China: Are syringe attacks terrorism?  · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Xinjiang in northwestern China has been offline since the riots involving hundreds of Uighurs on July 5 and netizen reports are scarce, but with several hundred syringe attacks having taken place since, leading Han residents of Ürümqi to take to the streets over the past few days, dialogue doesn't seem to be a priority.
Photos from the streets of Ürümqi have been posted to discussion board website Paowang, however, on September 4th and 5th.
Why resort to syringe attacks? nkpoper at Bullog International considers the resistance struggle perspective:
新疆又出事了。
这次好像没人说“新疆扎针案是中共的阴谋”了吧？珍珠港有人说阴谋，911有人说阴谋，75有人说阴谋…嗯，最后一条有人说得还有鼻子有眼，我也只能说“按道理说不是”，没处核实去。
当时我就想，要是这回60周年，维族人把XXX给炸飞了，保不定也有人说是阴谋呢！现在出了扎针事件，有了这个铺垫，万一XXX飞了，也许还可以不算阴谋，纵做鬼，也幸福啊。
虽然没看到阴谋论，不过针对此事却有毛左式的语言冒出来：毛泽东说过“哪儿有压迫，哪儿就有反抗。”这哪儿对哪儿啊！汉人游行倒算反抗，但游行的由头却是扎针，扎针既不能算压迫，也不能算反抗。要真是想引用名人的语录，希特勒倒是有句比较沾边的：“恐怖只能用恐怖来对抗。”
不过，我可要声明：希特勒这句话只是沾边而已，未必贴切，更不能说就该这么干。我只想重申那个最基本的逻辑：
在斗争中犯规也许不可避免，尤其是激烈的斗争。象二战，各方都用过很多过激的手段。但是象75事件那样纯粹地指向平民，那就绝对不可接受了。制造这种恐怖的人是不值得任何同情的，任何同情都只能鼓励他继续制造恐怖。75如此，扎针事件也如此。
Can low-grade terror tactics be justified and should Wang Lequan step down, as so many Han have demanded this past week? Roland Soong comments at EastSouthNorthWest on his translation of opinions expressed in Hong Kong media by two mainland (both also active bloggers) voices on Xinjiang issues in his September 4 post, The Xinjiang Syringe Riots:
(ESWN Comments: These are extraordinary comments.  On the first comment, it would seem that most people regard it as wrong to use syringe to attack people at random and sow terror.  This is called terrorism (“premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents”).  Instead, the comment seems to justify the use of terrorism.  This is not going to convince many people.

On the second comment, Wang Lequan is proposed as the scapegoat to be sacrificed for the sake of reconciliation between the Hans and the Uighurs.  But why is Wang Lequan unsatisfactory to the Uighurs and the Hans?  Because both sides perceived Wang to be tilted towards the other side and they want someone who tilts more to their side.  Why were water bottles thrown at Wang Lequan during his speech?  Because he promised “severely punishing the criminals in accordance with the law” and the demonstrators did not consider this good enough.  To appease these Han demonstrators, the replacement would have to be even more oppressive and draconian, which would upset the Uighurs even more.  So the idea of scapegoat will only postpone the problem temporarily.  It isn't going to lead to reconciliation.)
Possibly related, an anonymous netizen account of the recent situation in Xinjiang, ‘Just back from Xinjiang, the situation there is far more severe than can be imagined’, appeared online on Saturday and received more circulation Sunday:
31号到新疆，4号离开，基本都在乌鲁木齐和石河子。先说说看到听到的各种见闻：
1. 老王没啥前途了，不管他有多么辉煌的历史，现在一切都完了，原因就一个：所有的老百姓，包括汉族和各少数民族，都不信任他，都在骂，让他滚。传闻：75出事时在招待一个山东代表团，喝高了。。。93出来安抚群众，挨了矿泉水瓶。。。最新听到的替代人选是强卫，团派，有化工，纪检，边疆经验，各项指标位居前列，热门人选。
2. 75的反应远没有某些人所说的处置及时，出租司机说，警察都在挨打，根本顾不上救人。。。到了76还有数人结伙的歹徒在闹事，77的反击也比原先听到的规模更大，人，饭店，清真寺，都砸的不轻。最郁闷的一个传闻：牺牲的战士，最紧急时对天开了三枪，没子弹了。。。靠。。。希望是假的。。。
3. 乌市乱得很，乌洽会只办了两天就停摆。93当天，乌市全面戒严，准出不准进，只有新A牌照车在严查后可以进，机场火车站必须出示机票车票，否则一律免进。我们正好在石河子参加招标，来的人说高速路上几十辆军车满载荷枪实弹的战士往乌市方向疾驰，走的一个哥们更惨，想去市里结果到处封路，转悠了十几个小时只能回石河子。
4. 31号到新疆的时候就听说有歹徒在扎黑针，捅黑刀，尤其是对上学的孩子们下手，很多大人没办法只能不上班，给孩子们当保镖。让人无法接受的是，乌市8月5 号以来就有这样的事件发生，石河子也有传闻，一个来月，愈演愈烈，ZF不说毫无举措吧，至少是办案不力，怎么让老百姓信任？93当天在石河子至少有三个出租司机说，我们宾馆对面的小区里当天有两人被扎，有人说被杀。。。
5. 歹徒们放话，75只是开始，国庆之前，还有大动作。。。
6. 当地人的生活虽然受到影响，但都对这样的事情有心理准备，生产生活还都算正常，有钱的都想走，流动的人包括我们这些来做业务的，在街上也看不出什么异常，但心里总是紧张，终于明白啥叫笼罩在恐怖气氛里了。