New protest in Chinese city torn by July riot

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press Writer

BEIJING – Chinese residents protested deteriorating public safety Thursday in the western Chinese city of Urumqi where deadly ethnic rioting in July killed nearly 200 people, eyewitnesses said

People living near the city center reached by telephone said hundreds, possibly thousands of members of China's majority Han ethnic group had gathered downtown to denounce the regional government and deteriorating law and order in the city of 2.5 million.

Despite official claims of calm returning, safety fears have remained high since the July 5 riot among members of the region's main Uighur ethnic group who targeted Han, residents said.

Han resident Zhao Jianzhuang said he had joined a large crowd of protesters at a downtown intersection who were being blocked by riot police from marching on central People's Square, less than 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) away.

He said people were pushing and shoving police and some in the crowd had been beaten. Participants were shouting slogans including "The government is useless," and calling for the dismissal of the regional Communist Party boss Wang Lequan, a noted hard-liner and ally of President Hu Jintao.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said she had no knowledge of the protest, but told reporters at a regularly scheduled news conference that China's government "is competent to safeguard social stability and national unity."

Zhao said anger was stoked by a perceived delay in trials for those arrested over the riot, as well as a recent spate of stabbings by people wielding syringes in which he claimed more than 460 people had been injured.

"There are so many security forces deployed here, yet they're incapable of protecting us," Zhao said.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday that police had detained 15 people over the syringe stabbings, but gave few details and it was not clear whether there was a connection between the stabbings and the protest.

Xinhua gave no information about when the stabbings occurred or the number of victims, but quoted a deputy director of the region's health department as saying nobody had been infected or poisoned and medical workers were conducting regular follow-up checks.

It said four people had been formally arrested in preparation for trial, but did not say what had happened to the others.

The July riots — China's worst ethnic violence in decades — killed 197 people, injured 1,700 more and sparked a massive security crackdown in the traditionally Muslim western region of Xinjiang, of which Urumqi is the capital.

Renewed unrest in Urumqi and the vast surrounding region of Xinjiang could pose a vexing problem for the country's communist leadership now engaged in an all-out campaign to ensure stability ahead of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the communist state on Oct. 1.

On a visit to Xinjiang late last month, Hu called for the strengthening of ethnic unity and Xinjiang's local economy.

China claims the July riot was instigated by exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer, an accusation she strongly denies, but Uighurs have long complained of discrimination and economic marginalization by Han migrants who have flooded into Xinjiang since communist troops entered the region in 1949. Like Tibetans, another restive minority, many Uighurs claim they were independent for much of their history.

The July unrest broke out after police stopped an initially peaceful protest by Uighur youths, prompting crowds to smash windows, burn cars and attack Han Chinese. Two days later, Han vigilantes carried out revenge attacks.