Chinese President cuts short G8 summit visit due to Xinjiang violence
July 8th, 2009 - 4:12 pm ICT by ANIFlorence (Italy), July 8 (ANI): Chinese President Hu Jintao has cut short his G8 visit to Italy and flown back to Beijing in the wake of Xinjiang’s worsening situation.
Hu will miss the meeting between the leaders of the G8 major industrial industrialized nations and five emerging developing countries in L’Aquila, China Daily reports.
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Hu left Italy for Beijing this morning after concluding the State visit to the country days ahead of schedule because of the riots in Xinjiang.
According to the original plan, Hu, who arrived in Rome on Sunday, was expected to attend the summit from July 8-10, and then visit Portugal from July 10-12.
State Councillor Dai Bingguo will represent Hu during the sessions, according to the Foreign Ministry, and the Chinese and Portugal governments will discuss the fresh date of Hu’s State visit at some other time.
A total of 156 people have died and a further 1,000-odd injured in the riot on Sunday evening in Urumqi, the capital of northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
The unrest has been described as the “deadliest riot since New China was founded in 1949.”
Rioters burned 261 motor vehicles, including 190 buses, at least 10 taxis and two police cars, according to Liu Yaohua, the region’s police chief.
The G8 nations are Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Canada and the United States, while the G5 includes China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa. (ANI)
- Hu Jintao leaves Italy after China clashes (Lead) - Jul 08, 2009
- 12 killed in China riots (Lead) - Feb 29, 2012
- 12 killed in China riots - Feb 28, 2012
- China to recruit 8,000 police officers - Jan 31, 2012
- Xinjiang riots: Urumqi party chief, Xinjiang police chief removed - Sep 06, 2009
- 'Post riots, China's Xinjiang region still remains unstable' - Dec 25, 2010
- Leaders of G-5 countries meet in Italy - Jul 09, 2009
- China vows crackdown over Xinjiang attacks - Aug 02, 2011
- Rioters attack Chinese police station, 4 killed - Jul 18, 2011
- Four get death sentence for China terror attacks - Sep 15, 2011
- Police in China's Xinjiang region gun down rioters - Jul 18, 2011
- Curfew lifted in China's riot-hit city - Jul 08, 2009
- Three killed as train hits bus in China - Mar 24, 2011
- China riots: 140 killed, 816 injured - Jul 06, 2009
- Seven killed in China attack - Jul 31, 2011
Tags: aquila, autonomous region, canada and the united states, china daily, chinese president hu, chinese president hu jintao, florence italy, foreign ministry, g5, g8 nations, g8 summit, hu jintao, motor vehicles, northwest china, police cars, police chief, president hu jintao, rioters, riots, sunday evening