Twenty-seven are dead as members of the Uighur minority, a Turkic-speaking group, rioted in Xinjiang province against the increasing presence, influence, and privileges of Han Chinese "settlers:"
At least 27 people died in rioting in far western China on Wednesday, when protesters attacked a police station and government offices and the police fired on the crowd, state media said. It was the worst spasm of violence for years in Xinjiang, a region troubled by tensions between Uighurs, an overwhelmingly Muslim ethnic minority, and China’s Han majority.
This is one reason why China doesn't like to authorize Western interventions against the abuse of minorities. That's a bad precedent, from Peking's point of view.
The Uighurs are a tiny minority. They don't stand a chance in the long run against the influx of Han Chinese. So if they don't get independence before too long, they never will.
