’s violence calling for “an independent verification of events”.
In a statement, its president Alim Seytoff questioned the government’s claims that “terrorists” were behind the violence and blamed the troubles on the “devastating effects of [Beijing’s] failing ethnic policies.” A spokesperson for the US State Department addressed the violence on Thursday saying Washington was “deeply concerned by the ongoing reports of discrimination and restrictions against Uighurs and Muslims in China.” US criticism was rejected by Beijing. A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Beijing was “unsatisfied” with the US’ comments.
“Western public opinion, standing upon Western interest, may make use of the incidents to try to fan the flames of trouble. We should ignore those noises,” said the Global Times editorial on Saturday.
Xinjiang has been the scene of repeated inter-ethnic clashes, including confrontations between Han Chinese and Uighurs in July 2009 that left nearly 200 dead.
In a lengthy editorial on Saturday, the state-run Global Times blamed this week’s violence on “am absolute minority in Xinjiang” and said the incidents represented “a rare situation”.
“There is zero possibility that Xinjiang’s overall social stability will be overturned,” the newspaper argued. “China, including Xinjiang, is experiencing unprecedented prosperity and we must have full confidence that we can solve the problems we are confronted with.”
On Friday, the Uighur American Association disputed the government’s account of Wednesday’s violence calling for “an independent verification of events”.
In a statement, its president Alim Seytoff questioned the government’s claims that “terrorists” were behind the violence and blamed the troubles on the “devastating effects of [Beijing’s] failing ethnic policies.” A spokesperson for the US State Department addressed the violence on Thursday saying Washington was “deeply concerned by the ongoing reports of discrimination and restrictions against Uighurs and Muslims in China.” US criticism was rejected by Beijing. A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Beijing was “unsatisfied” with the US’ comments.
“Western public opinion, standing upon Western interest, may make use of the incidents to try to fan the flames of trouble. We should ignore those noises,” said the Global Times editorial on Saturday.
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