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.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
BIG SPENDERS: Foreign investors bought the most Taiwan equities since 2005, signaling confidence that an AI boom would continue to benefit chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) market capitalization swelled to US$2 trillion for the first time following a 4.25 percent rally in its American depositary receipts (ADR) overnight, putting the world’s biggest contract chipmaker sixth on the list of the world’s biggest companies by market capitalization, just behind Amazon.com Inc. The site CompaniesMarketcap.com ranked TSMC ahead of Saudi Aramco and Meta Platforms Inc. The Taiwanese company’s ADRs on Tuesday surged to US$385.75 on the New York Stock Exchange, as strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications led to chip supply constraints and boost revenue growth to record-breaking levels. Each TSMC ADR represents
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
RSS