Following the Urumqi riot, some western critics portrayed the perpetrators as victims. They condemned the Chinese government for ignoring the "human rights" of protesters and the way events were handled.

An article in the English newspaper China Daily agrees that the authorities should respect the "human rights" of those involved, but what about those of the innocent citizens who were killed or wounded, it asks.

The author suggests western critics be a little more generous and divert some of their sympathy to the victims of last Sunday's carnage.

A commentary published on the website Xinhuanet.com says any country under the rule of law would not tolerate such violent protests.

The article stresses it's necessary for the government to take emergency measures to prevent or deal with such events.

The article also quotes some other examples. In Spain, the government continues tracking separatists of the ETA to protect public security. In the 1990's, ethnic conflict caused turmoil in some cities in the Untied States. Tens of thousands of National Guards and Marines were called in to keep order and arrested thousands of people.

The article stresses China is not the only country where violence occurs and that the Chinese government has the right to undertake methods it deems appropriate to stop such violence.

(CRI July 14, 2009)