Urumqi quiets down after protest against syringe attacks
URUMQI. September 4. KAZINFORM The city of Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, quieted down late Thursday night after tens of thousands of people took to streets to protest against syringe attacks; Kazinform refers to Xinhua.
There were few pedestrians on the Youhao, Karamay, Altay and Beijing Roads. Police were persuading about 100 people to leave the Nanhu Square in front of the municipal government.
Passage in areas including Youhao Road, Guangming Road and Renmin Square was prohibited for vehicle as a traffic control in place on major roads in downtown areas took effect at 9:00 p.m..
The daytime protest, attended by tens of thousands of people, crippled city traffic and forced shops in major commercial streets to shut.
Police said Thursday's protest started at 10:50 a.m. when more than 1,000 people gathered in the residential quarter of Xiaoximen. Another crowd of protestors gathered at the Beiyuanchun farmers' produce wholesale market at 10:30 when a man was caught after allegedly stabbing a five-year-old girl.
The demonstration spread to major streets including Guangming Road, Xinmin Road and Youhao Road. People also turned out in big crowds in front of the Renmin Cinema and at the Renmin Square.
Protestors held the national flag and the flag of the Communist Party of China and shouted "Severely punish the mob." Members of the Uygur ethnic minority were among the protesting crowds.
Wang Lequan, secretary of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and Li Zhi, secretary of the CPC Urumqi City Committee, called on the crowds, on two separate occasions, to stay calm and show restraint; Kazinform cites Xinhua.
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