Red China: Calm returns to riot city as troops patrol the streets - Death penalty for rioters

The Times ^ | 7/10/2009 | Jane Macartney in Urumqi

[bruinbirdman]

The bustle of business and the roar of traffic returned to Urumqi yesterday as columns of troops miles long filled the streets in a show of might designed to reassure Han Chinese after Sunday’s riots.

Throughout the day, lorries filled with paramilitaries and soldiers paraded slowly down city centre streets. Armoured personnel carriers, water cannon vehicles and vans equipped to fire teargas followed. Some vehicles were emblazoned with slogans such as “Smash the separatists” and “Bring peace to the city”. The Times counted a column of police that took 40 minutes to pass by. One witness counted 60 sets of lorries driving two abreast before losing count.

President Hu Jintao, who left the G8 summit in Italy to fly home on Wednesday to deal with the crisis, sent his security chief to Urumqi to demonstrate how seriously the leadership regards the deadly unrest. Zhou Yongkang visited the injured in hospital and was shown on television with Han and Uighur victims. He also addressed some of the tens of thousands of paramilitary People’s Armed Police and troops deployed in the city.

In the first statement by the regime since Sunday, Mr Hu called the riots “serious violent crime elaborately planned and organised by three forces at home and abroad”. That was an apparent reference to religious extremists, separatists and terrorists — an attempt to shift the blame away from local grievances to clearly defined groups.

China has described the riots as the worst in 60 years of Communist Party rule. The President, who is also the Communist Party chief and head of the armed forces, told local authorities that they must isolate and deal a blow to the small group of rioters and unite and educate the Uighurs.

His words reflect the fears among the regime over the dangerous divisions that

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

Notice the similarities between Iran and Red China re protests. The same for Chavez and Venezuela.

Then notice how Obama reacted to each. Nada, zilch, zero condemnations.

Reds and Islamofascists, birds of a feather, and we are led by a birdbrain. How is that for a real mixture?

[Army Air Corps]

Pei-Ping.