Plane Hijacked in Restive Western Xinjiang China

Monday, August 10, 2009 at 10:05 pm

Plane Hijacked in Restive Western Xinjiang China, China’s state news agency says a plane has been hijacked in the restive western region of Xinjiang, which was rocked by ethnic riots last month.

China’s official News Agency did not give any details about the hijacking in a brief report Sunday.

A man on duty at the government office in Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital, said he had not heard about the hijacking.

The region saw the worst ethnic violence in China in decades last month when deadly rioting in Xinjiang’s capital of Urumqi killed 197people and injured more than 1,700, according to official count.

The government said the violence was the work of terrorists, separatists and foreign forces as part of a plot to carve up China.