China's Xinijiang Calm as Relatives of Riot Victims Mourn

By VOA News 12 July 2009

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Uighur women grieve for men who they claim were taken away by Chinese authorities after Sunday's protest in Urumqi, 7 Jul 2009

China's Xinjiang province was calm Sunday as relatives and friends of those killed in last week's ethnic clashes mourned their deaths.

Chinese media reported that Xinjiang is on "the road to recovery," with most shops in the provincial capital Urumqi reopening and public transportation returning to regular schedules.

Security troops are still patrolling the city.

The official Xinhua news agency Sunday quoted senior Chinese leader Zhou Yongkang, a member of the standing committee of the Communist Party's Politburo, as saying during a visit to Xinjiang that maintaining social stability in the region is a "top concern."

Protest in Istanbul, condemning recent killings in China's Xinjiang Uighur region, 12 Jul 2009

The agency reported that families of innocent civilians killed in the July 5 rioting will receive about $30,000 in compensation for each fatality.

Police in Urumqi on Saturday issued a ban on public assemblies and demonstrations, hampering the bereaved from mourning publicly.

Han Chinese traditionally mourn the loss of loved-ones on the seventh day after their death, when relatives perform ceremonies such as burning fake money or invite monks to their homes to chant.

Chinese officials say 184 people were killed in the ethnic clashes between Han Chinese and Uighur Muslims in the western province.

Uighur protester shouts a slogan against China's crackdown in Xinjiang, during a demonstration in Tokyo, Japan, 12 Jul 2009

Xinhua said Sunday 1,680 people were wounded in the violence. It also quoted a regional government official, Nur Bekri as saying 627 vehicles were smashed and torched, along with many buildings, supermarkets and construction sites.

Chinese officials have blamed the unrest on what they call separatist and terrorist groups and are calling for death sentences for instigators of the violence.

The Uighurs say the violence erupted when authorities provoked a peaceful demonstration, turning it into a riot.

Elsewhere Sunday, thousands of people demonstrated in Turkey's largest city of Istanbul in support of China's ethnic Uighur minority. Several hundred pro-Uighur protesters marched in Japan's capital Tokyo. And clerics in Iran condemned Beijing for its treatment of the Muslims in Xinjiang.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP, Bloomberg and Reuters.