China sentences five more to death

URUMQI, China, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- A Chinese court sentenced five more people to death, bringing to 22 the total condemned to die from the July ethnic riots in western Xinjiang-Uighur region.

The five were part of a new group of 22 suspects tried by a court in Urumqi, capital of the region where the July riots killed about 200 people, CNN reported. The others were sentenced from 10 years to life in prison.

The July riots involved the minority Muslims Uighurs and the majority Han Chinese who rule the region. The Uighurs are members of China's Turkish-speaking minority. Chinese officials have said most of the victims were Han Chinese.

Tensions between the two groups have been simmering for a long time as the Uighurs resent being ruled by the Hans.

In other recent developments, 20 Uighurs who fled to Cambodia to seek political asylum, were deported to China last week. Two days later, China signed 14 business deals with the Cambodian government worth about $1 billion, The New York Times reported.