Death Toll in Xinjiang Unrest Rises, as Public Assembly Banned
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Related subjects: Asia / Pacific, China, Diplomacy & Politics, Global, Rights & Freedoms, Security & Surveillance Comments (5)
The death toll in the capital of Xinjiang rose last week from initial reports of 100, to 140 killed, then 156. Now, there are reports that over 180 people have died in the inter-ethnic clashes between Uighur muslims and ethnic Han Chinese, relative newcomers to the region, brought in by policies imposed from Beijing. Reports of who exactly has borne the brunt of the violence are still difficult to confirm.
The Christian Science Monitor is now reporting:
The disputed death toll is now 184, and the number of injured is higher, too. A top Chinese official visited the region for the first time this weekend, accusing a dangerous fringe of organizing the unrest and calling on people of all ethnicities to build “a steel wall” against instability.
China is now seeking to crack down on any expression of dissent, flooding the streets of Urumqi with thousands of military police and armored transports. CNN reports today that the city of Urumqi has banned all public assembly in an effort to prevent further clashes. The city’s Public Security Bureau released a statement through China’s state-run media agency Xinhua, reading “Assemblies, marches and demonstrations on public roads and at public places in the open air are not allowed without the permission by police”.
Over the weekend, an explosion occurred at the China National Petroleum Corp. refinery in Urumqi. Last year, a series of bomb attacks in Xinjiang raised tensions between the western province and Beijing, which feared the emergence of a separatist threat.
The government’s ban on public assembly came on the eve of the 7th day after the deaths, which Han Chinese traditionally mark as the day of mourning. Security forces may fear a public expression of grief and outrage that could spur a new surge of violence.
Turkey’s prime minister Tayyip Erdogan has voiced criticism of China’s treatment of the Uighur muslim minority. The Uighurs are a Turkic central Asian ethnic group, speaking a language from the same family as Turkish, which some pan-Turkists view as the far eastern reach of the central Asian Turkic sphere.
Erdogan has said China’s crackdown is based in ethnic and religious intolerance and is part of a campaign to suppress the people of the Xinjiang region. He has called for action by the UN Security Council to investigate and/or denounce the violence against Uighurs.
There are reports the unrest has caused a stifling of travel and business in the region. Other towns and cities have seen a slowing of their economic activity, with visitors to “ethnic” recreation areas, set aside to keep Han and Uighurs from mixing uncomfortably. Some industrial facilities have been damaged in rioting, in part as symbols of what is seen as a Han invasion orchestrated by Beijing.
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