CNN - Ethnic Uyghur residents in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, took to the streets Sunday afternoon in a rare public protest that prompted a police lock-down of the city.
By Monday, police had arrested several hundred participants, the Xinjiang Public Security Department said, according to Xinhua. Police were searching for about 90 other key figures.
State-run media reported that protesters attacked passersby, burned public buses and blocked traffic on Sunday. The report did not say how many people took part in the protest or what their grievances were.
But a witness in Urumqi told CNN that, soon after the protest started at about 5 p.m., hundreds of protesters "grew into easily over 1,000 -- men, women and children, all ethnic Uyghurs -- screaming and chanting."
Xinjiang is home to many Uyghurs. China's constitution guarantees ethnic minorities equal rights and limited autonomy. However, ethnic tensions run deep. Minority groups such as the Uyghurs complain that they are treated as second-class citizens and are subjected to discrimination by the majority Han nationalities.
"What was clear was, the Uyghur protesters were not happy," the witness in Urumqi said. "They broke windows of public buses, threw bottles and rocks at the police, and harassed what looked like Chinese of Han or Hui nationalities. I saw a Uyghur man kick a Han woman in the behind as she tried to get away from the crowds."
A spokesman for the World Uyghur Congress, a dissident Uyghur group based in Munich, Germany, told CNN that Uyghur people in Urumqi and Xinjiang had told him by telephone that they had seen bodies thrown into military vehicles.
Dilxat Raxit added that tens of thousands of demonstrators had gathered in every Uyghur neighborhood in Urumqi to protest peacefully against what he described as the government's ethnic cleansing in Guangdong's Shaoguan City.
After about 40 minutes -- during which the crowd shouted slogans, calling the incident in Guangdong's Shaoguan City a planned ethnic cleansing -- the Chinese military began to crack down by sending more than 50 military vehicles, including tanks, carrying troops into Urumqi.
By Monday, police had arrested several hundred participants, the Xinjiang Public Security Department said, according to Xinhua. Police were searching for about 90 other key figures.
State-run media reported that protesters attacked passersby, burned public buses and blocked traffic on Sunday. The report did not say how many people took part in the protest or what their grievances were.
But a witness in Urumqi told CNN that, soon after the protest started at about 5 p.m., hundreds of protesters "grew into easily over 1,000 -- men, women and children, all ethnic Uyghurs -- screaming and chanting."
Xinjiang is home to many Uyghurs. China's constitution guarantees ethnic minorities equal rights and limited autonomy. However, ethnic tensions run deep. Minority groups such as the Uyghurs complain that they are treated as second-class citizens and are subjected to discrimination by the majority Han nationalities.
"What was clear was, the Uyghur protesters were not happy," the witness in Urumqi said. "They broke windows of public buses, threw bottles and rocks at the police, and harassed what looked like Chinese of Han or Hui nationalities. I saw a Uyghur man kick a Han woman in the behind as she tried to get away from the crowds."
A spokesman for the World Uyghur Congress, a dissident Uyghur group based in Munich, Germany, told CNN that Uyghur people in Urumqi and Xinjiang had told him by telephone that they had seen bodies thrown into military vehicles.
Dilxat Raxit added that tens of thousands of demonstrators had gathered in every Uyghur neighborhood in Urumqi to protest peacefully against what he described as the government's ethnic cleansing in Guangdong's Shaoguan City.
After about 40 minutes -- during which the crowd shouted slogans, calling the incident in Guangdong's Shaoguan City a planned ethnic cleansing -- the Chinese military began to crack down by sending more than 50 military vehicles, including tanks, carrying troops into Urumqi.
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- larkjl86
- added this
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@yourchapter11 on twitter says "Over 140 killed in ethnic unrest in China - CNN: Los Angeles TimesOver 140 killed in ethnic unrest in ChinaCNNBE.."
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- twitterbot
- 4 months ago
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@Janiwilli on twitter says "Over 140 killed in ethnic unrest in China - CNN Telegraph.co.ukOver 140 killed in ethnic unrest in ChinaCNNBEIJING,.."
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- twitterbot
- 4 months ago
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