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06-08-08, 10:50
Chinese Officials in Kashgar Apologize to Japanese Reporters
By Dune Lawrence
Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Officials in Kashgar in western China apologized to Japanese reporters who were detained yesterday after an attack on a border patrol station in the city by members of the Uighur ethnic group, state media reported.
The two reporters, one with Japan's Chunichi newspaper and the other with Nippon Television Network, ``clashed'' with local border police when they tried to film a restricted area after the attack yesterday, which killed at least 16 officers and injured 16, the state-run Xinhua News Agency said.
``Journalists are forbidden to enter the area controlled by border police, but the two disobeyed the rules,'' Kashgar's government spokesman, Eskar, said today, according to a report by Xinhua. ``We are sorry for the incident and the damage to the equipment that belonged to the reporters.''
Officials at the city's border police and the local foreign affairs department apologized to the reporters, Xinhua said. The journalists accepted the apology and police offers to pay for repairs to their equipment and medical bills, the news agency said.
Yesterday's raid, which was planned in advance, was a terrorist attack, said Shi Dagang, Communist Party secretary of Kashgar, in a press conference this afternoon, according to Xinhua.
Two Suspects Detained
Police detained two suspects after yesterday's attack, describing them as ethnic Uighurs, a predominantly Muslim minority group in Xinjiang province, Xinhua said. One of the suspects is a 28-year-old taxi driver; the other is 33 and sells vegetables, Xinhua reported.
The authorities, counting Xinjiang's East Turkistan Islamic Movement as China's largest terror threat, have clamped down on the region's security and detained Uighur suspects ahead of Beijing's Aug. 8 Olympic Games.
``The Chinese authorities have a right to protect the life and security of their law enforcement officials,'' Amnesty International said in a statement yesterday after Xinhua reported the incident in Kashgar, known in Chinese as Kashi. ``However, attacks such as these should not be used to justify the promotion or implementation of repressive or abusive security measures.''
Web access was shut today in Kashgar, China's westernmost major city, Agence-France Pressereported, citing the staff of Yiquan Hotel, across the road from where yesterday's attack occurred.
Fighting Militants
China has been fighting the East Turkistan Islamic Movement in Xinjiang since the 1980s, trying to wipe out militants who aim to establish an independent state for Uighurs along the border with Tajikistan.
Kashgar's population of 3.3 million people is 90 percent Uighur, mostly Muslims who speak a different language and bear little resemblance to ethnic-Han Chinese.
Two men yesterday drove a truck into a platoon of border patrol policemen on their morning jog, Xinhua said yesterday. The two also threw home-made grenades and hacked at the officers with machetes, Xinhua said, citing local police.
A Polish couple who witnessed the assault from the Yiquan Hotel described the scene as ``sickening,'' AFP reported.
Police found nine home-made bombs, a gun, machetes and literature about a ``holy war'' at the scene of the attack, China's Public Security Ministry said today in a statement without giving further details.
4 Billion Viewers
With 4 billion television viewers projected to tune in to the opening ceremony, where more than 40 heads of state and government leaders may be in attendance, China wants to ensure the games go off safely.
``We can guarantee a safe and peaceful Olympic Games,'' the Beijing Olympics organizing committee spokesman Sun Weide told reporters today.
Chinese police arrested 82 people in the first six months of 2008 on charges of plotting terror attacks during the Olympics, underscoring the potential threat as China prepares to host its biggest international event.
As many as 18 ``foreign agitators'' have been arrested in Xinjiang in connection with an earlier incident of unrest, Reuters reported today, citing Kashgar Communist Party chief Shi, without elaborating.
The Bush administration declared the East Turkistan Islamic Movement a terrorist organization in 2002, supporting the Chinese army's crackdown in Xinjiang.
Urumqi's Security Cordon
Kashgar police have set up road blocks to check passengers, bags and vehicles, according to Xinhua. Armed traffic police have been patrolling buses in Urumqi since early July, Xinhua reported.
The Uighur people -- also spelt Uyghur -- condemn all acts of violence, the AFP reported yesterday, citing Rebiya Kadeer, president of the Washington-based Uyghur American Association. She urged caution in evaluating the Chinese government's reports of terrorist attacks by the group because the government routinely fails to provide evidence to back such reports, the AFP said.
Chunichi's newspaper photographer Masami Kawakita, 38, and Nippon Television's reporter Shinji Katsuta, 37, suffered light injuries after they were taken from their hotel by police and beaten, Kyodo said today. Kawakita's equipment was partially destroyed, Kyodo said.
Police also entered the hotel room of an AFP photographer and forced him to delete photos he had taken of the attack scene in Kashgar, AFP said in a separate report.
To contact the reporter on this story: Dune Lawrence in Beijing at dlawrence6@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: August 5, 2008 10:41 EDT
By Dune Lawrence
Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Officials in Kashgar in western China apologized to Japanese reporters who were detained yesterday after an attack on a border patrol station in the city by members of the Uighur ethnic group, state media reported.
The two reporters, one with Japan's Chunichi newspaper and the other with Nippon Television Network, ``clashed'' with local border police when they tried to film a restricted area after the attack yesterday, which killed at least 16 officers and injured 16, the state-run Xinhua News Agency said.
``Journalists are forbidden to enter the area controlled by border police, but the two disobeyed the rules,'' Kashgar's government spokesman, Eskar, said today, according to a report by Xinhua. ``We are sorry for the incident and the damage to the equipment that belonged to the reporters.''
Officials at the city's border police and the local foreign affairs department apologized to the reporters, Xinhua said. The journalists accepted the apology and police offers to pay for repairs to their equipment and medical bills, the news agency said.
Yesterday's raid, which was planned in advance, was a terrorist attack, said Shi Dagang, Communist Party secretary of Kashgar, in a press conference this afternoon, according to Xinhua.
Two Suspects Detained
Police detained two suspects after yesterday's attack, describing them as ethnic Uighurs, a predominantly Muslim minority group in Xinjiang province, Xinhua said. One of the suspects is a 28-year-old taxi driver; the other is 33 and sells vegetables, Xinhua reported.
The authorities, counting Xinjiang's East Turkistan Islamic Movement as China's largest terror threat, have clamped down on the region's security and detained Uighur suspects ahead of Beijing's Aug. 8 Olympic Games.
``The Chinese authorities have a right to protect the life and security of their law enforcement officials,'' Amnesty International said in a statement yesterday after Xinhua reported the incident in Kashgar, known in Chinese as Kashi. ``However, attacks such as these should not be used to justify the promotion or implementation of repressive or abusive security measures.''
Web access was shut today in Kashgar, China's westernmost major city, Agence-France Pressereported, citing the staff of Yiquan Hotel, across the road from where yesterday's attack occurred.
Fighting Militants
China has been fighting the East Turkistan Islamic Movement in Xinjiang since the 1980s, trying to wipe out militants who aim to establish an independent state for Uighurs along the border with Tajikistan.
Kashgar's population of 3.3 million people is 90 percent Uighur, mostly Muslims who speak a different language and bear little resemblance to ethnic-Han Chinese.
Two men yesterday drove a truck into a platoon of border patrol policemen on their morning jog, Xinhua said yesterday. The two also threw home-made grenades and hacked at the officers with machetes, Xinhua said, citing local police.
A Polish couple who witnessed the assault from the Yiquan Hotel described the scene as ``sickening,'' AFP reported.
Police found nine home-made bombs, a gun, machetes and literature about a ``holy war'' at the scene of the attack, China's Public Security Ministry said today in a statement without giving further details.
4 Billion Viewers
With 4 billion television viewers projected to tune in to the opening ceremony, where more than 40 heads of state and government leaders may be in attendance, China wants to ensure the games go off safely.
``We can guarantee a safe and peaceful Olympic Games,'' the Beijing Olympics organizing committee spokesman Sun Weide told reporters today.
Chinese police arrested 82 people in the first six months of 2008 on charges of plotting terror attacks during the Olympics, underscoring the potential threat as China prepares to host its biggest international event.
As many as 18 ``foreign agitators'' have been arrested in Xinjiang in connection with an earlier incident of unrest, Reuters reported today, citing Kashgar Communist Party chief Shi, without elaborating.
The Bush administration declared the East Turkistan Islamic Movement a terrorist organization in 2002, supporting the Chinese army's crackdown in Xinjiang.
Urumqi's Security Cordon
Kashgar police have set up road blocks to check passengers, bags and vehicles, according to Xinhua. Armed traffic police have been patrolling buses in Urumqi since early July, Xinhua reported.
The Uighur people -- also spelt Uyghur -- condemn all acts of violence, the AFP reported yesterday, citing Rebiya Kadeer, president of the Washington-based Uyghur American Association. She urged caution in evaluating the Chinese government's reports of terrorist attacks by the group because the government routinely fails to provide evidence to back such reports, the AFP said.
Chunichi's newspaper photographer Masami Kawakita, 38, and Nippon Television's reporter Shinji Katsuta, 37, suffered light injuries after they were taken from their hotel by police and beaten, Kyodo said today. Kawakita's equipment was partially destroyed, Kyodo said.
Police also entered the hotel room of an AFP photographer and forced him to delete photos he had taken of the attack scene in Kashgar, AFP said in a separate report.
To contact the reporter on this story: Dune Lawrence in Beijing at dlawrence6@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: August 5, 2008 10:41 EDT