'The blood debt will be repaid. Han compatriots unite and rise up,' wrote 'Jason' on search engine www.baidu.com. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
SHANGHAI - CHINESE are venting their anger online after ethnic unrest in the Muslim region of Xinjiang left at least 156 dead but are playing a cat-and-mouse game with censors who appear to be removing some posts and blogs.
appeal for greater understanding
STILL, a few people appealed for greater understanding of Uighur grievances.
'If your family members have no rights, no power, are discriminated against and made fun of, not only will your family collapse, you will already have sown the seeds of hatred,' wrote 'Bloody Knife'.
URUMQI - CHINESE authorities confirmed on Tuesday they cut off Internet access in parts of Xinjiang's capital to prevent the violence from spreading, state media reported.
The top Communist Party official in Urumqi, Mr Li Zhi, confirmed reports from Web users and human rights groups, saying officials stopped Internet access to reassert control.
Many of the comments demanded swift punishment for those involved, echoing remarks in official state media blaming exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer for masterminding the riots in Urumqi on Sunday.
Almost half of Xinjiang's 20 million people are Muslim Uighurs, but they have long complained Han Chinese reap most of the benefits from official investment and subsidies, while making Uighurs - a Turkic, largely Islamic people who share linguistic and cultural bonds with Central Asia - feel like outsiders.
Along with Tibet, Xinjiang is one of the most politically sensitive regions in China and in both places the government has sought to maintain its grip by controlling religious and cultural life while promising economic growth and prosperity.
'Destroy the conspiracy, strike hard against these saboteurs, and strike even more fiercely than before,' according to an anonymous posting on a blog by a person known as 'Chang Qing' on portal www.sina.com.cn.
Some warned Hans, China's predominant ethnic group, would take revenge.
'The blood debt will be repaid. Han compatriots unite and rise up,' wrote 'Jason' on search engine www.baidu.com.
Others have sought to invoke the spirit of Wang Zhen, the Chinese general who is reviled and feared by many Uighurs for the repression when he led Communist troops into Xinjiang in 1949 to bring it into the newly formed People's Republic of China.
'Study this hard,' wrote one posting above a potted history of Wang apparently taken from a Chinese history book. -- REUTERS
