DATE=9/9/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHINA-EXPLOSION (L)
NUMBER=2-266300
BYLINE=LETA HONG FINCHER
DATELINE=BEIJING
CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

//UPDATES CASUALTY FIGURES IN INTRO. NO CHANGE TO TEXT//

INTRO: Chinese state media say 60 people have been
killed and 300 others injured in an explosion in 
the northwestern Xinjiang province. Beijing 
Correspondent Leta Hong Fincher reports that the 
cause of the blast is still unknown.

TEXT: China's official Xinhua News Agency reports that 
a truck carrying explosives blew up in Urumqi, the 
capital of the predominantly Muslim province of 
Xinjiang, Friday night.  

Xinhua says the truck was carrying the explosives for 
disposal when the cargo blew up on a major roadway in 
the city's western suburbs.  The agency reports that 
more than 20 vehicles and homes were also damaged.

Accidents occur frequently in China, and explosives 
are widely used for construction and mining.  However, 
in recent years, Xinjiang province has been racked 
with sometimes violent unrest by Uighurs, Turkic 
Muslims who are the region's largest ethnic group.  

Xinjiang is on China's border with several other 
countries, including Afghanistan, Pakistan and three 
former Soviet republics. Uighur discontent with 
Chinese rule dates back decades.  But since the mid-
1990s, some militant Uighurs in the region have 
resorted to bombings and assassinations against 
Chinese in their fight for an independent Muslim 
state.  

The government launched a crackdown against separatist 
violence in 1996, but the unrest continues.  In July, 
China executed three Uighur separatists it accused of 
making bombs.(Signed)

 NEB/LHF/PFH



09-Sep-2000 05:07 AM EDT (09-Sep-2000 0907 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.