China's Ethnic Groups Struggle Forward After Riots

Zhang Mingfu weeps after failing to find the body of his sister-in-law, Yu Xingzhi who the family...

Zhang Mingfu weeps after failing to find the body of his sister-in-law, Yu Xingzhi who the family members think may have died when Muslim Uighurs attacked the Chinese-owned shop in Urumqi, western China's Xinjiang province, July 11, 2009. A week after western China's worst ethnic violence in decades brought a security clampdown, people were tallying their losses and looking for answers about what happened.

(Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

Incense was lit and paper money burned at the funeral Sunday for a Han Chinese family — a man, his wife and his parents, all killed in last week's ethnic riots. Three Uighur neighbors approached, standing tentatively apart.

Then one of the neighbors grasped hands with a mourning sister, walked to the altar with her and wailed in sympathy.

It was a small gesture of shared grief on a day when Han Chinese mourned their dead and Uighurs dealt with mounting security and surveillance in the regional capital of Urumqi.

Han and Uighur alike are struggling to overcome the resentment exposed by the worst ethnic violence in China in decades, clashes on July 5 that left 184 people dead. On Sunday, the regional Xinjiang government raised the toll of injured that day to 1,680.

A week after the initial violence, Urumqi remained tense, and neither side seemed to know when or how the two ethnic groups might come to any sense of mutual trust.

The violence began as Uighurs who were protesting the deaths of Uighur factory workers in a brawl in southern China clashed with police in Urumqi. The crowd scattered throughout the city, attacking Han Chinese and burning cars.

Government officials have yet to make public key details about what happened next, including how much force police used to restore order. In later days, vigilante mobs of Han Chinese ran through the city with bricks, clubs and cleavers seeking revenge.

On Sunday, the Xinjiang government raised the injured toll by more than 600 from the previous figure, the official Xinhua News Agency said. More than 900 of the injured remained hospitalized, with 74 "on the verge of death."

State media reported earlier in the week the fatalities included 137 Han and 46 Uighurs, with one minority Hui Muslim also killed. Uighurs say they believe many more from their ethnic group died in the government crackdown.

A member of the Communist Party's ruling Politburo, Zhou Yongkang, toured Xinjiang and urged ethnic groups to come together and "build together a concrete foundation for ethnic unity," according to Xinhua.