China Heightens Security for the Anniversary of the Xinjiang Riots

Chinese security forces will be on high alert July 5, the fifth anniversary of violent protests in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. The 2009 riots, which saw members of the Uighur ethnic minority group clash with Han Chinese civilians and police forces, resulted in 197 deaths and more than 1,700 injuries, making them one of the largest episodes of violent ethnic unrest in the past decade in China.

Police forces will be on high alert in urban centers across China, an increase from previous years. This expansion and intensification of the authorities' focus can be attributed to an eight-month flurry of violent Uighur-led or -inspired attacks against mostly Han Chinese civilians in cities across China.