Beijing - At least four people died and dozens were injured in ethnic clashes between Uighurs and members of China's Han majority in the far western region of Xinjiang, state media said Monday. The violence on Sunday in the regional capital of Urumqi left one police officer and "a number of civilians" dead, with earlier reports saying at least three Han Chinese had died, the official Xinhua news agency said.
At least 20 people were injured in rioting, with "many motor vehicles and shops smashed and burned," the agency quoted sources in the regional government as saying.
The situation was "under control" by Monday morning, the agency said.
It quoted witnesses as saying that Uighur protesters had walked through Urumqi carrying carrying knives, wooden batons, bricks and stones.
The regional government blamed the rioting on Uighur separatists and said it was a "preempted, organized violent crime ... instigated and directed from abroad."
