Tense Times in Western China

Monday brought more news of unrest in China’s Xinjiang region following Sunday’s bloodshed in Urumqi—this time in the city of Kashgar, where police reportedly broke up about 200 people assembling near the Id Kah mosque in the city’s center.

BBC:

The official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported on Monday that police believed agitators were “trying to organise more unrest” in other cities in Xinjiang, a mountainous and desert region that borders Central Asia.

About 200 people “trying to gather” at the Id Kah mosque in the centre of Kashgar, on the ancient Silk Road, were dispersed by police early on Monday evening, Xinhua said.

Police also revealed they had information about efforts to organise unrest in the city of Aksu and the Yili prefecture, Xinhua added. Yili is a border region that was hit by ethnic unrest in the late 1990s.

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Wikimedia Commons / Colegota

The Id Kah mosque in Kashgar’s center was the site of Monday’s attempted gathering, according to Chinese state media.