Wednesday, August 26, 2009

DTN News: China's President Hu Jintao Vows Xinjiang 'Separatists' Will Fail: Report

DTN News: China's President Hu Jintao Vows Xinjiang 'Separatists' Will Fail: Report *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) BEIJING, China - August 26, 2009: President Hu Jintao vowed on Tuesday that "separatist forces" which China blames for recent deadly unrest in its heavily Muslim Xinjiang region would fail, state media said. A Chinese police officer patrols in Urumqi, in northwest China's Xinjiang province on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009. China's President Hu Jintao has pledged new reforms to help accelerate economic growth in Xinjiang after the remote region was rocked by deadly ethnic rioting, saying that stability there matters to the whole country. "The separatist forces do not have popular support and are doomed to fail," Hu was quoted saying by state-run China Central Television (CCTV). CCTV said Hu's comments were made to Xinjiang officials in the regional capital Urumqi, the scene of bloody riots in July that left at least 197 people dead. They came amid an inspection tour of the region by Hu that also took him to four other smaller cities, the report said. The July 5 riots saw members of the mainly Muslim Uyghur minority clash with Han Chinese in the worst ethnic unrest to hit the country in decades. Uyghurs say the riots occurred after Urumqi police tried to forcibly break up a peaceful protest over a factory worker brawl in distant southern China between Uighurs and Han and which state media said left two Uyghurs dead. However, China blames the Urumqi unrest on what it calls separatist forces lead by exiled Uyghur activist Rebiya Kadeer, who is based in the United States. She has denied any involvement. CCTV broadcast images showing Hu in Xinjiang inspecting businesses, thanking security personnel for helping put down the unrest, and consoling victims. "(The separatist forces) destructive activities cannot shake the overall stability of Xinjiang's reform and development," Hu was quoted as saying. Xinjiang's government earlier Tuesday denied a report in the state media that more than 200 people would be put on trial this week over the July violence, which prompted a massive security crackdown across the region. On Monday, the state-run China Daily reported on its front page that the People's Intermediate Court in the regional capital Urumqi was preparing for the trials amid tight security. "At present, there is no scheduled date for the trial," Li Hua, an official at the Xinjiang government media office, told AFP on Tuesday. "I don't know how China Daily got that information, but it's not true. We will announce it to the media when there is a trial."

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