Police patrol China region on riot anniversary

Teams of police patrolled streets in the western region of Xinjiang on Monday as stringent security was imposed for the one-year anniversary of China's worst ethnic violence in decades.

An ethnic Han Chinese man who runs the Little West Gate Family Hotel in the rgional capital of Urumqi said there was a "noticeable increase in the number of police on the streets," and his family was staying indoors as a precaution.

The man, who would only give his surname Zhang, said shoppers had to go through airport-style security checks at the open air market in the city's center. A receptionist surnamed Fang at the Yilong Hotel in the regional capital of Urumqi said Sunday that bags were being checked at airports, train stations, bus stops and government offices.

ong-standing tensions between Xinjiang's minority Uighurs and majority Han Chinese migrants flared into open violence in Urumqi one year ago. The government said 197 people were killed in the unrest, which was triggered by the deaths of Uighur (pronounced WEE-gur) factory workers in the country's south.

Ater the July 5 bloodshed, the government suspended the region's Internet and international telephone and text messaging links for more than half a year. Beijing - which accused overseas Uighur groups of plotting the violence, something they deny - arrested hundreds of people and sentenced about two dozen to deah.

Xinjiang's public security bureau said in a statement Sunday that residents were going about their business as usual, following campaigns to seize illegal weapons and explosives and increased security in areas with higher rates of crime. It did not give details.

A public security spokeswoman reache Monday said the situation in the region was "normal" but wouldn't elaborate. Like many officials, she refused to give her name.

China's leaders say all ethnic groups are treated equally and point to the billions of dollars in investment that has modernized Xinjiang, a strategically vital region with sigificant oil and gas deposits.

But authorities have been accused of alienating the Uighurs, Turkic Muslims who are ethnically and linguistically distinct from the Han majority, with tight restrictions on cultural and religious expression and nonviolent dissent.

Many Uighurs say they suffer discrimination in jobs and cannot get loans and passports.