【每日电讯报09.09.14】Telegraph: China issues all clear in syringe attack tests

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China issues all clear in syringe attack tests

Bloodtests taken from alleged victims of mysterious syringe attacks which sparked panic in the restive Chinese province of Xinjiang have notrevealed the presence of any toxic substances, local health officials have confirmed.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/6186797/China-issues-all-clear-in-syringe-attack-tests.html
By Peter Foster in Beijing

Published: 9:07AM BST 14 Sep 2009
               

The tests for "radioactive, viral or poisonous substances" wereconducted on 250 of the alleged victims, but all produced negative results said China's state news agency, Xinhua, citing local disease control experts.

Anger at the alleged attacks provoked protests in Xinjiang's capital, Urumqi earlier this month, when crowds gathered in the city's main square to call for the resignation of seniorCommunist Party officials for failing to protect public safety.

The disturbances followed a bout of vicious ethnic violence in July between the Turkic Uighur minority and the dominant Han Chinese populations. More than 200 were killed, but the majority – about 150 –of the deaths were Han according to government figures.

  Three people– a 19-year-old student and two heroin addicts - were sentenced to up to 15 years in jail on Saturday for the attacks which the Chinese government has blamed on 'separatist elements' among the Uighur population.

However many elements of the syringe attacks have remained unexplained, with more than 530 people reporting to hospital claiming to have been attacked, but only 171 showing any obvious signs,such as puncture wounds or scratches.

Reporting of the attacks increased sharply after a government text message campaign designed to reassure Urumqi's residents back-fired spectacularly, deepening panic among citizens.

China has suffered cases of mass-hysteria around syringe attacks in the past. In 2002 the north eastern city of Tianjin was gripped by rumours that an HIV-Aids patient who had contracted the disease in a blood-donor scandal was conducting 'revenge' attacks in the city. The rumours turned out to be unfounded.

According to internet reports this weekend, China's government has ordered internet companies to censor any mention of such attacks, for fear of sparking are peat of the panic in the capital ahead of next month's 60thanniversary celebrations for the founding of the People's Republic of China.