EU says China needs to release more information about Xinjiang violence, address causes

BEIJING – The EU's ambassador to Beijing says China needs to release more information about recent incidents of ethnic violence in the northwestern region of Xinjiang.

Markus Ederer said Monday that the EU believes it is necessary to address underlying causes of tension between the region's native Turkic Muslim Uighur people and China's Han majority. He says the EU is concerned about the lack of transparency in official reporting about the causes and nature of the violence.

Chinese paramilitary troops have been ordered to conduct round-the-clock patrols in Xinjiang following bloody clashes that have killed at least 56 people over the last several months.

Areas where clashes have occurred have been sealed off and information about them has been tightly controlled. Beijing has mainly blamed the attacks on violent Muslim extremists.