Ethnic tension sparks fresh riots in China

China – Sobbing Muslim women scuffled with riot police, and Chinese men wielding steel pipes, meat cleavers and sticks rampaged through the streets Tuesday as ethnic tensions worsened in China’s oil-rich Xinjiang territory, forcing officials to declare a curfew.The new violence in Xinjiang’s capital erupted only a few hours after the city’s top officials told reporters the streets in Urumqi were returning to normal following a riot that killed 156 people Sunday. The officials also said more than 1,000 suspects had been rounded up since the rash of attacks by Muslim Uighurs against Han Chinese, the ethnic majority.

The chaos returned when hundreds of young Han men seeking revenge began gathering on sidewalks with kitchen knives, clubs, shovels and wooden poles. They spent most of the afternoon marching through the streets, smashing windows of Muslim restaurants and trying to push past police cordons protecting minority neighborhoods. Riot police successfully fought them back with volleys of tear gas and a massive show of force.After the crowds thinned out, a curfew was announced from 9 p.m. to 8 a.m. Police cars cruised the streets in the evening, telling people to go home, and they complied. The ugly scenes earlier in the day highlighted how far away the Communist Party was from one of its top goals: creating a “harmonious society.”Many Uighurs believe the Han Chinese, who have been flooding into the region in recent years, are trying to crowd them out. They often accuse the Han of prejudice and waging campaigns to restrict their religion and culture.

The Han Chinese allege the Uighurs are backward and ungrateful for all the economic development the Han have brought to Xinjiang. They also complain that the Uighurs’ religion – a moderate form of Sunni Islam – keeps them from blending into Chinese society, which is officially communist and largely secular.The authorities have been trying to control the unrest by blocking the Internet and limiting access to texting services on cell phones. At the same time, police have generally been allowing foreign media to cover the tensions.On Tuesday, officials arranged a tour for journalists of sites that were attacked by Uighur rioters on Sunday. But the public relations event backfired spectacularly during the tour’s first stop – a car dealership in southern Urumqi where several autos were burned by rioters.

After interviewing people at the business, the journalists crossed the road to a Uighur market, where angry women in traditional, brightly colored headscarves began to gather.One woman who gave her name as Aynir said police arrived Monday evening and arrested about 300 men. The authorities were looking for men with fresh wounds or other signs they joined the rioting.“My husband was detained at gunpoint. They were hitting people. They were stripping people naked,” Aynir said. “He had nothing to do with the riots.”The crowd of women swelled to about 200 and they began marching in the street, chanting, “Freedom!” and “Release our children!” They were quickly sandwiched by hundreds of police on both ends of the road, along with trucks with water cannons. The crowd dispersed after a standoff that lasted 90 minutes.