Hundreds of majority Han Chinese, many of them armed, roamed the streets Tuesday in China's far western city of Urumqi in the aftermath of ethnic violence between Han and minority Uighurs that killed at least 156 people.
The local government narrowly avoided a second wave of widespread violence, arresting more than 1,400 people and imposing a dusk-to-dawn curfew.
At an intersection near city hall in Urumqi, capital of China's Xinjiang region, crowds of mostly young, ethnic Han men milled about Tuesday. They carried clubs, meat cleavers, shovels and iron bars.
When a car suddenly plowed into a produce truck, the armed men surged into the intersection, as if fearing a Uighur attack. No one was hurt, but the scene seemed poised to explode into primal ethnic violence.
'We've Picked Up Weapons To Defend Ourselves'
"These reactionary forces are affecting our safety," said an ethnic Han taxi driver, Bai Li. "For ourselves, for humankind and for our own race, we've picked up weapons to defend ourselves. If we're threatened, I don't think any of us will retreat. We'll all charge to the front."
The unrest in Urumqi began Sunday, when a peaceful demonstration by Uighurs turned violent. The Turkic-speaking Muslim Uighurs were calling for the investigation into a deadly fight between Uighurs and Han Chinese at a factory in southern China that left two Uighurs dead.
Racial tensions have long simmered in the restive Xinjiang region, but the recent violence is the worst in decades.
Elsewhere in Urumqi, ethnic Han men roamed the street, toting iron bars and knives. One local resident, who only gave his family name, Zhu, blamed the Uighurs for the violence, but he also made demands on his own government.
"Month-old Han babies and 60- and 70-year olds were stomped and hurled to death. How can we suppress our emotions? We're not here to brawl with the Uighurs. We just demand that the government severely punish the perpetrators," he said.
Earlier Tuesday, aggrieved Uighurs protested the arrest or death of their relatives. Men in skullcaps and women in headscarves wailed in sorrow and anger.
"Release our innocent people," yelled one man. "We want freedom."
"The police came and arrested hundreds of our people," said another woman. "We don't want to fight."
Intense Pressure To Restore Order
In some places, riot troops kept the Han and Uighurs from clashing. And some media reports said a group of Uighurs attacked people near the Urumqi's railway station on Tuesday.
Authorities in Xinjiang province are under intense public pressure to restore order and to appear evenhanded in its treatment of Han and Uighurs.
At a televised press conference, the region's Communist Party Secretary Wang Lequan said the government could control the situation and did not need vigilantism.
"This kind of action is completely unnecessary. Our law enforcers have sufficient power to knock off the bad guys," he said.
Wang implored Han Chinese to stay off the streets and refrain from further ethnic feuding. And he warned Xinjiang people not to be duped by Uighur separatists trying to stir up racial hatred.
"We should aim our spearheads at the enemy forces inside and outside the country. We must not aim our fury at our ethnic brothers and sisters," he said.
Xinjiang stands at the crossroads of Central Asia and East Asia. And the painful tears now apparent in the multiethnic fabric of its society will take time to mend.
China's government has pinned the blame for the violence on overseas Uighur exiles. But critics say this ignores serious problems of racial mistrust and legitimate social and economic grievances on all sides.
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