New Protests Rise in Western China

About 200 ethnic Uighurs, who are a Muslim minority, faced off against police to protest over the arrest of 1 434 people after Sunday's unrest. Photo by BGNES

New protests have started in the western Chinese city of Urumqi, two days after more than 150 people died in clashes between police and demonstrators.

About 200 ethnic Uighurs, who are a Muslim minority, faced off against police to protest over the arrest of 1 434 people after Sunday's unrest, the BBC reported.

Beijing and the Uighurs blame each other for the outbreak of violence.

Witnesses to Sunday's protests said Uighur protesters attacked vehicles before turning on local Han Chinese.

The unrest was apparently sparked by a brawl between Uighurs and ethnic Han Chinese several weeks earlier in a toy factory thousands of miles away in Guandong province.

156 people, mostly ethnic Han Chinese, died in Sunday's violence, and more than 1 000 were injured, officials said. Uighur groups say many more have died, claiming 90% of the dead were Uighurs.

Reports are surfacing that police have been going from house to house, rounding up young men for questioning.

The Chinese authorities say they have arrested the "ringleaders" of the protests, but that they are still seeking others.

Witnesses said Uighur protesters tore apart buses and cars with their bare hands on Sunday, and then turned on the local Han Chinese in what appears to have been an ethnic attack.

Some Chinese were dragged from the windows of buses while others were beaten in their homes.

 

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