China calls Xinjiang riot a plot against rule

By Chris Buckley

BEIJING (Reuters) - China says a riot that shook the capital of western Xinjiang region Sunday was a plot against its power, after at least three people died in the eruption of ethnic unrest and authorities launched a crackdown.

Hundreds of locals took to the streets of the regional capital, Urumqi, some burning and smashing vehicles and confronting ranks of police and anti-riot troops.

The riot followed a protest in Urumqi against government handling of a late June clash between Han Chinese and Uighur factory workers in far southern China, where two Uighurs died in Shaoguan.

Monday morning "the situation was under control," the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. There were no immediate reports of violence in other parts of Xinjiang.

But a senior official there swiftly delivered the government claim that the unrest was the work of extremist forces abroad, signaling a security crackdown in the already tense and strategic region near Pakistan and central Asia.

"After the (Shaoguan) incident, the three forces abroad strived to beat this up and seized it as an opportunity to attack us, inciting street protests," Nuer Baikeli, governor of Xinjiang, said in a speech shown on Xinjiang television.

The "three forces" refer to groups the government says engage in separatism, militant action and religious extremism.

"In Xinjiang, nothing is worth speaking of without stability," said Nuer Baikeli, a Uighur.

Officials ordered traffic off the streets in parts of Urumqi, a city of 2.3 million residents 3,270 km (2,050 miles) west of Beijing, to ensure there was no fresh unrest, Xinhua added.

"The city is basically under martial law," Yang Jin, a dried fruit merchant in Urumqi, said by telephone.

"It would be wrong for anyone to say he wasn't afraid, but the situation looks calm for now."

MASTERMINDS

An unnamed Chinese official said the "unrest was masterminded by the World Uyghur (also spelt Uighur) Congress led by Rebiya Kadeer," according to Xinhua. "This was a crime of violence that was pre-meditated and organized," said the report.

Rebiya Kadeer is a Uighur businesswoman now in exile in the United States after years in jail, and accused of separatist activities. She did not answer calls for comment.

But exiled Uighur groups adamantly rejected the Chinese government claim of a plot. They said the riot was an outpouring of pent-up anger over government policies and Han Chinese dominance of economic opportunities.