Riots in China’s Xinjiang

This item appears on page 17 of the September 2009 issue.

Rioting between ethnic Uighurs and Han Chinese in China’s western region of Xinjiang in July resulted in 197 dead and more than 1,600 wounded.

In the city of Urumqi on July 5, a march protesting the deaths of two Uighur miners turned violent after police intervened. Two days after the riot, vigilante groups of ethnic Han retaliated against Uighurs. Government forces restored order, but tensions remain high.

In nearby Kazakhstan, there were protests and strikes by ethnic Uighurs in support of the Chinese Uighurs.