Urumqi seeks restart of Internet service

URUMQI, China, July 15 (UPI) -- Normalcy may be returning to Urumqi but Internet service, cut off since the July 5 ethnic riots in the Chinese city of 2.3 million people, hasn't been restored.

The capital of the northwest Xinjiang-Uighur region, hit by Communist China's worst ever ethnic violence involving Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese, is longing to be reconnected to the online world, China Daily reported.

China is estimated to have 300 million cyber users.

The report said online businesses have been among the worst hit since authorities cut access to the Internet in most of the Xinjiang region after the riots. It said some of these businesses have relied on friends elsewhere in the country to post messages on their homepages.

The government shut down the Internet service, saying those responsible for organizing the riots used it to spread their message. Investigators said they believe overseas separatist groups used various Internet tools to instigate people.

The China Daily said thus far the only known Internet service available in the city is at the Hoi Tak Hotel where it was set up for reporters covering the riot's aftermath.

Internet experts say an extended "indistinctive Internet lockdown" may create new problems for the government, the newspaper said.

"Time after time, young Web users may grow doubts over the government's Internet policies, which will produce more profound impact," Hu Yong, a media expert at Peking University was quoted as saying.