China Threatens to Use Death Penalty against Uighur Riot Leaders

More than 150 people have died in ethnic riots in the Chinese province of Xinjiang, and the Chinese authorities, afraid the crisis could turn into a full-fledged uprising, have threatened to punish those responsible with the death sentence.

Uighur protesters today behind barricades during
China's worst riots in 40 years. (EPA photo)

What started in this western ethnic Uighur enclave with a few women challenging riot police to have their husbands and sons released from prison has mushroomed into a national crisis that forced President Hu Jintao to cut his G-8 meeting attendance short to face the music back in Beijing.

The New York Times:

The official, Li Zhi, the party boss in Urumqi, which is Xinjiang’s capital and the center of the violence, said that many people suspected of being instigators had been arrested and that some were students.

“To those who have committed crimes with cruel means, we will execute them,” Mr. Li said at a morning news conference. “The small groups of the violent people have already been caught by the police. The situation is now under control.”

He was echoed by China’s public security minister, Meng Jianzhu, who was quoted by the state news agency Xinhua as telling Urumqi residents that those who led the violence should be punished “with the utmost severity.”

Underscoring the government’s concern over China’s worst ethnic violence in decades, China’s president, Hu Jintao, cut short a visit to Italy, where he had planned to attend gatherings organized alongside the Group of 8 summit meeting that began on Wednesday. He returned to Beijing to deal with the aftermath of the riots.

The Uighur riots inevitably bring back memories of the Tibet uprising that cast a dark shadow over the regime's Olympic festivities last year. Somehow, internal discontent seems to work in cycles in China.

Time to rethink the system.

Comments

[Forrest]

no pictures/videos,no truth
pls. see the video made by the korean tv. Many innocent Hans were killed by the voilent Uighur. Innocent people walking in the street were beaten to death because they are not Uighur.
http://rapidshare.de/files/47791895/090707_xinjang_xvid.avi.html
or
(much larger size)
http://d.namipan.com/d/090707_xinjang.wmv/d011126185f02a42b3975d23eae1303757c086326c08bf05