Safe but cautious in Urumqi

• Source: Global Times
• [03:34 July 02 2010]
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Cautionary measures

Uniformed security officers armed with guns and wooden batons routinely patrol the People's Square, the site of a mass demonstration last year. The square was recently cordoned off and there is a sign that says it is under construction.

A worker at the site told the Global Times Thursday that the construction began Wednesday and will last for a week.

Police removed Liu Chengshan, 83, from the square Thursday after he unfurled a banner that expressed his frustration with his pension plan.

The local government plans to spend about 2.9 billion yuan ($426 million) on public security this year, an increase of 87 percent from last year, a budget proposal released in January said.

On the streets, security forces stand guard at 31 checkpoints and eight traffic control areas. About 48,000 vehicles and 40,000 people have been checked. Officers have also confiscated 77 knives, 90 sticks, a gun and 56 bullets, local news website iyaxin.com reported.

Wu Heping, spokesman of the Ministry of Public Security, announced in a press conference earlier that police had smashed a terrorist cell which was responsible for killing 17 and injuring 15 in Kashgar, southern Xinjiang, in 2008, and several bombings that killed two people and injured two police in Juqa county.