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| 27 Die in Rioting in Ethnically Divided Western China | 27 Die in Rioting in Ethnically Divided Western China |
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| HONG KONG — At least 27 people died in rioting in far western China on Wednesday, when protesters attacked a police station and government offices and the police fired on the crowd, state media said. It was the worst spasm of violence for years in Xinjiang, a region beset with tensions between Uighurs, an overwhelmingly Muslim ethnic minority, and China’s Han majority. | HONG KONG — At least 27 people died in rioting in far western China on Wednesday, when protesters attacked a police station and government offices and the police fired on the crowd, state media said. It was the worst spasm of violence for years in Xinjiang, a region beset with tensions between Uighurs, an overwhelmingly Muslim ethnic minority, and China’s Han majority. |
| The Xinhua report gave no explanation of what triggered the confrontation; nor did it give the ethnic background or other details of the rioters. Uighur, also spelled Uyghur, people predominate in Turpan. | The Xinhua report gave no explanation of what triggered the confrontation; nor did it give the ethnic background or other details of the rioters. Uighur, also spelled Uyghur, people predominate in Turpan. |
| The confrontation broke out in the morning in Lukqun, a township in Turpan Prefecture, the state-run news agency, Xinhua, reported, citing unnamed officials. | The confrontation broke out in the morning in Lukqun, a township in Turpan Prefecture, the state-run news agency, Xinhua, reported, citing unnamed officials. |
| “Knife-wielding mobs attacked the township’s police stations, the local government building and a construction site, stabbing at people and setting fire to police cars,” the English-language report said. In the initial outburst of bloodshed, seventeen people were killed, including nine police officers and security guards, and the police then fatally shot 10 rioters, it said. | “Knife-wielding mobs attacked the township’s police stations, the local government building and a construction site, stabbing at people and setting fire to police cars,” the English-language report said. In the initial outburst of bloodshed, seventeen people were killed, including nine police officers and security guards, and the police then fatally shot 10 rioters, it said. |
| In the past, Uighur residents have often given accounts of unrest sharply at odds with those given by Chinese government officials. | In the past, Uighur residents have often given accounts of unrest sharply at odds with those given by Chinese government officials. |
| Repeated attempts to contact residents, and a spokesperson for the Xinjiang regional government, were unsuccessful. | Repeated attempts to contact residents, and a spokesperson for the Xinjiang regional government, were unsuccessful. |
| A spokesman for the World Uyghur Congress, an exiled group that advocates independence for the region, said the bloodshed had been stoked by a burst of detentions of Uighurs in the area over recent months. | A spokesman for the World Uyghur Congress, an exiled group that advocates independence for the region, said the bloodshed had been stoked by a burst of detentions of Uighurs in the area over recent months. |
| “This clash did not happen by chance,” said the spokesman, Dilxat Raxit, who lives in Sweden. “There have been sweeps and crackdowns in the area, leading to many Uighur men disappearing, and the authorities have refused to give information about their whereabouts,” he said, citing recent phone conversations with residents. | “This clash did not happen by chance,” said the spokesman, Dilxat Raxit, who lives in Sweden. “There have been sweeps and crackdowns in the area, leading to many Uighur men disappearing, and the authorities have refused to give information about their whereabouts,” he said, citing recent phone conversations with residents. |
| Images circulated on Chinese Internet sites, which could not be verified, showed a body, apparently dead, splayed on the road, next to an abandoned and smashed police car. Other pictures showed burned out vehicles near a fire-gutted police station and a puddle apparently red with blood. | Images circulated on Chinese Internet sites, which could not be verified, showed a body, apparently dead, splayed on the road, next to an abandoned and smashed police car. Other pictures showed burned out vehicles near a fire-gutted police station and a puddle apparently red with blood. |
| “It’s inconvenient to talk,” said an official in the propaganda office of Shanshan County, which includes Lukqun Township in its jurisdiction. “Leaders are all out, it’s inconvenient to take interviews.” | “It’s inconvenient to talk,” said an official in the propaganda office of Shanshan County, which includes Lukqun Township in its jurisdiction. “Leaders are all out, it’s inconvenient to take interviews.” |
| Many members of the Uighur minority, a Turkic-speaking group, resent the growing presence in Xinjiang of Han Chinese people, whom they say get the better jobs and land. Government restrictions on religion have also become a growing source of tensions with Uighurs, who have embraced more conservative currents of Sunni Islam. | Many members of the Uighur minority, a Turkic-speaking group, resent the growing presence in Xinjiang of Han Chinese people, whom they say get the better jobs and land. Government restrictions on religion have also become a growing source of tensions with Uighurs, who have embraced more conservative currents of Sunni Islam. |
| The government has blamed past violence in Xinjiang on groups it accuses of using terror to seek independence for the region, including the East Turkestan Islamic Movement. But advocates of Uighur self-determination and some foreign scholars say the discontent has local causes and is not orchestrated from abroad. | The government has blamed past violence in Xinjiang on groups it accuses of using terror to seek independence for the region, including the East Turkestan Islamic Movement. But advocates of Uighur self-determination and some foreign scholars say the discontent has local causes and is not orchestrated from abroad. |
| In July 2009, Urumqi, the regional capital of Xinjiang, was beset by the worst ethnic violence in China in many years, when Uighurs attacked Han Chinese after the police broke up a protest by Uighurs. At least 197 people were killed, most of them Han Chinese, according to the Chinese government. Crowds of Han Chinese residents then marched through Uighur neighborhoods, demanding vengeance and attacking residents with rocks and cleavers. | In July 2009, Urumqi, the regional capital of Xinjiang, was beset by the worst ethnic violence in China in many years, when Uighurs attacked Han Chinese after the police broke up a protest by Uighurs. At least 197 people were killed, most of them Han Chinese, according to the Chinese government. Crowds of Han Chinese residents then marched through Uighur neighborhoods, demanding vengeance and attacking residents with rocks and cleavers. |
| Chinese news Web sites initially featured the Xinhua report on the latest violence. But later in the day, those reports disappeared, in what appeared to be a government effort to stifle alarm or volatile anger about the deaths. | Chinese news Web sites initially featured the Xinhua report on the latest violence. But later in the day, those reports disappeared, in what appeared to be a government effort to stifle alarm or volatile anger about the deaths. |
| In April, at least 21 people died in fighting in Xinjiang between security forces and a group of what a government spokesman called “gangsters.” In March, two courts convicted and sentenced 20 people accused of militant separatism in the region. | In April, at least 21 people died in fighting in Xinjiang between security forces and a group of what a government spokesman called “gangsters.” In March, two courts convicted and sentenced 20 people accused of militant separatism in the region. |
| Uighurs once formed the vast majority of residents in Xinjiang, which neighbors on Central Asia and came under the control of Chinese Communist forces in 1949. In recent decades, the number of Han Chinese residents has grown, aided by migration. Uighurs now make up 46 percent of Xinjiang’s civilian population of 22 million, and Han Chinese account for 40 percent, according to government estimates. | Uighurs once formed the vast majority of residents in Xinjiang, which neighbors on Central Asia and came under the control of Chinese Communist forces in 1949. In recent decades, the number of Han Chinese residents has grown, aided by migration. Uighurs now make up 46 percent of Xinjiang’s civilian population of 22 million, and Han Chinese account for 40 percent, according to government estimates. |
| Lukqun Township, where the rioting erupted, is perched on the edge of desert and has about 30,000 residents, 90 percent of them Uighur, according to a report in the Xinjiang Daily last year. | Lukqun Township, where the rioting erupted, is perched on the edge of desert and has about 30,000 residents, 90 percent of them Uighur, according to a report in the Xinjiang Daily last year. |
| Jiang Zhaoyong, a Chinese former journalist who has written extensively about Xinjiang, said police stations have been a target of ethnic violence there before, including in 2008. “This appears to be the act of a local group,” he said of the latest attack. | Jiang Zhaoyong, a Chinese former journalist who has written extensively about Xinjiang, said police stations have been a target of ethnic violence there before, including in 2008. “This appears to be the act of a local group,” he said of the latest attack. |
Patrick Zuo and Mia Li contributed research from Beijing. | Patrick Zuo and Mia Li contributed research from Beijing. |