An angry exchange of words between Chinese authorities and Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer continued for a second day on Friday as did the protests in the Xinjiang regional capital of Urumqi.
Police used tear gas and public appeals Friday to break up crowds protesting a lack of public security after a string of the syringe stabbings that appeared ethnically motivated, reported The Associated Press.
China's Public Security Minister Meng Jianzhu blamed ethnic separatist forces for a bizarre series of needle attacks in the restive western region of Xinjiang. Meng's comments Friday came as thousands of mostly Han Chinese have taken to the streets of the regional capital Urumqi for a second day to demand increased security.
The protesters wanted punishment for those behind the July riots between Han Chinese and Muslim Uighurs and the culprits in a series of stabbing attacks with syringes in the past two weeks that state media has said targeted predominantly Han victims.
The unrest shows how unsettled Urumqi remains since 197 people were killed in July in the worst communal violence to hit Xinjiang in more than a decade.
Pointing fingers
"I call on Chinese officials to guarantee the security of all people living in East Turkestan, including Uighurs and Han Chinese," said Kadeer in a statement on Thursday.
She added: "A precondition for peaceful coexistence between Uighurs and Han Chinese is the resignation of [regional Communist Party boss] Wang Lequan, leading to the appointment of moderate officials who understand the legitimate grievances of the Uighur people and the needs of the Han Chinese."
Meanwhile, China warned other countries Thursday not to provide a platform for Kadeer, reported the AFP. "We hope relevant parties can recognize her true nature and not provide a stage for or facilitate her anti-China separatist activities," foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters.
Call for talks
Kadeer said on Tuesday she wanted direct talks with the Chinese government on what she called its "policy failures" in Xinjiang. "I'm ready to discuss with the Chinese government the way we can address its policy failures of the past 60 years and seek political reforms," she said at a session of the European Parliament's human rights committee in Brussels.
"It is time for the Chinese government to sit and talk with me, his holiness the Dalai Lama and all those leaders of non-Han Chinese communities who have been vilified, imprisoned and slandered just because we happen to disagree with the bankrupt official policy," she said.
Uighurs have long complained of repression by China. China, however, has accused exiled Kadeer, who lives in the United States, of orchestrating the unrest. Kadeer has strongly denied the allegations and insists that police used excessive force against Uighurs, who were airing grievances after an ethnically charged brawl among factory workers.
