China calls Xinjiang riot a plot against its rule

By Chris Buckley

BEIJING, July 6 (Reuters) - China has called a riot that shook the capital of restive western Xinjiang region on Sunday a plot by exiled members of the Uighur people, after at least three people died in the latest eruption of ethnic unrest there.

Locals took to the streets of Xinjiang's regional capital, Urumqi, burning and smashing vehicles and confronting security forces, following a protest there to denounce government handling of a clash between Han Chinese and Uighur factory workers in far southern China in late June, when two Uighurs died. [ID:nHKG364598]

On Monday morning "the situation was under control", the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

But officials ordered traffic off the streets in parts of the city of 2.3 million residents -- 3,270 km (2,050 miles) west of Beijing -- to ensure there was no fresh unrest throughout the day, Xinhua added.

The Chinese government blamed the riot on exiled Uighur groups demanding independence from Beijing, which they say is stifling their culture and exploiting their homeland's resources.

"The facts demonstrate this was controlled and instigated from abroad," an unnamed leading official said of the riot, according to Xinhua, which also said the "unrest was masterminded by the World Uyghur Congress".

"This was a crime of violence that was pre-meditated and organised."

Representatives of exiled Uighur groups adamantly rejected the Chinese government claim of a plot, and said the riot was an outpouring of pent-up anger over government policies and Han Chinese dominance of economic opportunities.