URUMQI – Chinese riot police broke up a small demonstration by Uighurs leaving Friday prayers in a Muslim Uighur neighbourhood of Urumqi, arresting several who were taken away with hands above their heads.
The action came as the United States urged Chinese leaders to act with restraint in tackling the unrest in the Xinjiang region.
A crowd of several hundred gathered near the White Mosque in the regional capital Urumqi along with riot police with submachine guns, as armoured police vehicles blocked roads around the building and a helicopter hovered overhead. It was the first sign of unrest days after deadly rioting in the ethnically divided city.
“You see, this is how they treat Uighurs – like animals, said one woman of what appeared to be only a localised flare-up.
Hundreds of Uighurs crowded into the mosque after authorities relented on a decision to close mosques for the main day of prayer to minimise ethnic tension.
Security forces have imposed control over Urumqi, but the afternoon prayers were testing the government’s ability to contain Uighur anger after Han Chinese, China’s predominant ethnic group, attacked Uighur neighbourhoods on Tuesday.
Those attacks were in revenge for the deaths of 156 people in Uighur rioting on Sunday, the region’s worst ethnic violence in decades.
The initial decision to try to silence collective prayers could rankle, but thousands of troops and anti-riot police appeared ready to quell any fresh Uighur protests. Nearly all Uighurs are Muslim, but few adhere to the strictest interpretations of Islam.
Beijing cannot afford to lose its grip on the vast territory that borders Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, has abundant oil reserves and is China’s largest natural gas-producing region.
Local authorities in Kashgar, a Uighur city in the south of Xinjiang, told foreign reporters to leave yesterday, citing “safety” reasons. In some cases, the journalists were escorted to the airport.
US national security adviser Gen James Jones has urged Chinese leaders to act with “appropriate restraint”.
On Tuesday, thousands of Han Chinese, shouting for vengeance, attacked Uighur neighbourhoods, and many Uighur residents said people died. The government has not released any numbers.
Uighurs, a Turkic people who are largely Muslim and share linguistic and cultural bonds with Central Asia, make up almost half of Xinjiang’s 20 million people. – (Reuters)