Police in China’s restive Xinjiang region have launched a fresh manhunt aimed at capturing fugitives wanted in connection with deadly ethnic violence in July this year, state media said yesterday.
The regional public security bureau’s “Strike Hard and Rectify” campaign, which began on Sunday, will run until the end of the year, the Xinjiang Daily reported.
“We must expand the scope of our work on capturing fugitives, do better to gather, analyze and research all intelligence and focus on cases and clues related to violent acts of terrorism,” the report said, citing Xinjiang police.
“We must strictly prevent violent acts of terrorism and ensure stability,” it said.
Violence between Uighurs and members of China’s dominant Han ethnic group erupted on July 5 in the regional capital Urumqi, leaving nearly 200 people dead, according to the official toll.
Last month, 21 people were convicted for their roles in the unrest, with 12 sentenced to death. Nine of the sentences were upheld in appeal hearings last week, while the other three reportedly elected not to appeal.
The US-based Uighur American Association, a court in Yili prefecture some 500km west of Urumqi, last week jailed 19 people for state security crimes, some linked to the July unrest.
Authorities have blamed the Xinjiang unrest on “ethnic separatists,” without providing any evidence.
But Uighurs say the violence was triggered when police cracked down on peaceful protests over a brawl in late June at a factory in southern China that state media said left two Uighurs dead.
Human Rights Watch said last month that they had documented at least 43 Uighurs, including children, who remain unaccounted for after earlier round-ups by security forces following the clashes.
The real number could be much higher, the group said.
China’s roughly 8 million Uighurs, who speak a Turkic language, have long complained of religious, political and cultural oppression by Chinese authorities, and tensions have simmered in Xinjiang for years.
China says it faces a serious terrorist threat from Muslim separatists in the region, but rights groups have accused Beijing of exaggerating the threat to justify its tight controls.
The new security crackdown comes one month after the 60th anniversary of the founding of communist China on Oct. 1, during which security forces maintained calm in Xinjiang, the newspaper said.
FOUR DESIGNATED AREAS: Notices were issued for live-fire exercises in waters south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, they said The military is planning three major annual exercises across the army, navy and air force this month, with the navy’s “Hai Chiang” (海強, “Sea Strong”) drills running from today through Friday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The Hai Chiang exercise, which is to take place in waters surrounding Taiwan, would feature P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, the ministry said, adding that the drills aim to bolster the nation’s offshore defensive capabilities. China has intensified military and psychological pressure against Taiwan, repeatedly sending warplanes and vessels into areas near the nation’s air defense identification zone and across
FORCED LABOR: A US court listed three Taiwanese and nine firms based in Taiwan in its indictment, with eight of the companies registered at the same address Nine companies registered in Taiwan, as well as three Taiwanese, on Tuesday were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) as a result of a US federal court indictment. The indictment unsealed at the federal court in Brooklyn, New York, said that Chen Zhi (陳志), a dual Cambodian-British national, is being indicted for fraud conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding Group’s forced-labor scam camps in Cambodia. At its peak, the company allegedly made US$30 million per day, court documents showed. The US government has seized Chen’s noncustodial wallet, which contains
SUPPLY CHAIN: Taiwan’s advantages in the drone industry include rapid production capacity that is independent of Chinese-made parts, the economic ministry said The Executive Yuan yesterday approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion (US$1.44 billion) into domestic production of uncrewed aerial vehicles over the next six years, bringing Taiwan’s output value to more than NT$40 billion by 2030 and making the nation Asia’s democratic hub for the drone supply chain. The proposed budget has NT$33.8 billion in new allocations and NT$10.43 billion in existing funds, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. Under the new development program, the public sector would purchase nearly 100,000 drones, of which 50,898 would be for civil and government use, while 48,750 would be for national defense, it said. The Ministry of
SENATE RECOMMENDATION: The National Defense Authorization Act encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s navy to participate in the exercises in Hawaii The US Senate on Thursday last week passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026, which strongly encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s naval forces to participate in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise, as well as allocating military aid of US$1 billion for Taiwan. The bill, which authorizes appropriations for the military activities of the US Department of Defense, military construction and other purposes, passed with 77 votes in support and 20 against. While the NDAA authorizes about US$925 billion of defense spending, the Central News Agency yesterday reported that an aide of US
RSS