This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8135203.stm

The article has changed 30 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
China's Xinjiang hit by violence China's Xinjiang hit by violence
(about 2 hours later)
The city of Urumqi in China's restive Xinjiang region has been hit by violence with cars burned and traffic blocked, Chinese state media says. Three people have been killed and more than 20 injured in violence in the city of Urumqi in China's restive Xinjiang region, state media says.
An unspecified number of people also attacked passers-by and damaged property, Xinhua news agency said. Xinhua news agency said police had rushed to the city to restore order after demonstrators attacked passers-by and set fire to vehicles.
Police had rushed to the area to maintain order, the agency said. Xinhua did not say how many people were involved or what their motive was.
Xinjiang, in the far west of China, is home to about eight million Muslim Uighurs, some of whom want independence. But activists and eyewitnesses said that those involved in the unrest were minority Muslim Uighurs.
The Xinhua report did not say how many people were involved, or suggest a motive. Xinjiang is home to about eight million Uighurs, some of whom want independence.
But an eyewitness told a Reuters source in Beijing that the rioters were Uighurs, numbering in their thousands. "It started as a few hundred, and then there were easily over 1,000 involved," one unidentified eyewitness told Reuters news agency.
Uighur activists in Japan and Germany said the same - and said that there had been arrests, AFP news agency said. Adam Grode, an American Fulbright scholar studying in Urumqi, said he saw protesters knocking over police barriers and smashing bus windows.
China enforces tight controls in Xinjiang and rejects calls from its Muslim Uighur people for self-rule. Police responded with tear gas, hoses and batons, he told the Associated Press news agency, and once night fell more police and soldiers poured into the city.
Uighur activists in Japan and Germany said that they had received reports of multiple arrests.
Xinhua said that the three dead were Han Chinese.
Tensions
It is not clear what triggered the unrest, but relations between the Han Chinese community and the Uighurs can be tense.
China enforces tight controls in Xinjiang and rejects calls from the Uighurs for self-rule.
The US state department accuses Beijing of human rights abuses in the region.The US state department accuses Beijing of human rights abuses in the region.
In a report released earlier this year, it said that "severe cultural and religious repression" of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang had increased.In a report released earlier this year, it said that "severe cultural and religious repression" of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang had increased.
Dissidents were being detained and harassed, and tight controls on freedom of speech and the internet were being maintained, it said.Dissidents were being detained and harassed, and tight controls on freedom of speech and the internet were being maintained, it said.
Uighur separatists, meanwhile, have waged a low-level campaign against Chinese rule for decades and there are sporadic outbreaks of violence.Uighur separatists, meanwhile, have waged a low-level campaign against Chinese rule for decades and there are sporadic outbreaks of violence.
But campaigners accuse China of exaggerating the threat to justify tough security clampdowns in the region.But campaigners accuse China of exaggerating the threat to justify tough security clampdowns in the region.