China sacks Xinjiang party boss

URUMQI, China - China sacked the top official of the strife-torn city of Urumqi as well as the regional police chief on Saturday, as the city crept back to uneasy calm after days of sometimes deadly protests that inflamed ethnic enmity.

The official Xinhua news agency did not explain why the city’s Communist Party Secretary, Li Zhi, was replaced by Zhu Hailun, head of Xinjiang region’s law-and-order committee.
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But Li presided over the city during deadly unrest on July 5 when a protest by Muslim Uighurs, who call Xinjiang their homeland, gave way to deadly rioting that left 197 people dead, most of them members of China’s majority Han ethnic group.

Urumqi has been put under heavy security again this week after three days of fresh unrest, as thousands of Han Chinese residents protested over a rash of reported syringe stabbings they blamed on Uighurs, a distinct minority in the city.

Officials said five people died in protests on Thursday. Xinjiang police chief Liu Yaohua was replaced by Zhu Changjie, party chief of Xinjiang’s Aksu Prefecture.

The sackings could feed more speculation about the future of Wang Lequan, the regional Communist Party boss, who has barely appeared in state media in the past couple of days, after he pleaded from a balcony with Han crowds demanding his ouster.

The dismissals came as Urumqi returned to something like calm, topping a week that has seen crowds of Han Chinese protesters turn against the region’s top Communist officials.

Troops used tear gas to break up a group of people, apparently Han Chinese, gathered near city government offices in Urumqi on Saturday, footage from Cable TV of Hong Kong showed.

“They should replace Wang Lequan. People already said we do not want Wang Lequan. Of course this will not be totally fair, but we wish to have a secure environment,” said one resident, who did not wish to give his name.

“We must officially and severely deal with those who have broken the law. The law should deal with this fairly and swiftly.”

Shops, buses and roads began to come back to life on Saturday, watched over by thousands of police and anti-riot troops. Many were posted at entrances to Uighur neighbourhoods.

Talk of fresh syringe attacks persisted on Saturday. Dozens of Han Chinese near the city centre complained that troops took away a Uighur man they accused of stabbing a child. The spasm of unrest has alarmed the central government, coming less than a month before China marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic on Oct. 1.

Government warnings of stabbings fed an upsurge of fear and anger among the city’s Han Chinese, culminating in the protests.

The government has attributed the attacks, which were previously described as syringe attacks, to separatists, an accusation that appears unsupported by the light charges.

Three Uighur men and one woman were indicted on charges of “endangering public security” connected with the spate of stabbings, city procurator Udgar Abdulrahman said on Saturday.

Over 500 people have registered as having been stabbed, but just over 100 had detectable pricks, redness, or other physical signs, military doctors told reporters. Of those, 22 were being monitored for signs of infection.

Some of pricks could have come from common needles, the doctors said, adding it was unlikely any of the victims had contracted AIDS, hepatitis, or sexually transmitted diseases.

Abdulrahman described the four as fruit sellers, petty thieves or heroin users. He said they were organized, but did not say by who.

“Saboteurs may be planning more unnerving disruptions to create a sense of insecurity as the nation counts down to its major celebration of the 60th anniversary,” said an editorial in the China Daily, the country’s flagship English-language paper.

At least 197 people died in Urumqi when a protest by Uighurs on July 5 gave way to riots and killings that China called a separatist attack. Most of the dead were Han Chinese, and in the recent protests Han residents have voiced anger that Uighurs accused of rioting have yet to be tried.

The minister of public security, Meng Jianzhu, flew to Urumqi to oversee security.

“The needle-stabbing attacks of recent days were a continuation of the July 5 incident” Meng said, according to the official People’s Daily on Saturday. “Their goal is to wreck ethnic unity and create splits in the motherland.”

Xinjiang’s population of 21m is divided mainly between Uighurs, long the region’s majority, and Han Chinese, many of whom arrived in recent decades, drawing Uighur complaints that Han get the best jobs. Most Urumqi residents are Han Chinese.

“Now, no matter whether you are Han Chinese or of an ethnic minority, you feel different from the past,” said Wupuer, a 46-year-old Uighur resident. “There is a sense of insecurity.”

Uighur residents spoke of harassment by police and civilians.

“Look at how the security forces are allowing the Chinese to protest. If a Uighur does anything at all, any Chinese citizen can call the police,” said a Uighur man, Ali, adding that he had been detained for 48 hours in late July.

But security forces across Urumqi must now also keep a close watch on Han Chinese residents, long seen as reliably loyal, but now bitter at the lack of security and information.

“Things are returning to normal. People feel they’ve made their voices heard,” said Cao Yang, a Han Chinese student.

“But it’s a problem if you have to take to the streets in such numbers to force any response from the government.”