The top legislator from riot-hit Xinjiang has said that authorities would speed up local legislation against separatism in the western region that has a long-running independence movement by minority Uighurs. China already has a national law against secession, though there are no similar regional laws.
China faced its worst unrest in decades this month when tensions between the dominant Han Chinese and the Turkic-speaking, Muslim Uighurs descended into violence in the regional capital of Urumqi. Nearly 200 people died in the unrest.
Witnesses and surveillance footage captured the presence of young women wearing white, black, and brown robes with head scarves, along with young men in blue T-shirts, involved in the riot, with the women inciting the violence while the men carried it out.
According to reports, the violence began when police in Urumqi intervened at a peaceful protest by Uighurs, who went on a rampage, smashing windows, burning cars and beating Han Chinese. Two days later, vigilante groups of Han took to the streets and attacked Uighurs.
The Chinese government has blamed the July 5 riots on "three forces" — extremism, separatism, and terrorism — both at home and abroad.
Meanwhile terrorist group Al Qaeda is also reportedly planning to take revenge for the riots.
