Protest In China - China blames "terrorists" for attack in Xinjiang

news.yahoo.com...

BEIJING (Reuters) - A clash at a police station that left at least four people dead in western China's restive Xinjiang region was "a terrorist attack," a government official said on Tuesday, but an exile Uighur group accused police of firing on peaceful protesters.

Police in the desert city of Hotan "gunned down" several rioters who attacked a police station, Xinhua said on Tuesday, the worst violence Xinjiang has experienced in about a year.

But a Germany-based exile group, World Uyghur Congress, disputed the official account. It said 20 Uighurs were killed -- 14 were beaten to death and 6 shot dead -- and 70 arrested when police opened fire on a peaceful protest, leading to fighting between the two sides.

Im not sure which side of the story is true. 4 dead, or 20 dead? I never know with China. Also, I think the Xinjiang region has seen some violence in the past before. Back in 2009, there was some big civil unrest there and about 200 people were killed.

I wonder which "terrorist" group did this?

Beijing, wary of instability and the threat to the Communist Party's grip on power, often blames what it calls violent separatist groups in Xinjiang for attacks on police or other government targets, saying they work with al Qaeda or Central Asian militants to bring about an independent state called East Turkestan.

I thought al-qaeda was seriously damaged a few months ago? I guess not. Do they hate China for all their freedoms to?

From the article, it looks like the attacks stormed the police station, excecuted a couple hostages, got in a standoff with police, and burnt the police station down.

I also have to wonder how many people in China actually know about this attack.

Chinese censors blocked searches on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter-like microblogging services, on the attack. Search results for the Chinese renderings of "Xinjiang unrest" and "Hotan" showed a page that said, "according to relevant laws, regulations and policies, search results are not displayed".

Originally posted by buni11687
Im not sure which side of the story is true. 4 dead, or 20 dead? I never know with China. Also, I think the Xinjiang region has seen some violence in the past before. Back in 2009, there was some big civil unrest there and about 200 people were killed.

Easy, I know which side of the story is false and that's always Chinese official side of the story. Not much mystery for me - a civilian protest turned violent to be labelled a terrorist attack is something to be expected from Chinese government. They learn these tactics from the west, they know how to subdue, subvert and brainwash their minions, er, I mean citizens. But, in the west you have uncensored press, uncensored internet, free speech and legal rights - these obstacles to "harmonious society" were long ago eliminated by Chinese government.

reply to post by buni11687


funny and how odd they removed the story of this snip

But a Germany-based exile group, World Uyghur Congress, disputed the official account. It said 20 Uighurs were killed -- 14 were beaten to death and 6 shot dead -- and 70 arrested when police opened fire on a peaceful protest, leading to fighting between the two sides....