China bans protests in Urumqi
5 die, 14 wounded in protests
Last Updated: Friday, September 4, 2009 | 7:58 PM ET
CBC News
Paramilitary policemen in riot suits stand guarding a blocked road in Urumqi, in western China's Xinjiang region on Friday.
(Associated Press) China banned "unlicensed marches, demonstrations and mass protests" in the western city of Urumqi Friday following a second day of protests by thousands of Han Chinese, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Police used tear gas to push back protesters and put a security cordon around the city.
Meanwhile, five people were killed and 14 wounded in protests in Urumqi on Thursday, the Deputy Mayor Zhang Hong told a news conference Friday.
About 10,000 people, mostly from the Han Chinese majority, demonstrated in the streets Thursday demanding increased security in the regional capital of Xinjiang, the scene of riots in July that killed 197 people.
The protesters want punishment for those behind the riots between Han Chinese and Muslim Uighurs and the culprits in a series of stabbing attacks with syringes or needles in the past two weeks.
Most of the victims of the needle stabbings were Han Chinese, suggesting the attacks were ethnically motivated. There are also fears the attacks could spread AIDS because Xinjiang has the highest rate of infections in China, with about 25,000 cases of HIV reported last year.
A total of 476 people sought treatment for stabbings, and 21 people had been detained in the attacks.
It is the latest flare-up of ethnic tensions that began July 5 in Urumqi when a protest by Muslim Uighurs spiralled out of control, and Uighurs attacked Han. Days later, Han vigilantes tore through Uighur neighbourhoods to retaliate.
The Uighurs see Xinjiang as their homeland and resent the millions of Han Chinese who have poured into the region in recent decades.
With files from The Associated Press
