Two attacks less than 17 hours apart July 30-31 in Kashgar (Kashi in Chinese), Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, left 12 people dead and 43 injured. The attacks came after a July 18 riot in Hotan, Xinjiang, that resulted in 18 deaths. Violence is nothing new in Xinjiang, but the degree and rapid succession of these incidents suggest that a group is coordinating attacks in the region, that frustration among Uighurs over their socio-economic situation has recently escalated, or both. Whatever the cause, underlying conditions suggest the violence will continue. In the first incident in Kashgar, explosions were reported at 10:30 p.m. local time July 30, including on a snack street (a pedestrian street lined with food stalls). Then around 11:45 p.m. two men armed with knives, reportedly emerging from the location of the explosions, hijacked a truck at a stoplight, killing the driver. The men then drove the truck into pedestrians before exiting the vehicle and attempting to stab bystanders. The attackers eventually were overwhelmed; one was killed and the other was captured. Six people were killed and 28 were injured in the attack. About 4 p.m. the following day, a group of men armed with knives and possibly incendiary material raided a restaurant in Kashgar, setting it on fire and attacking those inside. In the police response five of the attackers were shot dead, four were captured and other suspects are being pursued. Six people were killed, including the restaurant's owner, and 15 people, including three police officers, were injured in the incident. Chinese media reported the attackers in both incidents were Uighurs, and although the victims' ethnicities have not been reported, it is likely most of them were Han Chinese. This raises the possibility that Uighurs dissatisfied with Han migration, economic disparity and land issues are mobilizing to cause the unrest. If that is the case, the serious violence in Xinjiang in July 2009 serves as an example of how bad things can get when ethnic tensions get out of control in the region. The municipal government blamed the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) for the July 31 attack, saying the perpetrators were trained in Pakistan. Chinese officials also blamed ETIM for the July 18 riot in Hotan, though they did so days after the fact. Given the close timing of these violent incidents and the similar methods to organized attacks in recent years, it is possible they are being incited or even coordinated by a militant group, albeit an unsophisticated one. The method of the July 30 attack was very similar to that of an Aug. 4, 2008, attack near Kashgar, though that attack targeted a police station. And a group of Uighurs with ties to ETIM was arrested in 2010 on suspicion of planning the 2008 attack as well as other, similar ones. It should be noted that Chinese government officials blame ETIM for any violence in Xinjiang, though the group mainly was active in China only in the 1990s and early 2000s, so these claims have little credibility. The group re-emerged in 2008, restyling itself the Turkistan Islamic Party, and claimed — in exaggerated fashion — a series of attacks. STRATFOR forecast in 2008 that the Turkistan Islamic Party may be able to maintain itself as a small network of grassroots cells, and a network such as this could be responsible for the recent violence. Kashgar is the main transit city near the Pakistani border, and the region has been suspected of hosting ETIM camps before. Both Kashgar and Hotan are on the southern edge of the Taklamakan Desert, close to Pakistan and Afghanistan, where Islamism is known to be more prevalent and militant groups have been more active. It is possible that these networks are being activated as Ramadan begins or simply as militants are able to move back into China. In fact, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization held a counterterrorism drill in Kashgar on May 6, after which Chinese Vice Minister of Public Security Meng Hongwei said officials feared ETIM members had been returning to China from Pakistan and Afghanistan over at least the past two years and that Osama bin Laden's death could have accelerated the process. However, there are reasons to doubt that a militant network was behind the recent violence. For instance, the attacks were limited mainly to knife violence and possibly failed improvised explosive devices, which shows a lower degree of training and organization than would be expected from ETIM or an organized group. Also, attacks in Xinjiang in recent years tended to target security forces, which the recent incidents did not. Furthermore, the riot in Hotan would have required little planning and organization. It is quite possible that local clans, organized crime or even some sort of neighborhood group could be organizing the incidents in Hotan and Kashgar, either together or separately. People's Armed Police units as well as police and possibly other military units have been mobilized across Kashgar to prevent further violence, and Beijing and the regional government have made major investments in security since 2009. As was the case in Hotan recently, the mobilization will serve to discourage further violence and limit information leaving the city. These measures are almost always successful, but they are reactive, not preventive. Violence in other areas of Xinjiang is still a major possibility, especially if there is an organizing force behind it.
Transportation-Related Frustrations
An estimated 1,000 taxi drivers (though some reports say as many as 4,000) went on strike Aug. 1 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, in eastern China. In Shanghai, drivers from Shanghai Fuxin Taxi Company, one of the city's smaller taxi companies, also went on strike. Cab drivers in cities throughout China strike periodically for a variety of reasons, so these incidents are not necessarily significant by themselves. But when it comes to transportation network problems, the potential is there for a local issue to transform quickly into a national issue. The drivers in Hangzhou pointed to high gasoline prices and traffic congestion, which limits the number of passengers they can pick up in a given shift, as their major grievances. The strikes in Shanghai reportedly were over company benefits and thus not related to government policies. Another common complaint among taxi drivers has to do with unauthorized taxis known as black cabs, which take business away from lawful cabs. The taxi drivers have demanded that local government subsidize or lower fuel prices or raise the cab fare they are allowed to charge — though higher fares could deter customers — to alleviate these issues, and if these strikes continue or spread they will exert significant pressure on Beijing to respond. The major transportation-related concern for Beijing at the moment is lingering anger over the July 23 high-speed rail crash near Wenzhou, Zhejiang province. It is not uncommon for Chinese "netizens" to criticize the government, and these individuals certainly do not represent a majority of the Chinese population. Yet the deadly crash, botched relief effort, attempted cover-up and media censorship have agitated the public to an unusual level. Unlike previous national tragedies, particularly natural disasters or environmental accidents where problems can be blamed on local governments or companies, the railway crash is being blamed on a national ministry. The incident has created a serious crisis in confidence in the national government and its management of national projects and the budget.
Restrictions on Free Wi-Fi
A new regulation is requiring businesses that offer free Wi-Fi in Beijing's Dongcheng district to install monitoring software. The software saves the identities and locations of Internet users as well as their Internet history and user names for up to 60 days for police use, according to Shanghai Daily. Dongcheng is seen as a test case for the new law, which citizens and business owners worry could threaten online anonymity. The monitoring software was developed by Shanghai Rain-Soft Software and costs 20,000-40,000 yuan ($3,100-$6,200) to install. If the system is adopted in more districts and cities, it could become a corruption issue due to the substantial profits involved. Also, the company is categorized as a foreign-invested firm, which could pose problems as the state secrets law makes it illegal for any foreign companies to monitor communications networks. The regulation also brings up concerns for China's Internet users, who use Wi-Fi locations to try to gain anonymity, something the authorities are trying to limit. (click here to view interactive map)
July 27
A court in Dongguan, Guangdong province, on July 26 sentenced the leader of a money counterfeiting operation to death and 15 others to prison terms ranging from 10 months to a year, Chinese media reported. The group forged more than 170 million yuan, 114 million yuan of which was seized. The group already had sold 56 million yuan of counterfeit notes for a 1.8 million-yuan profit.
Multiple overseas Chinese news sources reported a strike July 21-25 by 1,000 workers at the Tianmuhu brewery in Changzhou, Jiangsu province. Police arrested some of the workers July 23.
Shatoujiao customs seized a van smuggling 311 kilograms (686 pounds) of silver bricks valued at 2.5 million yuan in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.
July 28
Xinhua reported the arrest of one cheng guan (urban management officer) in relation to the July 26 fatal beating of a disabled fruit seller that led to protests in Anshun, Guizhou province. The Anshun Municipal Propaganda Department also announced that five other officers were being investigated over the incident.
The Emergency Management Office in Mianyang, Sichuan province, began distributing bottled water after mine tailings were released from a manganese plant's failed dam into the Fujiang River.
Ninety-three people suffered carbon monoxide poisoning from a leaking pipe at the Guigang Iron and Steel Co. plant in Guigang, Guangxi Autonomous Region.
The Shenyang Public Security Bureau announced it was investigating a 2006 asset sale by the Shenyang office of the China Great Wall Asset Management Co. The office sold 1.8 billion yuan worth of national nonperforming assets, known as the "Liaonan asset package," for 18 million yuan.
An official from the Liaoyang city government in Liaoning province told ChinaNews that the government had started investigating a real estate company that allegedly took deposits from 700 homebuyers three years ago but has not completed construction of the homes. Local police arrested the developer of the company July 7 and said the case is complicated and involves many people, including government officials.
A cheng guan officer was seriously injured in a clash between cheng guan and five fruit vendors in a market in Beilun, Zhejiang province. The vendors were subsequently arrested.
July 29
Taiyuan police announced the arrest of a man who was driving a car with a fake military license plate in Shanxi province. The man hit 12 cars and injured four police officers and one passer-by while trying to escape police.
The Guangdong Public Security Bureau reported that a man accused of shooting and killing a person over a debt dispute died when he crashed his motorcycle while fleeing police.
A man armed with five knives killed one person and injured 11 in front of a job market in Yiwu, Zhejiang province. The man reportedly was shouting, "Pay me my salary. Get out of the way! You will suffer if you don't get out of my way."
A Beijing court sentenced six people to prison terms ranging from 20 months to four years for trafficking and selling large amounts of the cold medicine Contac from China to New Zealand. The medicine contains pseudoephedrine, which is an ingredient in methamphetamine.
Aug. 1
The Beijing Public Security Bureau announced that security cameras with face-identification technology have been installed in medium- and large-sized supermarkets as well as in other shops across the city. They said the technology aimed to prevent theft, damage or food poisoning. The public security bureau is requiring shops to install the security cameras themselves and will be carrying out inspections.
The secretary-general of the Beijing Chamber of Elevator Commerce announced that more than 10 escalators on the Yizhuang subway line are being recalled due to safety risks. A malfunction July 5 caused an escalator to reverse direction, killing a 13-year-old boy and triggering the inspection that led to the recall.
Aug. 2
A Shanghai court sentenced four municipal officials to prison terms ranging from five to 16 years for corruption and abuse of power in relation to the November 2010 Shanghai building fire. The officials were convicted of accepting bribes from the company carrying out the unlicensed welding that caused the fire.
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