More anti-terror efforts

Investigations have found that the riot was masterminded by the World Uygur Congress (WUC), a separatist organization founded in Munich in 2004, according to regional authorities. Experts also warned that terrorism might be the real driving force behind the riot.

OUT OF THE SHADOW: Residents and tourists eat lamb kebabs, a popular Uygur delicacy, at an Urumqi night market on July 18, two weeks after a deadly riot in the city (SHA DATI)

The WUC is associated with the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a group labeled by the UN and the United States as a terrorist organization, said Rohan Gunaratna, who heads the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University. He said that the WUC has many sympathizers and supporters within the ETIM.

"The ETIM is a big threat for the central Asian area. China needs more antiterror specialists, it should improve intelligence work on the ETIM and it should train more police in counter-terrorism," he said. Gunaratna also said Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states—China, Russia and four central Asian countries—should share terrorism intelligence and develop a common terrorist database.

On July 11, SCO Secretary General Bolat Nurgaliev issued a statement promising that the organization would enhance cooperation among member states to fight terrorism, extremism and separatism and transnational organized crime to maintain the peace and stability of the SCO area.

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region's top lawmaker said on July 19 the region would accelerate local legislation against separatism.

Eligen Imibakhi, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Xinjiang Regional People's Congress, said the body would unswervingly safeguard the dignity and authority of the Constitution and other laws.

The July 5 incident was a severe violent crime planned and organized by the "three evil forces" of terrorism, extremism and separatism both at home and abroad, Eligen Imibakhi said.

Some Chinese legal experts also suggested that after the Xinjiang riot the government institute more effective antiterror legislation.

"The nature of the riot has the major characteristics of a typical terrorist attack," said Bo Xiao, Director of the Commission for Legislative Affairs of the Standing Committee of the Xinjiang Regional People's Congress. China should establish a special law for counter-terrorism in addition to current less explicit regulations that are scattered throughout a number of different laws, he said.

Order restored

On the morning of July 17, hundreds of people paid their last respects to Wan Jingang, a PAP officer killed by a mob with rocks on July 5 while covering his retreating fellow officers. Wang Lequan,

Secretary of the Committee of the Communist Party of China in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, also participated in the cremation ceremony.

"The police showed as much restraint as possible during the unrest," Nur Bekri said on July 18. A total of 31 PAP officers were injured, 10 seriously, when trying to stop the violence. The government said on the night of July 5 policemen shot 12 rioters after firing their weapons into the air failed to deter them.

Wan's family, like others who were victims of the violence, will receive government compensation of 200,000 yuan ($29,270), 10,000 yuan ($1,500) as funeral allowances and at least another 200,000 yuan from a fund set up after the riot with donations from the public. By July 20, this fund had accrued 227 million yuan ($33.4 million) in donations from across China.

The city government also required that all Urumqi supermarkets and shopping malls resume their normal operating hours on July 20. Wang Yuling, a sales clerk at a downtown shopping mall, told Xinhua that she found a change in people's moods over the last few days.

"In the days immediately after the July 5 incident, everyone was rushing to buy things and head back home. Now they are as relaxed as before and take their time to select the most suitable goods," she said.

Gao Yuhong, head of the shopping mall's marketing department, said that nearby residents came to purchase stocks of rice, flour, oil and vegetables shortly after the incident, while suppliers suspended deliveries to the mall's supermarket. Deliveries resumed and supplies have been available since July 10. Meanwhile, people also stopped stockpiling daily necessities, said Gao.

The Xinjiang Tourism Administration penned a plan to reduce the incident's impact on local tourism that is awaiting approval from the regional government. The plan offers rewards of 10 yuan ($1.5) per tourist to agencies that organize sightseeing groups to Xinjiang. Some tourist attractions will offer half-price discounts on tickets until the end of August. The tourism administration also applied for a fund of 5 million yuan ($735,000) to bail out tourism companies in financial hardship due to the business slowdown.