Update: According to CNN (H/T to kahraman), the plane was denied permission to land in China. It then returned to Afghanistan, where it safely landed in Kandahar. In the article Brian Naranjo, the spokesperson for the International Security Assistance Force within NATO, states

“There was an aircraft that made a precautionary landing in Kandahar,”

“But there was no hijack and no bomb.”

Whether there was indeed a bomb threat still remains unclear. However, the plane was flying from Kabul to Urumqi (and then to Kandahar), while avoiding Kyrgyzstan’s airspace, which it was denied permission to use.

“…had no reason to withdraw the film from the festival and she then proceeded to tell me that I had to justify my decision to include the film in the festival.

“No-one reacts well to strident approaches, or to the appearance of being bullied. I don’t think it’s a positive way of behaving,” he added.

He said he told Ms Chen he did not have to justify the film’s inclusion, “then politely hung up”.

This social faux paus on the of the Chinese might add fuel (in the form of public indignation) to the already tense relations between Australia and China. This occurs at a time when China has arrested an Australian businessman on charges of espionage. More details on Australian-Chinese relations can be found in an NPR report from this morning.

Is it normal for the police to fire warning shots of live ammunition inside of a city? Moreover, why are the Chinese police not equipped with less-lethal weapons as means of detainment, such as Tasers?

Update: The Jakarta Post reports disconcerting details about the events:

Photos taken at the time show one policeman raising his rifle to strike a man. Beaten, the man in a blue shirt with blood on his right leg lay on the ground. Police formed a ring around him, pointing their guns up at surrounding buildings.

If what the Daily Mail reports is true, then it sounds possible that these men were shot at point blank range.

Police said the three men attacked them when they tried to pull them off a fourth Uighur, whom they had attacked with knives and rods. (Emphasis added)

One witness, Zhang Ming, a construction worker at a building site near the incident, said he saw three men with knives come out of a mosque and attack a group of paramilitary police standing in a cluster along the road. Riot police then chased them, beat them and fired shots, he said. (Emphasis added)

If this claim is true, and that the men were armed when exiting the mosques, then we can only expect more crackdowns on Islamic institutions in Urumqi and the whole of Xinjiang. Unfortunately, this man’s statement is impossible to verify, and given the current situation, there are numerous reasons why such a statement could be fabricated for propaganda purposes, or distorted for international media consumption.

Rather, the footage is of the coup d’etat in Honduras, including scenes of the Honduras military confronting Honduran protestors, as well as the Honduran president-in-exile’s airplane and its attempt to land in the capitol. (For the exact clip, see the video at 00:29.) That this video is not about Urumchi is indicated by the Chinese headline, which reads: 洪都拉斯政变：回国受阻–塞拉亚转飞尼加拉瓜 (translation: Honduras Coup d’Etat: Blocked from Returning to the Country — Zelaya’s Plane Redirected to Nicaragua).

That this clip is unrelated to the riots in Xinjiang was not made clear; instead, it makes it appear to Turkish audiences that, not only are there riots in Xinjiang, but that the Chinese military has called in an air strike on the Uyghurs. One could argue that this was a mere oversight on the part of Zaman’s editors. However, given the previous statements made about the Urumchi riots by numerous Turkish government officials, and Zaman’s proximity to the current ruling political party, the AKP, one wonders if this was an intentional error meant to stoke outrage amongst the populace.

According to the Turkish Daily News, Prime Minister Erdoğan went so far as to state that

“On the one hand, we will talk about universal human rights, and on the other hand, we will just watch such incidents. It’s incredible,”…

“I expressed my views [about the incidents] to the head of the states and prime ministers during my meetings here. I already used the word ’atrocity’ [while describing the incidents in China]. I am behind my words,” Erdoğan said, adding, “Well, I don’t think any other word could better describe such incidents, which are almost genocide, where hundreds of people were killed and more than 1,000 people were injured.” (Emphasis added)

The history of Turkey’s relationship with China, as well as its relationship with the Uyghur communities in Xinjiang and in the diaspora, is complex. Yitzhak Shichor’s new piece, “Ethno-Diplomacy: The Uyghur Hitch in Sino-Turkish Relations” offers a nuanced, succinct, and astute analysis, placed in historical context, of Turkey’s domestic and foreign policies regarding China and the Uyghurs.

The unrest spread to a second city on Monday, with police breaking up fresh protests in Kashgar, dispersing more than 200 “rioters” at its main mosque.

The article goes on to state that

About 200 people “trying to gather” at the Id Kah mosque in the centre of Kashgar, on the ancient Silk Road, were dispersed by police early on Monday evening, Xinhua said.

Police also revealed they had information about efforts to organise unrest in the city of Aksu and the Yili prefecture, Xinhua added. Yili is a border region that was hit by ethnic unrest in the late 1990s.

The New York Times confirms this.

Protests spread Monday to the heavily guarded oasis town of Kashgar, on China’s remote western border, as 200 to 300 people chanting “God is great” and “Release the people” confronted riot police officers about 5:30 p.m. in front of the city’s yellow-walled Id Kah Mosque, the largest mosque in China. They quickly dispersed when officers began arresting people, one resident said.

QUESTION: Yeah, on China. There was a major riot in the Xinjiang region of China yesterday, I think. And there are press reports that as many as 140 may have been killed. Do you have any comment on the situation there?

MR. KELLY: Yes. We see that official Chinese media are reporting a death toll of 140 as a result of the violent riots in the city of Urumqi in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. We’re afraid this figure could increase. And, of course, we deeply regret the loss of life. We also understand that there’s been a number of arrests.

We don’t have any confirmation of what actually sparked the unrest. And we can speculate, but I don’t think I want to speculate on what may have caused the violence. And of course, we call on all sides for calm and restraint.

QUESTION: Ian, just to follow on, this is not the first time that people have been rising for their freedom and human rights, and just like anywhere else around the globe, that they want freedom. And now, they’re calling on the U.S. to get involved or interfere, like elsewhere. You think U.S. will take a new position or action there, and China also should free those who are seeking for freedom?

MR. KELLY: Well, as the President and Secretary have said many times, we will always stand with those who are calling for restoration of personal freedoms. I mentioned that Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Wu Dawei is in the building today, and I’m sure that we’ll raise some of these concerns that we have about the violence in Xinjiang the last few days.

QUESTION: But this is – just one more?

QUESTION: Today, it has been raised? You said that Steinberg met with him this morning.

MR. KELLY: Yeah.

QUESTION: And that the Secretary – did it come up?

MR. KELLY: I understand that it did come up.

QUESTION: And that’s based on your –

MR. KELLY: Well, like I say, I don’t have a full readout. But if I can get you one, I will.

QUESTION: Well, do you expect it to – is he still here, or does he have other meetings?

MR. KELLY: I know he’s meeting with Ambassador Bosworth, too. I think he still is here.

QUESTION: Presumably, that would be about North Korea, though?

MR. KELLY: That would be about North Korea, yeah.

QUESTION: But, Ian –

QUESTION: The Xinjiang regional government accuses Rebiya Kadeer, the Uighur leader here in the U.S., of orchestrating the event. Do you have any comment on that?

MR. KELLY: I have no comment. I haven’t seen that report, and I have no comment on it.

QUESTION: But, Ian, this – as far as China’s situation is concerned, it’s just like suppressing those who are seeking freedom that U.S. stands for with those people. But they can’t come out because there’s just so much suppressed – suppression by the Chinese, like in Tibet? So there were also risings in Tibet. So millions are there who want freedom in China.

MR. KELLY: Yeah.

QUESTION: But somebody has to stand with them.

MR. KELLY: Yeah. Well, I think we do stand with them. I think we do speak out when we see human rights – fundamental human rights like freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, freedom of religion. And I think we’ve very forthright about speaking out about it.

We also – I think that our concerns in general are well known, not only in China but in other parts of the world, that we will speak out when we see human rights being violated.

QUESTION: Ian?

MR. KELLY: Yeah. Arshad.

QUESTION: You don’t have evidence of human rights being violated right now by the Chinese authorities?

MR. KELLY: Well, I just – we don’t have all the – what we have are press reports, and we see this terrible loss of life as well.

QUESTION: I mean, exactly; 140 people dead. You don’t think there’s any kind of a problem there?

MR. KELLY: No, I think there is a problem there.

Arshad.

QUESTION: I’m sorry. Charley, yeah, go ahead.

QUESTION: Of course, this prompts questions about the placement of the Uighurs from Guantanamo. Is that issue still in play?

MR. KELLY: Is the issue still – I mean –

QUESTION: Yes. What’s – have those Uighurs been sent to Palau? What’s – do you have any update on – vis-à-vis –

MR. KELLY: I don’t have an update, but I’ll see if I can get you an update.

Also, did anyone else catch John Stewart, of Comedy Central’s the Daily Show, briefly reference the plight of the Uighurs in Guantánamo during his interview with Newt Gingrich? It’s only about ten seconds long, at 00:40 – 00:50 of the interview; however, it may mean that the issue is gaining traction among journalists if even Stewart is mentioning it.