The New York Times - September 13, 2009
Edward Wong and Jonathan Ansfield

It was the first sentencing of suspects accused of being involved in what the government said was a series of syringe attacks over several weeks in August and September. The attacks exacerbated local outrage toward the government and ethnic tensions between Uighurs and Han Chinese.

The suspects, two men and a woman, all Uighurs, were sentenced after a three-hour court session in Urumqi, Xinhua reported. The harshest sentence, of up to 15 years, was brought against Yilipan Yilihamu, 19, for "spreading false dangerous substances" when he inserted a needle into a woman's buttock on Aug. 28, Xinhua reported.

Muhutaerjiang Turdi, 34, was sentenced to 10 years, and Aimannisha Guli, 22, was sentenced to seven years for robbing a taxi driver on Aug. 29 by threatening him with a syringe, Xinhua reported.

Since August, hundreds of Urumqi residents have reported being attacked with hypodermic syringes or needles on packed buses or in other public areas, reigniting panic in a city struggling to recover from deadly ethnic riots in July. The police confirmed the claims for the first time in a cellphone text message that Urumqi residents received only on Aug. 31, stating that several people had been attacked.

By early this month, local officials had publicly confirmed 531 cases in which people had reported being stabbed with syringes, though they said only about 170 showed signs of wounds on being examined. The victims were mostly Han and the attackers Uighur, according to the reports.

Reports of the attacks sent tens of thousands of Han protesters into the streets; they rallied in front of government buildings and called for a greater clampdown on the Uighurs. Many also called for the resignation of Wang Lequan, a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party who has served for 15 years as the top official in the restive western region of Xinjiang, where Uighurs, Han and other ethnicities coexist uneasily. Five people were killed during the protests. In response, the government dismissed Urumqi's Communist Party boss and Xinjiang's police chief.

There have been past episodes of mass hysteria related to rumors of syringe attacks in various parts of China, including Urumqi. In some of those instances, official news organizations reported on the attacks, only to have the stories proved false later. In most cases, the attackers were said to be angry people infected with H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS.

None of the recent attacks in Xinjiang involved the transmission of viruses, Xinhua reported.

The worst episode of ethnic violence in China in decades erupted on July 5 in Urumqi when Uighurs went on a rampage and killed scores of Han, according to the government. At least 197 people were killed and 1,721 injured, most of them Han, according to the government.

Uighurs complain that the government has not provided any count of Uighurs killed in revenge attacks by Han in the days afterward, or an accurate tally of Uighurs killed by security forces.

Han residents of Urumqi have accused the government of failing to protect them from the recent spasms of violence and of withholding critical information from the public. They say that many more Han were killed on July 5 than the government announced.

They also say the government failed to alert people properly about the syringe attacks. Chinese journalists in Urumqi said they were informed that the first reported syringe attacks occurred Aug. 3. Yet the authorities have dated the stabbings to mid-August.

Internet service has not been fully restored in Urumqi since the July 5 riots, and it is restricted to certain local sites.

Officials view stringent media controls as security measures needed to restore social order and temper ethnic hostilities.

But residents say they believe that the government has badly erred on the side of caution. One relative of a woman killed in the July 5 violence said Saturday that the authorities should have been more open about the syringe attacks.

"Of course we wish the government had been more transparent," said the man, who requested anonymity because his family was instructed not to speak to the media. "Such a long time without any reports, we essentially had no understanding of what was going on."
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