SMH, 30 April 2014

Beijing: A deadly explosion has rocked a train station in Urumqi, the capital of the restive far-western Xinjiang, on the same day Chinese President Xi Jinping completed a high-profile four-day tour of the region.

The blast took place on Wednesday shortly after 7pm local time at the exit of the Urumqi South Railway Station, and appeared to originate from luggage left on the ground between the station and a public bus stop, according to initial Chinese media reports.

Three people were killed and 79 people were injured, according to official news agency Xinhua.

Other Chinese media outlets had earlier suggested as many as 50 were injured, citing local police statements.

Photographs circulated on social media showed strewn luggage and debris in front of a railway exit.

Injured passengers were taken to hospital, and there were no immediate reports of any deaths. The station re-opened two hours after the explosion, according to state media.

Xinjiang has been plagued with deadly violence involving members of the Uighur ethnic minority. More than 100 deaths have been reported from the region in the past year, often because of conflict between Uighurs and local police.

In March, a group of knife-wielding Uighurs slashed 29 commuters at a train station in the south-western province of Kunming, which was sharply condemned as a premeditated terrorist attack by the Chinese government.

In his visit to Xinjiang, which has dominated state media coverage in recent days, Mr Xi has endorsed policies designed to better integrate the Muslim Uighur ethnic minority while warning that China would not tolerate separatist violence.

On a visit to a mosque in Urumqi on Wednesday, Mr Xi said he hoped religious people would continue their patriotic tradition and take a clear stance against extremism.

“The long-term stability of Xinjiang is vital to the whole country’s reform, development and stability; to the country’s unity, ethnic harmony and national security as well as to the great revival of the Chinese nation,” Mr Xi said, according to official news agency Xinhua.

Touring a police station in Kashgar on Monday, he said the border region was the “frontline in anti-terrorism efforts and maintaining social stability” and urged police officers he met to devise “effective ways” to deal with the threat.

“The training must simulate real combat,” he said. “Sweat more in peacetime to bleed less in wartime.”

State television reports also showed Mr Xi chatting with locals around a table adorned with traditional Uighur snacks, and wearing the traditional green “doppa” headwear favoured by many Uighur men.

Mr Xi has also made regular comments around strengthening national security in what analysts have considered a signal towards a tougher approach to dealing with the recent violence in Xinjiang.

“[We must] make terrorists become like rats scurrying across a street, with everybody shouting ‘beat them!'” Xi said on at a national security study session on Friday.

The Chinese government consider the spate of violence in Xinjiang to be motivated by Muslim separatists calling for independent rule. Uighur rights groups conversely say the violence has stemmed from a desperate reaction to worsening discrimination and restrictions on their freedom of religion by Chinese authorities.

Prominent Uighur economist and rights activist Ilham Tohti has been detained since being taken from his home in Beijing in January, prompting protests from international rights groups.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/explosion-rocks-urumqi-train-station-in-farwestern-chinese-region-of-xinjiang-20140501-zr25h.html