China blocks Internet in Uighur area

URUMQI, China, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Four months after riots in China's Uighur Autonomous Region, residents there are still cut off from the World Wide Web.

The government has not said when Internet access will be available again in the region and its principal city, Urumqi, China Daily, a government newspaper, reported.

The national government cut off access less than 24 hours after the July 5 riot, which left at least 197 people dead and hundreds jailed. Officials said separatist groups based outside China had used Facebook, Twitter and other sites to orchestrate the violence.

Local business owners, like Li Nan, who runs an online dried-fruit business, say the shutdown has been a major headache.

"To carry on my business, I had no choice but to set up a new office in Dunhuang, which is the closest town to Urumqi in Gansu province and has added to my costs. No Internet means no income for me," Li said. "Dunhuang has become a holy place for businessmen like me, although it takes 14 hours to get here from Urumqi by train."