Published by: THE WORLD UYGHUR NETWORK NEWS, 10 September 1997

Agencies, South China Morning Post, 8/29/97

Authorities smashed a separatist plot to stir up anti-Chinese unrest in the Muslim region of Xinjiang on Hong Kong's handover day, a top lawmaker has revealed.

"Their plot to launch an all-out strike on July 1 was smashed," Amudun Niyaz, chairman of Xinjiang's Regional People's Congress, said in a speech to cadres just published in the Xinjiang Daily.

Mr Niyaz gave no details but said separatists were arrested for rioting in the town of Yining on February 5 and firearms and explosives were seized.