July 2009 Ürümqi riots

2009 Ürümqi riots Ürümqi class=notpageimage| Location of Ürümqi within China
Location	Ürümqi, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China
Date	5 July 2009
Deaths	at least 156
Injured	1,080

2009 Ürümqi riots
Traditional Chinese	烏魯木齊7·5騷亂
Simplified Chinese	乌鲁木齐7·5骚乱
Literal meaning	Ürümqi 7·5 riots
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Wūlǔmùqí 7·5 Sāoluàn
Alternate name
Traditional Chinese	烏魯木齊七·五暴力事件
Simplified Chinese	乌鲁木齐七·五暴力事件
Literal meaning	Ürümqi 7·5 Violent Incident
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Wūlǔmùqí 7·5 Bàolìshìjiàn

The July 2009 Ürümqi riots broke out on 5 July 2009, in Ürümqi, the capital city of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, in northwestern China. Rioting on the first day involved between 1,000 and 3,000 Uyghurs. The initial confrontations between police and protesters soon turned into attacks on Han Chinese in ethnically targeted violence. The total death toll has risen to at least 156, according to Chinese government sources. The Daily Telegraph reported that there were also many injured people, majority being Han Chinese, during the riots based on the first government-organised tour of Urumqi’s hospitals on 6th July. In response, hundreds of Han Chinese armed with home-made weapons clashed with both police and Uyghur protesters on 7 July.

The violence was part of an ongoing ethnic conflict between the Han Chinese and Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic group that is predominantly Muslim and is one of the officially recognized ethnic groups in China. These specific riots were sparked by Uyghur dissatisfaction with the Chinese central government's handling of the deaths of two Uyghur workers, as part of an ethnic brawl ten days earlier in Guangdong province. Officials said more than 1,000 others had been injured and that many motor vehicles were burned. Police attempted to quell the rioters with tear gas, water hoses, armored vehicles, and roadblocks, while the government responded by strictly enforcing curfew in most urban areas. Authorities shut down Internet services and restricted cell phone services in Ürümqi.

The cause of the riots became a source of controversy. While the protests that preceded the riots were ostensibly a response to the death of two Uighur workers in Guangdong, after the riots broke out the Chinese central government claimed that the riots had been planned from abroad by Rebiya Kadeer and the World Uyghur Congress.

Background

Further information: [[:June 2009 Shaoguan incident, Uyghur people]]

File:Ürümqi 2008.png

Ürümqi's central business district

History, demography, and social tensions

Xinjiang is a large region in central Asia that is governed as an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. The region's ethnic composition is highly diverse, and is composed of numerous minority groups - 45% of its population being Uyghurs, and 40% Han Chinese, who are the majority ethnicity in China. The region's capital, Ürümqi, is a heavily industrialized city of over 2.3 million people, approximately 75% of whom are Han Chinese, while 12.8% are Uyghur, and 10% belong to other ethnicities.

Ethnic tensions between Uyghurs and the Han Chinese population have existed in the area for several decades. In recent years, with the increasing pace of an influx of Han, Uyghurs say they are gradually being squeezing out, both economically and politically. They also reject what they see as cultural imperialism from Beijing, which has for example ordered the demolition of parts of the Kashgar old town. There have been instances of violence and ethnic clashes around Xinjiang. Examples of violence in the area include the 1997 Gulja Incident and the 2008 Kashgar attack, as well as the more widespread 2008 Uyghur unrest in the lead-up to the Olympic Games in Beijing. Some Uyghurs in the area are dissatisfied by what they claim to be income disparity and discrimination between Han Chinese and minorities. On the other hand, some Han people are dissatisfied by some government policies which they believe favor Uyghurs.

Immediate causes

The riots took place several days after the deaths of two Uyghurs at the Xuri Toy Factory in Shaoguan, Guangdong, where many Uyghur and Han Chinese migrant workers are employed. In late June, a Han Chinese female worker was reportedly sexually harassed by Uyghur co-workers in their residence quarters. Rumours over rape at the factory were subsequently initiated by a disgruntled former co-worker. Overnight, on 25–26 June, tensions at the factory led to a full-blown ethnic brawl between Uyghurs and Han Chinese; in the ensuing violence, two Uyghur co-workers were killed. Police investigations found no evidence that a rape had taken place.

According to exiled Uyghur leaders, the death toll in the Guangdong incident was much higher than reported; although Xinhua reported that the person responsible for spreading the rumours was arrested, Uyghurs alleged the authorities also failed to protect the Uyghur workers, or to arrest any of the Han Chinese involved in the killings. Many Uyghurs were dissatisfied with the government's response to the killings, and a street protest was held in Ürümqi on 5 July to voice their disapproval.

Events

Initial demonstrations

Demonstrations began on the evening of 5 July. A protest began in the Grand Bazaar, one of the city's prominent tourist destinations, denouncing the government's handling of the incident and demanding a full investigation of the killings; there were also reports of gatherings at the Ürümqi People's Square area. The South China Morning Post cites eyewitness Gulinisa Maimaiti, a 32-year-old employee working for a foreign company who took part in the original protest. She said at first there were over 300 protesters in People's Square in Ürümqi demanding an investigation into the deadly brawl of 25 June in Guangdong. The violence "seemed to have started when the crowd, which she said grew to 1,000 people, refused to disperse," according to the Post.

On 6 July during a situation update, Nur Bekri, Chairman of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, presented official details and timelines before the riots broke out. Bekri said at about 5 p.m. on 5 July, more than 200 gathered in People's Square in Ürümqi, and police detained around 70 leaders and swiftly controlled the situation. Then, a crowd of people gathered at minority ethnic groups' quarters around Jiefangnan Road, Erdaoqiao, and Shanxi Alley, and at about 7:30 p.m., more than one thousand gathered in front of a hospital in Shanxi Alley. At about 7:40 p.m., more than 300 blocked the roads in Renmin Road and Nanmen area. Police dispersed the crowd, according to state media. Jirla Isamuddin, the mayor of Ürümqi, gave a similar account in a press conference on 7 July. He remarked that the protesters had organized the riots online via such services as QQ Groups.

The exiled independence group World Uyghur Congress (WUC), led by Rebiya Kadeer, said the demonstration began as a peaceful assembly protesting discrimination and "demanding an explanation" for the events in Shaoguan. The governments of Xinjiang and Ürümqi also confirmed the protests were not initially violent. Chinese government officials, on the other hand, argued that the riots were "a preempted, organized violent crime [...] instigated and directed from abroad, and carried out by outlaws in the country", meaning the East Turkestan independence movement and external forces supporting Uyghur independence Nur Bekri, chairman of the Xinjiang regional government, said in a televised speech on the morning of 6 July that "some overseas opposition forces" took advantage of the Shaoguan killings "to instigate Sunday's unrest and undermine the ethnic unity and social stability in the autonomous region, with an aim to split the country"; the government asserts that the World Uyghur Congress "has recently been instigating an unrest via the Internet among other means, calling on the outlaws 'to be braver' and 'to do something big.'" Kadeer has denied the charges, and states that her comments had nothing to do with the riots.

Escalation and spread

The New York Times cites an eyewitness who said the riots started sometime after 6 p.m. on 5 July, when protesters took to the street. Police confronted the protesters, and the ensuing clashes between protesters and police resulted in the burning and smashing of vehicles. At least 1,000 Uyghurs were involved in the rioting when it began, and the number of rioters may have risen to as many as 3,000.

A witness told Agence France-Presse that the confrontation between protesters and police involved about 3,000 Uyghurs—some of whom were armed with batons and knives. Jane Macartney of The Times characterized the first day's rioting as consisting mainly of "Han stabbed by marauding gangs of U[y]ghurs." The Daily Telegraph's correspondent in China reports that "it appears that the majority of the victims were Han Chinese, brutally killed by gangs of U[y]ghurs roaming through the back streets of Urumqi."

About 1,000 police officers were dispatched with tasers and weapons, and they fired gunshots into the air to try to quell the unrest. Up to Sunday evening, 1,434 suspects in connection with the riot had been arrested. The WUC claimed the protests turned violent due to police brutality, or because police opened fire indiscriminately into the crowd. Radio Free Asia reported a purported eyewitness saying "When the demonstrators reached the People's Square, armed police suppressed them using electroshock weapons and so on... After that, other protests erupted in Uyghur areas of town."

During a press conference, Mayor Jirla Isamuddin said that at about 8:15 p.m., some protesters started to "fight and loot", overturning guardrails and smashing three buses before being dispersed. At 8:30 p.m., violence escalated around Jiefangnan Road and Longquan Street area, with rioters torching police patrol cars and "attacking passers-by". Soon, between 700 to 800 people went from the People's Square to Daximen and Xiaoximen area, with "fighting, smashing, looting, torching and killing" along the way. At 9:30 p.m., the government received reports that three people were killed and 26 were injured, six of whom were police officers. Police reinforcements were dispatched to hotspots – People's Square, Nanmen, Tuanjie Road, Saimachang and Xinhuanan Road. Police took control of the main roadways and commercial districts in the city at around 10 p.m., but riots continued in side streets and alleyways, with Hans attacked and cars overturned or torched, according to state media. Police then formed small teams and "swept" the entire city for the next two days. Jirla Isamuddin stated Ürümqi had returned to normal as of 7 July. A strict curfew was in force.

Xinhua, China's state news agency, reported that police believed agitators were trying to organise more unrest in other cities in Xinjiang such as Aksu and the Yili Prefecture. As the protests spread to Kashgar, they also became violent. Xinhua also reported that about 200 people were "trying to gather" at the Id Kah Mosque in the centre of Kashgar, but were dispersed by police early on Monday evening. The South China Morning Post reported that many shops were closed, and the area around the mosque was sealed off by a PLA platoon after the clash. Local Uyghurs blamed the security forces for using excessive force – they "attacked the protesters and arrested 50 people".

Number of victims

Xinhua reported that 156 people were killed (129 men and 27 women) and 1,080 injured. The World Uyghur Congress has claimed that the death toll was much higher, at around 600. Xinhua did not immediately what proportion of the dead are Uyghur and what proportion are Han; according to journalists from the Times' and the Daily Telegraph, however, most of the victims appear to have been Han Chinese. As for the injured, among the 291 injured people received by the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region People's Hospital, 233 were Han Chinese, 39 were Uyghurs. During the riot, 260 vehicles were destroyed, including 190 buses. 220 arsons occurred and 2 buildings were burnt down.

After 5 July

The city remained tense while journalists invited into the city witnessed confrontational scenes between Chinese troops and Uyghurs demanding the release of family members they said had been arbitrarily arrested. Uyghur women told The Telegraph reporter that police entered Uyghur districts in the night of 6 July, bursting through doors and pulling men and boys from their beds and rounded up 100 suspects.

On 7 July, there were reports of large-scale armed demonstrations by ethnic Han Chinese in Ürümqi. The Times reported that smaller fights were frequently breaking out between Uyghurs and Han, and that groups of Han citizens had organized to take revenge on "Uyghur mobs". Police used tear gas and roadblocks in an attempt to disperse the demonstration, and urged Han citizens (over loudspeakers) to "calm down" and "let the police do their job". Li Zhi, party chairman of Ürümqi, stood on the roof of a police car with a megaphone appealing to the crowd to go home. Conflicting estimates of the Han demonstrators' numbers were reported by the western media, and it varied from as low as 300 people to as high as 10,000 people. On 8 July, cars transporting reporters from the People's Daily were attacked by unidentified mobs armed with knives, axes and iron sticks, although no-one was seriously injured.

Domestic reaction

Communications

China's two large mobile service providers have not been uniform in their response to the riots. China Mobile suspended its service in the region "to help keep the peace and prevent the incident from spreading further," while China Unicom said there was no interruption of its service in Xinjiang. Outbound international calls throughout Xinjiang were blocked, and Internet connections in the region had been locked down. Many unauthorized postings on local sites and Google were claimed to have been "harmonised" by government censors; images and video footage of the demonstrations and rioting, however, were soon found posted on Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr. The Xinjiang Regional Government's official website, as well as that of the Ürümqi Municipal government, has been inaccessible worldwide since the beginning of the protests.

Government

Chinese television broadcast graphic footage of cars being smashed and people being beaten. Xinjiang Autonomous Region Chairman Nur Bekri delivered a lengthy address on the situation, and its origins in Guangdong from several weeks earlier and claimed that the government of both Guangdong and Xinjiang had dealt with the deaths of the workers properly and with respect. Bekri, an ethnic Uyghur, reiterated the party line, and further condemned the riots as "premeditated and planned".

The Chinese media have been covering the rioting extensively, relying only on footage and reports from Xinhua and local branches of state television; top leaders have chosen to leave the issue in the hands of local officials, although President Hu Jintao curtailed his attendance of the G8 summit in Italy. Hours after troops stopped the rioting, the state invited foreign journalists on an official fact-finding trip to Ürümqi; journalists from more than 100 media organisations were corralled into the same downtown Hoi Tak Hotel. They were given unprecedented access to troublespots and hospitals, but were forced to share 30 internet connections. The Financial Times contrasted this improvement to the "public-relations disaster" of the Tibetan unrest in 2008.

Chinese netizens

The response to the riots on the Chinese blogosphere has been markedly more varied than the official response. Despite many blocks and censorship, Internet watchers have monitored continued attempts by netizens to divulge their own thoughts on the causes of the incident or vent their anger at the incident. While some bloggers were supportive of the government, others were more reflective of the event's cause. Many messages were ethnically charged, and posts were swiftly deleted - although many netizens avoided the erasing of content through techniques such as "tomb-digging" by continuously extending threads on a forum at a rate faster than the censor's deletion. Common themes were calls for punishment for those responsible; voices echoing nationalist sentiment evoked the name of feared General Wang Zhen.

International reaction

International organizations

• United Nations: The United Nations human rights chief Navi Piley said she was "alarmed" over the high death toll, noting this was an "extraordinarily high number of people to be killed and injured in less than a day of rioting." She also said China must treat detainees humanely in a way that adheres to international norms. The Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged all sides to exercise restraint, and called on China to take measures to protect the civilian population as well as respect the freedoms of citizens, including freedom of speech, assembly and information.
• Organisation of the Islamic Conference: The OIC condemned the "disproportionate use of force", calling on Beijing to "bring those responsible to justice swiftly" and urging China to find a solution to the unrest by examining why it had erupted. The head of the OIC Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu is to meet the Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, to discuss the situation.

• European Union: The European Union expressed concern over the clashes and urged the Chinese government to show restraint in dealing with the protests.

Countries

• Afghanistan: The Afghan government "backs the territorial integrity and sovereignty of China" a Foreign Ministry statement said. It also said Afghanistan is closely monitoring the situation and believes China can "deal with the issue in accordance with its national interests."
• Australia: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on hearing "disturbing reports" of violence in Xinjiang urged restraint to bring about a "peaceful settlement to this difficulty."
• Belarus: The Foreign Ministry noted with regret the loss of life and damage in the region, and hope that measures taken by the Chinese authorities will allow the situation to normalise.
• Canada: Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said, "Dialogue and goodwill are required to help resolve grievances and prevent further deterioration of the situation."
• France: Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier expressed concern at the unfolding events, adding "there will probably be a European response."
• Germany: Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a peaceful solution to the incident. She added she respected the "One-China policy" but added this also meant respect for the rights of minorities. Two Molotov cocktails were thrown at the Chinese consulate in Munich by unknown persons.
• Iran: Foreign Minister Manuchehr Motaki shared the concerns of Turkey and the OIC, and appealed to the Chinese government to respect the rights of the Muslim population in Xinjiang.
• Italy: President Giorgio Napolitano brought up human rights at a press conference with Hu Jintao. He said both sides agreed that "economic and social progress that is being achieved in China places new demands in terms of human rights."
• Japan: Vice Foreign Minister Mitoji Yabunaka said in response to the events that "the Japanese government is paying close attention to it, and is also concerned."
• Kazakhstan: Kazakh officials suspended visas for its citizens to Xinjiang, in agreement with Chinese authorities. They also said they are assisting 1,000 Kazakh nationals who are fleeing the violence.
• Kyrgyzstan: The country says it is prepared to confront "an influx of refugees" and has tightened border controls.
• Micronesia: Micronesian Vice President Alik Alik condemned the deadly riot in Urumqi. Alik began by "expressing condolences for the loss of innocent lives" in the Sunday riot. "The FSM government condemns terrorist acts that target innocent people," Alik said, noting that his country supported China "in taking necessary measures to protect lives of the innocent and in maintaining peace and stability".
• Netherlands: The Chinese embassy was attacked by Uyghur activists who smashed windows with bricks. The Chinese flag was also burnt and 39 people remained detained out of 142 arrested. China later closed the embassy for the day.
• Norway: About 100 Uyghurs protested outside the Chinese embassy in Oslo—11 of which were detained and one attempted to scale the embassy fence. They were all set free later without charge. The Norwegian government was concerned about events and relayed these to Chinese authorities, calling on all parties to refrain from violence and stressing the importance of dialogue to solve problems.
• Pakistan: Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit said there were some "elements" out to harm Sino-Pakistan ties, and will ensure the events will not damage or destablise the interests of the two countries.
• Republic of China (Taiwan): The government condemned all those who instigated the violence, and those events "deserve the strongest condemnation". Premier Liu Chiao-shiuan also urged all parties to exercise self-restraint and hopes that the Chinese authorities will demonstrate the "greatest possible leniency and tolerance in dealing with the aftermath" and respect the rights of ethnic minorities.
• Russia: Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the riot was an internal affair of China. "Using separatist slogans and provoking ethnic intolerance, the initiators of the disorder attacked citizens and beat them, turned over cars and torched them and looted shops and other buildings", he added. The statement was allegedly issued after persuasion from Beijing.
• Serbia: The Foreign Ministry supported the efforts of Chinese authorities to restore order in Xinjiang, opposes separatism, and supports the "resolution of all disputes by peaceful means."
• Switzerland: The Swiss Foreign Ministry called on both sides to exercise restraint, adding it was "concerned" about events. It sent condolences to the families of victims and urged China to respect freedom of expression and the press.
• Turkey: The Foreign Ministry released a statement expressing "deep sadness" at the recent events, and urged the Chinese authorities to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice. They called the Chinese chargé d'affaires to the Foreign Ministry to request further information and "convey sensitivity" on the matter. Protesters scuffled with police outside the Chinese embassy in Ankara and some burnt a Chinese flag. Turkey's foreign minister said "We expect (China) to restore order, bring the culprits to justice in a transparent manner and take steps to improve the civilian humanitarian situation" while the Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said "Our expectation is for these incidents that have reached the level of savagery to be rapidly stopped" and to bring "those responsible to account". Turkey is to ask the United Nations Security Council to discuss ways to end the violence. However, the charge d'affaires of the Turkish Mission to the United Nations, Fazli Corman, told Innercitypress that they "didn't make any moves on that" and that that the "reports were not actually based on the realities." Turkey's industry and trade minister called on Turks to stop buying Chinese goods to protest the ethnic violence in Xinjiang province.
• United Kingdom: Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged restraint on both sides.
• United States: White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the United States regrets the loss of life in Xinjiang, was deeply concerned and called on all sides to exercise restraint. U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly, said "it's important that the Chinese authorities act to restore order and prevent further violence."
• Vietnam: Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung said Vietnam was closely following the situation, and believed the Chinese government was taking appropiate measures to restore public order and stability.

Non-governmental organizations

• World Uyghur Congress: Leader Rebiya Kadeer likened her situation to that of the Dalai Lama. She condemned the violence of rioters in the city, saying that the organization "condemns violence in any form" and called for an international probe into the unrest. She also criticised the "violent suppression" of the demonstrators by Chinese authorities. Kadeer also criticised the silence of Muslim nations in response to the incident, saying they had been silent because of a "very effective propaganda campaign" by the Chinese in portraying the Uyghurs as pro-Western and not genuine.
• Amnesty International: The organization called for an "impartial and independent" inquiry into the incident, adding that those detained for "peacefully expressing their views and exercising their freedom of expression, association and assembly" must be released and ensure others receive a fair trial.
• Human Rights Watch: HRW urged China to exercise restraint and to allow an independent inquiry into the events, which include addressing Uyghur concerns about policies in the region. It also added that China should respect international norms when responding to the protests and only use force proportionately.
• Central Tibetan Administration: The Dalai Lama expressed concern over "the tragic loss of lives" and urged the Chinese authorities to exercise restraint.

Media comments

Peter Foster of the Daily Telegraph observed that "long-standing China commentators have been astonished at the speed at which Beijing has moved to seize the news agenda on this event," and attributed it to his belief that "China doesn't have a great deal to hide". Chen Shirong, China editor on the BBC World Service, remarked at the improvement in media management by Xinhua: "To be more credible, it released video footage a few hours after the event, not two weeks." The New York Times said "Chinese experts clearly have studied the so-called colour revolutions — in Georgia and Ukraine, and last month's protests in Iran — for the ways that the Internet and mobile communication devices helped protesters organize and reach the outside world, and for ways that governments sought to counter them." A University of California, Berkeley academic said that the Chinese authorities had learned from past mistakes, and were becoming more sophisticated.

Media gaffes

On 6 July, Reuters used a picture purporting to show the riots the previous day. The photo, showing large number of People's Armed Police squares, was one taken of the 2009 Shishou riot and originally published on 26 June by Southern Metropolis Weekly. The same picture was used on the website of The Daily Telegraph, but was removed a day later. In an interview with Al Jazeera on 7 July, WUC leader Rebiya Kadeer repeated that mistake. She defended the Uyghurs with the Shishou photograph saying "the Chinese deployed rows and rows or military into the scene, they actually beat the peaceful demonstrators."

Kadeer's error, as well as the caption on a Guardian photo of an Uyghur girl in hospital with her pregnant mother which said the girl's mother had been shot, became the subject of uproar of Chinese netizens on 8 July. Some netizens found it difficult to believe Kadeer, who lived in Ürümqi for about 20 years, could mistake Shishou as Ürümqi; there were also no verified witness reports of shots having been fired.

See also

• 2008 Tibetan unrest
• 2008 Uyghur unrest
• Gulja Incident

External links

• Xinhua News Agency Coverage
• CCTV special coverage
• BBC Photo Gallery
• drop.io for Urumqi riots
• Rebiya Kadeer interviewed by Al-Jazeera - YouTube