On the evening of March 1 a gang of eight people clad in black went on a violent rampage in the main railway station of Kunming, the capital of the southern Chinese province of Yunnan. Armed only with knives, they killed 29 people and injured over 140. Police shot five of the assailants, killing four and detaining one. Subsequent media reports, both from China and abroad, said it was the work of a Uighur terrorist group.
Police have issued arrest warrants for two men who were allegedly involved in bringing 218 suspected Muslim Uighurs into Songkhla province.
By Euan McKirdy and Dayu Zhang
updated 9:11 AM EDT, Tue March 25, 2014
(CNN) -- In many ways -- more than just distance, at least -- it is a long way from the remote city of Kashgar in the restive northwest Chinese province of Xinjiang to Kuala Lumpur, the bustling, teeming capital of Malaysia. But it was a journey that an Uyghur artist named Memetjan Abdullah made earlier this month. It was his first trip outside China.
Claims that a group of suspected Chinese Uygurs in Thailand wanted to be trained as terrorists have been ridiculed by a prominent human rights organisation.
Two groups totaling at least 189 migrants believed to be ethnic Uighurs fleeing China have been detained in recent days by the authorities in Thailand, Human Rights Watch said on Monday. The detention of the two groups brings to 409 the number of people thought to be Uighurs who have been stopped by Thai officials this month.
Thailand has detained a second group of people believed to be Uyghurs fleeing violence in China's Xinjiang province as Southeast Asian countries are asked to adopt a more humane policy towards the ethnic minority asylum seekers.
The government of Thailand should ensure that 112 newly detained people believed to be ethnic Uighurs are not forcibly returned to China, Human Rights Watch said today.
by David Volodzko
March 20, 2014 · 3:30 pm
In the wake of the Kunming massacre, the mood in Beijing is more choleric than somber. President Xi Jinping immediately announced a nationwide crackdown on terrorism and military troops were rapidly posted at train and bus stations throughout the country. Armored vehicles now patrol Kunming, Xinjiang natives have been told to register themselves at local police stations in Qinghai province and in Guangxi province authorities have asked citizens to report if they see anyone from Xinjiang — anyone at all.
On March 1, black-clad figures entered the train station in Kunming, the capital of the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan. Wielding foot-long knives, they slashed indiscriminately at passengers, killing 29 and injuring 143. The police shot five of the attackers, killing four and capturing one. Three other attackers have since been detained.
In the six months before Uighur rights activist Ilham Tohti’s arrest, his website Uighurbiz.net filled with a crescendo of reports of an intensifying religious and socioeconomic crackdown on ethnic Uighurs in China — characterized as Beijing's response to episodes of political violence that it blames on the predominantly Muslim minority.
