Thousands of students detained at college
Thousands of students are being held under house arrest at a teaching college in Kashgar , in an apparent move to prevent them from taking part in the wave of protests that have rocked Xinjiang .
The students have been prevented from leaving campus since early on Sunday, before demonstrations in Urumqi escalated into violence.
Undergraduates and college students were believed to have led the initially peaceful protests in Urumqi, held to commemorate the deaths of Uygur migrant workers in an ethnic clash in Guangdong province. Many of the protesters were thought to have travelled from Kashgar, as most of the workers in Guangdong had hailed from the towns and villages around Kashgar.
The South China Morning Post was denied access yesterday to the Kashgar Teaching Institute - the city's main post-secondary education centre - on an attempt to visit the campus. A security guard told the Post: 'You are not allowed in and the students are not allowed out.'
Several couples and families separated by the house arrest spoke with one another through the railings, but most declined to be interviewed.
'It's safer inside here. We trust the government,' one student said through the bars, gesturing with his eyebrows that he suspected a lingering passer-by was eavesdropping.
A few police officers were seen patrolling near the campus but there were no soldiers in sight.
There are approximately 12,000 students at the college, but it is unclear how many have been affected by the lockdown as some may have left after taking their end-of-year exams.
The Post understands that a number of international students have also been barred from leaving campus.
News of the students' house arrest came as reports emerged about a second clash between police and protesters on Tuesday morning.
In an article in The Wall Street Journal, exiled Uygur activist Rebiya Kadeer claimed that more than 100 people had died in Kashgar.
The reported clash on Tuesday followed another protest outside the Id Kah Mosque, in the heart of the old town, on Monday, in which an estimated 50 were arrested.
The flow of accurate information has been severely disrupted as authorities have cut internet access and blocked text messaging in the area. Uygurs are also nervous of discussing sensitive topics over the phone for fear of being targeted as extremists.
Most businesses remained closed yesterday, particularly in areas with large numbers of Han Chinese, who make up a minority of the local population.
Tensions remained high, although the security presence was slightly less visible than on Monday. Dozens of soldiers remained stationed on the plaza in front of the mosque but guards had been removed from several key intersections and most checkpoints were manned by a few regular police.
