On July 5th, the riots in Urumqi, China between the Han [the predominant ethnic group in China] and Muslim Uighurs [a Turkic ethnic group in Eastern and Central Asia] had calmed down.  According to various media outlets, most of the victims killed were Han. When they sought revenge, the police clamped down and fought hard to reduce the violence.  Some Muslim Uighur rioters were killed as well.  It is unclear how many were killed and who were the true victims during this ethnic conflict – each side has a different perspective.

The riots were provoked by an earlier brawl between the two groups at a factory in southern China caused by underlying ethnic unrest.

Outside of Urumqi, the foreign media, including the Dutch and German, framed the situation by comparing the ethnic conflict to the 1989 riots for democracy in Tiananmen Square, another political atrocity in China.  The Urumqi conflict forced China President Hu Jintao to cut short the G8 conference and all interviews and head back to China.  For the moment, it appears the police have control over the area; however, the ethnic struggle between the Han and Muslim Uighurs has no short-term solution. 

The open way in which the Chinese government handled the situation is unprecedented and very different from past political events.  Given that Uighurs across the country can now unite via the Internet, the government should handle the situation with great sensitivity and examine the underlying hostilities between the two ethnic groups. In order to reduce the ethnic divide, the government must remain calm and fair in handling the situation.

The government has accused Rebiya Kadeer, an Uighur businesswoman and human rights advocate of inciting the Uighur to riot. [She is president of the World Uighur Congress and is allegedly part of an Islamic national liberation movement.] Kadeer, who is highly respected among the Uighurs, was imprisoned in China and now lives in Washington. 

There is, however, no evidence directly linking Kadeer to the riots and the government pointing fingers might further alienate the Uighurs – the Beijing government has been accused of forcibly assimilating Uighurs into China.

The West has suggested that Urumqi should be independent. The West also used this riot to bring China's human rights violations back into focus internationally. However, the bloody conflict has a different meaning.  The government should see it as a manifestation of the underlying ethnic unrest in the Chinese society, rather than a result of government actions.