Talk of the hypodermic needle attacks spread quickly in recent days, fueled by official news reports on the assaults.
Yet talk of the needle attacks spread quickly in recent days, fueled by official news reports on the assaults.
The police are investigating reported needle attacks in the regional capital of Urumqi that apparently began Aug. 20 and ended this month.
Rumors of people trying to spread H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, with needle attacks have circulated in China for years.
Also, the Web site of China Daily published an article from Xinhua, the state news agency, that said police officers had detained 15 people in Xinjiang for needle attacks, though it did not say when.
Then, as outrage poured into the streets, starting with a small protest Wednesday, the government deployed more security forces around the city and tried to delete mentions of the needle attacks from the Internet.
Huang Yabo, a senior officer with the regional public security department, said the police also cracked seven criminal rings and 36 cases of needle attacks in Urumqi and other cities in Xinjiang, according to Xinhua.
Anyone who knows a nurse has probably heard some scary stories about getting jabbed with needles or attacked by patients.
This reflects not only his admiration for the president but also his visceral dislike for Mr. Romney, expressed in constant needling and attacks for almost six months.
Helicopters were seen swooping overhead in the morning, a day after tens of thousands of Han, the dominant ethnic group in China, took to the streets to criticize the government for failing to prevent what they believe to be needle-stabbing attacks by Uighurs, according to an earlier report by Xinhua.
