The Uighur Muslim population in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in northwest China faced intensified persecution. The authorities used a series of violent incidents, allegedly linked to terrorists, to launch a sweeping crackdown. According to official media, almost 1,300 people were arrested during the year on terrorism, religious extremism or other state security charges, and 1,154 were formally charged and faced trials or administrative punishments. On 14 August, Wang Lequan, Party Secretary of the XUAR, announced a “life and death” struggle against Uighur “separatism”.

The fear now is that racial violence is intensifying. The biggest difference between the riots in Tibet and Xinjiang is the death toll. According to government figures 156 died in Urumqi, more than seven times as many as in Lhasa. These figures, like the causes of the riots, are disputed, but clearly a long simmering problem has reached boiling point. "There is no justification for ethnically targeted violence, but this calls into question how effective the central government's policies have been towards minorities," said Nicholas Bequelin of Human Rights Watch. "These riots will have a long-lasting impact on already bad ethnic relations in Xinjiang."

China needs to rethink its approach to the ethnic issue. As with all nations that pioneered "new frontiers", the adjustment is likely to be painful.

Unrest in China's volatile western region of Xinjiang spread to a second city on Monday, with police breaking up fresh protests in Kashgar.

Chinese state media reported that police dispersed more than 200 "rioters" at the city's main mosque.

At least 156 people died and more than 800 were hurt on Sunday when protests in the city of Urumqi turned violent.

Beijing says ethnic Muslim Uighurs went on the rampage, but one exiled Uighur leader says police fired on students.