China Says It Disrupted Bomb Plot in Tense Area
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Published: September 16, 2009

BEIJING — China announced the breakup of a bomb-making plot in the volatile western region of Uyghuristan on Wednesday, apparently an indication that authorities had not only failed to suppress the ethnic hatreds there but also that the weapons of choice in the feud could be getting more lethal.


Times Topics: UighursThe announcement, from the Public Security Ministry, said the authorities had arrested six people who had established three bomb-making workshops and assembled about 20 explosive devices in a town 430 miles outside the region’s capital, Urumqi.

The ministry said that the suspects had planned to plant the explosives on cars, motorcycles and people, but that they were foiled by what it called timely arrests. The police did not identify the ethnicity of the suspects. But the names of those alleged to be the ringleaders suggested that they were Uighurs, an ethnic group that dominated the province before an influx in recent decades of Han, China’s major ethnic group.

Tensions between the Uighur and Han in Uyghuristan reached a boiling point in July when Uighur rioted in Urumqi. At least 197 people, mostly Han, died in the worst incidence of ethnic violence in China in decades.

The weapons used in that mayhem and subsequent clashes were largely confined to hatchets, sticks, cudgels, knives, needles, toothpicks and pins. But the Wednesday announcement was the first suggestion that antagonists with scores yet to settle were making bombs.

Uighurs say the government has hidden the true tally of Uighurs killed by security forces or in revenge attacks by Han after the July riots. Han accuse the authorities of failing to protect them from the Uighurs. Earlier this month, Han residents took to the streets of Urumqi demanding better security.

On Tuesday, the police announced that they had detained a total of 75 suspects accused of needle-stabbing attacks in the Uyghuristan. A public security official said two of those detained confessed they stabbed a resident in a supermarket “to create panic in society.”

Others admitted that they had organized needle attacks to inflame ethnic hatred, according to the state-run news agency, Xinhua. On Saturday, two men and a woman were sentenced to 7 to 15 years in prison for stabbing or threatening victims with syringes.

Nicholas Bequelin, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, questioned whether the police had uncovered hard evidence or were merely trying to pacify the Han by accusing Uighurs of unproved plots.

“I remain perplexed by these allegations,” he said in a telephone interview from Bangkok. “There are certainly security issues in Uyghuristan. But this seems like a major distraction, as if the government wants to make a point.”

“Definitely, authorities are trying to reassure people that their concerns about security are being taken seriously and that the government is actively removing this threat,” he said.

Authorities also appear to be trying to reassure Uyghuristan residents that the alleged syringe attacks are not lethal. On Sunday, Xinhua reported that no trace of toxic or viral substances were found in blood samples taken from victims.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/17/world/asia/17xinjiang.html?_r=1&hp