Chinese police break up Xinjiang protest

By Chris Buckley
URUMQI, China (Reuters) - Chinese riot police broke up a small demonstration by Uighurs leaving Friday prayers in a Muslim Uighur neighborhood of Urumqi, arresting several who were taken away with hands above their heads.

The action came as the United States urged Chinese leaders to act with restraint in tackling the unrest in the Xinjiang region.

A crowd of several hundred gathered near the White Mosque in the regional capital Urumqi along with riot police with submachine guns as armored police vehicles blocked roads around the building and a helicopter hovered overhead, the first sign of unrest days after deadly rioting in the ethnically divided city.

"You see, this is how they treat Uighurs -- like animals," said one woman of what appeared to be only a localized flare-up.

Hundreds of Uighurs crowded into the mosque after authorities relented on a decision to close mosques for the main day of prayer to minimize ethnic tension.

Security forces have imposed control over Urumqi, but the afternoon prayers were testing the government's ability to contain Uighur anger after Han Chinese, China's predominant ethnic group, attacked Uighur neighborhoods on Tuesday.

Those attacks were in revenge for the deaths of 156 people in Uighur rioting on Sunday, the region's worst ethnic violence in decades.

The initial decision to try to silence collective prayers could rankle, but thousands of troops and anti-riot police appeared ready to quell any fresh Uighur protests. Nearly all Uighurs are Muslim, but few adhere to the strictest interpretations of Islam.

Beijing cannot afford to lose its grip on the vast territory that borders Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, has abundant oil reserves and is China's largest natural gas-producing region.

Local authorities in Kashgar, a Uighur city in the south of Xinjiang, told foreign reporters to leave on Friday, citing "safety" reasons. In some cases the journalists were escorted to the airport.

U.S. National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones urged Chinese leaders on Friday to act with "appropriate restraint," a senior U.S. official said in L'Aquila in Italy where G8 leaders were gathered.

SUSPENSION NOTICES

Other mosques in Urumqi frequented by Hui, a Muslim group culturally akin to Han Chinese, opened their doors on Friday after crowds of a few hundred worshippers began shouting.

Mosques in the overwhelmingly Uighur bazaar district of Urumqi earlier displayed notices that prayers had been suspended.

A cluster of Uighurs outside the big Dong Kuruk Bridge Mosque said they were angry and disappointed it hadn't opened.

"We feel we are being insulted. This is our mosque. But we are not allowed in, while they let in non-believers," said a young man, pointing out that Chinese security forces had been stationed inside and even in the minarets jutting out above an adjacent expressway.

China's ruling Communist Party may fear that big Uighur religious gatherings could become another catalyst for unrest after a week of ethnic strife.

Uighurs, a Turkic people who are largely Muslim and share linguistic and cultural bonds with Central Asia, make up almost half of Xinjiang's 20 million people.

President Hu Jintao, forced to abandon the G8 summit in Italy by the ethnic violence in Xinjiang, has said maintaining social stability in the energy-rich region is the "most urgent task."

Hu described the Sunday riots as a "serious violent crime elaborately planned and organized by 'three forces' at home and abroad."

"Three forces" is a term China uses to refer to religious extremists, separatists and terrorists it says menace Xinjiang.

There appears little likelihood China will slow its drive to punish those found guilty of killing Urumqi residents in the Sunday mayhem, when cars and buses were burned.

On Tuesday, thousands of Han Chinese, shouting for vengeance, attacked Uighur neighborhoods, and many Uighur residents said people died. The government has not released any numbers.

Authorities have posted notices in Urumqi urging rioters to turn themselves in or face stern punishment.

Xinjiang has long been a tightly controlled hotbed of ethnic tensions, fostered by an economic gap between many Uighurs and Han Chinese, government controls on religion and culture and an influx of Han migrants who now are the majority in most key cities, including Urumqi.

(Additional reporting by Tyra Dempster in Urumqi, Ben Blanchard in Shanghai and Benjamin Kang Lim and Lucy Hornby in Beijing; Editing by Nick Macfie and Sanjeev Miglani)

Australian was spying, says China

Mathew Murphy and Chalpat Sonti
July 9, 2009 .

An Australian executive of mining giant Rio Tinto, detained in China since Sunday, is being held on suspicion of being a spy and stealing state secrets.

Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith last night confirmed that the Australian citizen, Stern Hu, was one of four Rio Tinto workers being held by Chinese officials.

Mr Smith said the claims of espionage against Mr Hu, Rio's iron ore marketing chief in China, were conveyed by China yesterday and came as a shock to the Government and Rio.

"Australian officials were advised that the reason for Mr Hu's detention was that he was being detained on the suspicion of espionage and stealing state secrets," he said.

"The Australian Government was very surprised by both the detention and the reason for the detention given by Chinese authorities. We continue to seek explanations for the reasons for the detention."

Mr Hu was detained by Chinese Ministry of State Security officials on Sunday but has not been charged. Australian consular officials have so far been denied access to Mr Hu, but have struck a deal with China to see him by Saturday.

A staff member at Rio's Shanghai office said yesterday: "We don't even know where he is being detained."

Mr Hu has lived in Shanghai for many years with his wife, who is also an Australian citizen.

The arrests come at a time of strained relations between Rio and China. Last month, Rio was labelled a "dishonourable woman" in the Chinese media after it abandoned a $US19.5 billion deal with state-owned Chinalco in favour of an iron ore tie-up with BHP Billiton.

Rio has also been locked in bitter negotiations over iron ore contracts, with China refusing to accept the benchmark price taken up by steel makers in Japan, Korea and Taiwan.

Rio's iron ore sales team is believed to have been avoiding meeting in China recently — holding talks in Hong Kong and Singapore instead — due to fears their phones and emails were bugged. Chinese officials are also believed to have raided Rio's Shanghai offices this week and removed computers used by the four executives.

Mr Smith said last night there was no evidence of a link between the detention of Mr Hu and any commercial matters concerning Rio. Asked if Mr Hu's detention had anything to do with the iron ore negotiations, he said: "I've seen no basis … for any such speculation."

A Rio spokesman said the company was surprised by the allegation and dismissed calls for an investigation. "We are not aware of any evidence that would support such an investigation," he said.

But Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce, a critic of the Chinalco plan, linked the deal's failure to the arrests. "Chinalco's failure to buy 18 per cent ownership of Rio would appear to have inspired Mr Hu's arrest and that of three other Rio workers."

Senator Joyce said the arrests should be a "wake-up call for all Australians", showing claims by Beijing that it was at arm's-length from its state-owned entities were a fallacy.

Brendan Taylor, a north Asia expert at Australian National University, also did not rule out a link to Rio's commercial dealings. "I think the Chinese see that line between economics and national security as much more blurred than we do."

Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull raised the issue with the Chinese embassy in Canberra yesterday. "This is a matter of very real concern and it is completely unacceptable for Australian executives to be detained anywhere in the world without cause," he said.

He expected an explanation from the Chinese and the executives to be released, "or if the Chinese Government wishes to make some charge against them, then to do so".

- With MICHELLE GRATTAN, DANIEL FLITTON


Source: The Age