Riots in Urumqi – Confirmed
The BBC, the AFP, the Times of India, and Radio Free Asia are all reporting riots in Urumchi (Urumqi). RFA says that protests against the events at Shaoguan, Guangdong began at People’s Square, People’s Theater (presumably the one in Nanmen), and Döngköwrük/Erdaoqiao at 5:00 PM local time and are still in progress. The 3000 or so protesters consist of university students and other youths. About 300 protesters have been arrested. Protesters have overturned a traffic guardrail and blocked traffic, as well as damaging vehicles. Some news outlets have reported two fatalities thus far.
Posts on Chinese-language message boards describe the protesters at People’s Square as around a thousand Uyghurs shouting slogans in both Uyghur and Chinese. There are also reports of explosions in the Döngköwrük area.
The protest may have been broken up. Reports from Uyghur activists in Japan suggest that about 400 people are trying to reignite them. We will keep you updated.
RFA’s report, linked below, includes a photograph of the riots.
News agencies cite a report from the PRC’s official Xinhua news agency, but TND has been unable to locate the report.
See the map below for the locations of the protests.
View Urumchi Protests, 5 July 2009 in a larger map
Sources:
5 July 2009, BBC: China’s Xinjiang hit by violence
5 July 2009, Reuters: Riot hits China’s Xinjiang region capital – Xinhua
5 July 2009, Times of India: Violence erupts in China’s Xinjiang region, 2 killed
5 July 2009, Radio Free Asia: ﺋﯜﺭﯛﻣﭽﯩﺪﻩ ﺷﺎﯞﮔﯜﻩﻥ ﯞﻩﻗﻪﺳﯩﮕﻪ ﻧﺎﺭﺍﺯﯨﻠﯩﻖ ﺑﯩﻠﺪﯛﺭﯛﺵ ﻧﺎﻣﺎﻳﯩﺸﻰ ﺑﻮﻟﯘﯞﺍﺗﯩﺪﯗ
[...] * This post will be updated as I hear more news. I’m not in Ürümqi myself so all I write is alleged by friends that I am currently in touch with. // Newswire services have started picking up on the story and the situation seems to have quieted down for now. It’s past midnight in Ürümqi, I won’t continue to post new information here. The New Dominion seems to has another good digest of information. [...]