Top leaders have pledged to maintain stability in Xinjiang as a relative state of normalcy returned to this city of 2.3 million Thursday, five days after its bloodiest riot in six decades.

The nine-member Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), led by President Hu Jintao, met Wednesday night to discuss the Xinjiang riot, the Xinhua News Agency said Thursday.

Zhou Yongkang (C), member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, visits Aygul, an injured woman of minority group, at a military hospital in Urumchi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 9, 2009. Zhou started an inspection tour in Xinjiang on Thursday.
 
"Preserving and maintaining the overall stability of Xinjiang is the most important and pressing task," said a statement issued Thursday by the Politburo Standing Committee.

The meeting also vowed "severe punishment" of rioters. The violence left 156 dead and more than 1,000 injured in the capital city of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Hu, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, cut short his trip to Europe and skipped the G8 meeting due to the situation in Xinjiang.

Security forces continued to patrol Urumqi Thursday.

Most businesses reopened, as public servants resumed work after a three-day "work holiday" following the riot.

People from all ethnic groups swarmed the streets again.

Internet access was still blocked; about 400 reporters from home and abroad raced about and thousands of armed police were on constant patrol.

"I just figured it's about time," said Peng Xianghua, who reopened his clothing store on South Youhao Road. "This tension can't go on forever. We have to live on."

The Urumqi native said he feels fortunate that his family and store were intact after Sunday's riot and proud to have talked his teenage son out of taking part in Han rallies on Tuesday against the killings.

"We were lucky no one in the family got hurt and our store wasn't affected. So why bother making more trouble for the government?"

As normalcy returned, the legacy of the tragedy lives on. It will take some time before "inner stability" can be restored, Peng said.

The 43-year-old, who makes 1,000-yuan ($146) a day, hardly made anything Thursday. "Clothes aren't a daily necessity. Whether people buy clothes depends on their mood. They won't buy when their spirits are low," he said.

"Many of my old customers are Uygur pals in the neighborhood who I've known for decades. I don't think the riot has jeopardized our friendship," Pan said. "All businesspeople want is stability."

The Politburo statement said the government will "firmly crack down on serious crimes, including assaults, vandalism, looting and arson" to maintain social stability and safeguard people's fundamental interests in Xinjiang. The Standing Committee told authorities to "isolate and crack down on the tiny few" and "unify and educate the majority of masses".

Residents back to work

Zhou Yongkang, the Politburo Standing Committee member in charge of law enforcement, traveled to Urumqi Thursday, urging armed police to protect life and property.

Taxis took up a chunk of the traffic. But many cabbies found themselves unusually short of customers.

As one cabbie put it: "I didn't expect this - we're back, but our customers aren't."

People from ethnic groups complained that the cabs, run by mostly Han residents, had refused to pick them up. One middle-aged ethnic Kazak woman, who did not give her name, wanted to go to the hospital with her sister, a resident of Kazakhstan.

But the two were refused by each cabbie they tried to flag down, even as the ethnic Kazak waved her ID and her sister's passport. "We're ethnic Kazaks, we're Chinese," she begged a cabbie surnamed He.

He, who said he was only happy to do business, refused with a polite smile.

"I really can't. It's complicated," he said.

Back on South Youhao Road, a different sense of unease was felt by Kurban, whose "Love the People fast food", a restaurant he has helped operate since the mid-1990s, was smashed by ethnic Han people on Tuesday.

Kurban, 41, lives in an ethnic Han neighborhood and said he was friends with many Han people.

But with smashed windows, a pushed-over kebab shelf and broken chairs, it might be a while before his old customers would be able to return to the restaurant.

"The government has come to talk to me about compensation," he said. "And I've told my 15 ethnic Uygur staff to stay in their dorms until things are clear."

"I just hope I can do business again soon," Kurban said.

About 20 m west is Adula's naan, which also was smashed. Three of its seven chains in Urumqi were attacked, according to Reham, who had worked at the Youhao chain for five years.

The chain is expected to resume business Monday, the 20-year-old said. "To be honest, we are still afraid. But we are businessmen. We don't want to get involved in any clash or riot. We want to do business, good business," Reham said.

"No matter what, we'll start selling naan again next Monday."

A few blocks away, Najaguli, head of several cleaners in the Youhao neighborhood, said it had been difficult to find daily necessities because most shops, particularly Muslim ones, were closed.

"The municipal cleaner squad told us we should be very careful to come to work. So we've come to work early in the morning in groups of 10 or more. We're also told to put on our uniforms so that we can be identified," she said.

"We are all ordinary people, regardless of what ethnicity we are, Hans, Uygurs or Kazaks. No one ever wants to harm another," she said.

"A sense of security and a peaceful life is what we aspire to most," Najaguli said.

The deadly July 5 unrest in Urumqi has "profound" political implications, the Politburo statement said.

It was a serious violent crime that was masterminded and organized by the "three forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism at home and abroad, it said. The unrest has resulted in great losses to people and done great harm to local order and stability, it said.

(Source:China Daily )