Beijing sent paramilitary police into the streets and dispatched its most senior law enforcement official to the northwestern province of Xinjiang at the weekend in a show of force after a week in which at least 35 people died in the worst sectarian violence since 2009.
Eyewitnesses in the capital, Urumqi, where a security force was deployed on Saturday, said the situation had calmed down yesterday. Travellers returning from areas affected by the violence reported no unrest and only slightly heightened security along the way.
Xinjiang police said they had apprehended the mastermind of what they called a “violent terrorist gang” responsible for unrest on Wednesday in the tourist town of Lukqun.