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China says 140 dead
in Xinjiang unrest
BEIJING: At least 140 people
have been killed in rioting in
China’s northwestern region of
Xinjiang, with the government
blaming exiled separatists for
the remote area’s worst case
of unrest in years.
Hundreds of rioters have
been arrested, the official
Xinhua news agency reported,
after rock-throwing Uighur
people took to the streets of
the regional capital on Sunday,
some burning and smashing
vehi-
A video grab from CCTV shows an
injured man in Urumqi yesterday.
cles and confronting ranks of
anti-riot police.
The unrest underscores
the volatile ethnic tensions
that have accompanied Chi-
na’s growing economic and
political stake in its western
frontiers.
Along with Tibet, Xinjiang
is one of the most politically
sensitive regions in China,
and in both cases the govern-
ment has sought to maintain
its grip by controlling religious
and cultural life while also
vowing economic growth and
prosperity.
But analysts said the
fresh trouble in the remote
resource-rich region was un-
likely to have a major impact
on China’s economy.
Signalling a security crack-
down in the strategic region
near Pakistan and central now
Asia, a senior govern- in exile in the United
ment official said States after years in jail, and
the unrest was the accused of separatist activities.
work of extremist She did not answer calls for
forces abroad. comment.
“This was a But exiled Uighur groups
crime of violence adamantly rejected the Chi-
that was pre- nese government claim of a
meditated and plot. They said the riot was an
organised,” outpouring of pent-up anger
Xinhua quoted over government policies and
the unnamed of- Han Chinese dominance of
ficial as saying. economic opportunities.
He blamed Li Zhi, the Communist
the violence Party boss of regional capital
on the World
Uyghur Con-
gress led by
Rebiya Kadeer,
a Uighur busi- Gambler sues casino
nesswoman
for losing RM80m fortune
SEOUL: A former South Korean
company boss who says he
gambled away 30 billion won
(RM80 million) in three years
is suing a casino for allegedly
fuelling his addiction, a report
said yesterday.
The man identified only as
Chung, 67, is appealing a court
ruling last November which
ordered the Kangwon Land ca-
sino to pay him 2.8 billion won
(RM7.76 million) in damages.
Chung says this is not
enough since between 2003
and 2006 he lost 30 billion won
Indonesian president’s rivals
complain over poll list
JAKARTA: Two candidates
in Indonesia’s presidential
election raised concerns
about the reliability of the
voter lists yesterday, just two
days before a poll that looks
set to hand President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono a sec-
ond term.
“We want people’s rights
to be protected, and hope
that people are able to use
their right to vote properly,”
former president Megawati
Sukarnoputri, Susilo’s closest
rival, told a news conference
at the General Election Com-
mission (KPU).
Analysts do not expect
the last-minute jousting over
voter lists to derail an election
which is likely to set the pace
of reform in Southeast Asia’s
biggest economy, especially
after the Constitutional Court
decided yesterday to allow
voters to show identity cards
in order to be allowed to vote.
However, they said it
could be a tactic designed to
fan public doubt around the
fairness of an election Susilo’s
Urumqi told a news
conference that the
death toll from the
rioting had risen to
140, the semi-official
China News Agency
said. Xinhua said
816 people were
hurt and admitted
to hospital.
Xinhua did not
give the ethnic
identity of the dead,
or say if they were
civilians or police,
but admissions at
the People’s Hos-
pitals, one of the
biggest in Urumqi,
suggested Han
Chinese were
targeted.
Xinhua said
the hospital
received 291
people of whom
17 died later. Among them 233
were Han Chinese, 39 were
Uighurs, while the rest were
from other ethnic minorities.
The riot in Urumqi, 3,270km
west of Beijing, followed a
protest against the govern-
ment’s handling of a June
clash between Han Chinese
and Uighur factory workers
in southern China, where two
Uighurs died in Shaoguan.
“In Xinjiang one of the
major sources of discontent is
that there is still a major gap
economically between Han
at the casino – the country’s
only one authorised to admit
Koreans under strict gaming
laws.
The former head of a leather
products company claims the
government-run casino turned
a blind eye to him making bets
above the legitimate limit.
Chung says he knew nothing
about gambling until he visited
the casino six years ago and
believed he could recoup his
losses by placing more bets.
“Then I got addicted,” the
JoongAng Daily quoted Chung.
rivals are expected to lose.
The reform-minded Susilo
has a commanding lead over
Megawati and Vice-President
Yusuf Kalla in opinion polls,
which show that he is likely
to win in the first round with-
out going to a run-off.
“It is hard to imagine that
the election will really be
delayed,” said Sri Eko Budi
Wardani, director of the Cen-
tre for Political Studies at the
University of Indonesia.
“This looks like a strategy
by Kalla and Megawati to
throw the election result
into doubt. It seems like the
incumbent is likely to win
with as much as 60% with no
chance for a second round.
“Kalla and Megawati just
want to buy time to increase
their chances but I think it
will be difficult for them to do
that using this strategy.”
Indonesia, the world’s
third-largest democracy with
over 176 million registered
voters, held national, provin-
cial and district legislative
elections on April 9.
theSun | TUESDAY JULY 7 2009
and Uighurs,” said Barry Saut-
man, a specialist on China’s
ethnic politics at the Hong
Kong University of Science
and Technology.
Almost half of Xinjiang’s
20 million people are Uighurs.
The population of Urumqi is
mostly Han Chinese, and the
Uighurs complain they domi-
nate economic opportunities.
Chinese state television
showed rioters throwing rocks
at police and overturning a
police car, and smoke billow-
ing from burning vehicles.
“I personally saw several
Han people being stabbed. Many
people on buses were scared
witless,” Urumqi resident
Zhang Wanxin said by phone.
Police rounded up “several
hundred” who participated in
the violence, including more
than 10 key players who fanned
unrest, Xinhua said, and are
searching for 90 others.
Residents in Urumqi were
unable to access the Internet
yesterday, several said.
“The city is basically under
martial law,” Yang Jin, a mer-
chant, said by phone.
Alim Seytoff, of the Uyghur
American Association in Wash-
ington DC, e-mailed pictures
showing hundreds of locals
confronting police in Urumqi,
armoured riot-control vehicles
patrolling streets and wounded
and bloodied civilians lying on
streets. – Reuters
Chung, chafing at the 10
million won (RM28,000) per-bet
limit, hired up to five people
as subordinate betters so he
could wager up to 60 million
won (RM166,000) at a time.
“I still get the feeling that
I can win back the money at
the casino,” he was quoted as
saying, adding he is currently
undergoing weekly therapy for
his gambling addiction.
Lawyers for Kangwon Land
say Chung lost his fortune in a
“voluntary and normal way.”
– AFP
It is due to hold the more
important presidential elec-
tions on July 8, only the
second direct vote for the
country’s leader.
Elections, which went
relatively smoothly in April
despite similar concerns
over the voter lists, are a
huge exercise in democracy
and logistics given the size of
the sprawling archipelago of
17,000 or so islands.
The Constitutional Court
agreed yesterday to requests
by Megawati and Kalla for
voters to be able to present
identity cards at polling
booths instead of letters is-
sued by the KPU.
However, both candidates
still insisted that they must be
given updated copies of the
electoral rolls.
“Our team has been wait-
ing since noon but until now
we haven’t received the voter
list,” Megawati’s running
mate, Prabowo Subianto, told
reporters. “It should have
been done 30 days before the
election.” –Reuters