Thousands protested in China’s Muslim majority region of Xinjiang on Thursday following a series of syringe stabbings this past week reportedly targeting members of China’s majority Han Chinese ethnic group.
The protests come only two months after riots in the city of Urumqi between native Uighurs and Han Chinese claimed at least 197 lives and left more than 1,600 people injured.
Reports in China’s State media on Thursday said tens of thousands of Han Chinese gathered at various places in Urumqi calling for the government to improve public safety.
Local media reported that almost 500 people had in the past week been treated for stab wounds following a spate of random acts of stabbing with syringes.
Authorities said none of those stabbed had been infected. The Xinjiang-based Bingtuan television reported that there had been 476 cases since August 20, and 430 of them were Han Chinese, indicating the attacks may have been racially motivated.
China's State-run Xinhua news agency said "tens of thousands" protested on Thursday calling for better safety measures. The protests come less than one month before the country marks the politically sensitive 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China on October 1.
Officials said the victims included members of nine different ethnic groups including Han Chinese, Uighurs and Mongolians, and 21 people had been arrested so far. Xinjiang is home to Uighur Muslims, an ethnic Turkic-speaking minority group in China, and the region has seen intermittent tensions between Uighurs and Han Chinese. July’s violence between Uighurs and Hans marked the biggest ethnic unrest in China’s recent history.
