China says no foreign link found in last week's Xinjiang violence that killed 25

BEIJING – A Chinese official says investigators have found no foreign links to last week's extremist violence in the northwestern region of Xinjiang that left 25 people dead.

The statement from Xinjiang government spokesman Hou Hanmin diverges from the usual Chinese claims that violence in Xinjiang is connected to or directed by overseas-based separatists or insurgent groups. Beijing has consistently claimed that July 2009 rioting in the regional capital Urumqi that left almost 200 people dead was orchestrated by Rebiya Kadeer, an activist for Xinjiang's native Uighur ethnic group based in the U.S. Kadeer denies the accusation.

Hou was quoted by the official China Daily newspaper as saying that, unlike in 2009, the investigation into the April 23 violence concluded that "the terrorists had no connection with foreign forces."