Surveillance cameras blanket Urumqi ahead of riot anniversary+

BEIJING, July 2 Kyodo -
About 40,000 security cameras have been installed in more than 8,000 public
locations in Urumqi, the capital of China's northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region, ahead of the July 5 first anniversary of ethnic clashes that
killed some 200 people last year, local media reported Friday.
The city government has installed the surveillance cameras in places including
buses, bus stands, streets, schools and kindergartens, Xinjiang news website
iyaxin.com reported.
An earlier report by an Urumqi newspaper incorrectly put the number at 8,370
cameras.
The cameras are described as shatterproof and fireproof, with a high resolution
that enables even the facial features of bus passengers to be identified
clearly, reports said.
Their installation will enable real-time monitoring of key locations in the
city to ensure the safety of public places and serve people of ''all ethnic
groups,'' the reports said.
The cameras are part of security reinforcement ahead of the anniversary of the
July riots, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Some 5,000 new police officers have been recruited in Xinjiang this year and
police patrols have been stepped up, Xinhua quoted a source with the region's
public security department as saying.
A Global Times report Friday said security was high with security forces at 31
checkpoints on the city's streets.
The People's Square in central Urumqi, where a mass protest reportedly took
place soon before violence broke out, was cordoned off recently, the paper
said.
Just last week, the public security ministry announced the capture of more than
10 members of a major ''terrorist group'' that had allegedly been planning a
series of attacks in Xinjiang.
Riots broke out July 5 last year in Urumqi when Uyghurs took to the streets and
attacked Han Chinese residents and businesses.
Close to 200 people died, according to official statistics, and more than 1,600
were injured in the violence, the worst ethnic unrest China had seen in
decades.
Two days after the outbreak, Han Chinese in Urumqi went on a rampage in revenge
attacks on Uyghurs.
==Kyodo
2010-07-02 23:43:04


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