CHINESE President Hu Jintao cut short an official visit to Italy for the G8 summit and returned home yesterday following deadly rioting in the Xinjiang region of China.

Hu’s sudden return came after fresh ethnic strife erupted again yesterday in Urumqi, the capital of China’s northwest region, as thousands of Han Chinese armed with make-shift weapons marched through the city, where 156 died in weekend riots.

He arrived in China early yesterday “in light of the current situation in Xinjiang”, the foreign ministry said in a statement on its website.

The G8 summit was set to open later the same day in the central Italian town of L’Aquila and although China is not a member of the Group of Eight nations, much of the talks were to include emerging powers. Hu’s decision not to attend the summit and postpone a subsequent State visit to Portugal was “unprecedented”, according to Jean-Pierre Cabestan, professor of political science at Hong Kong Baptist University. “I have never seen a Chinese president shorten a trip abroad before. It’s a sign of panic, there is clear concern,” he said.

“It shows that no important decisions can be taken without him – he is the only link between civil and military power.”

State councillor Dai Bingguo will take part in the G8 summit on Hu’s behalf.

The chaos that gripped Urumqi on Tuesday came in response to unrest two days earlier that saw thousands of members of the mainly Muslim Uighur community take to the streets in deadly riots that also resulted in more than 1000 people being injured.

During his visit to Italy, Hu met with his Italian counterpart Giorgio Napolitano on Monday, as well as with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

After raising the issue of human rights with Hu, Napolitano told a joint news conference: “We agreed that the … economic and social progress that is being achieved in China places new demands in terms of human rights.”

Human rights is “an issue that Italy has always confronted and intends to confront with the greatest respect for Chinese positions, as well as the integrity and decision-making autonomy of China and its institutions”, he said.

Berlusconi examined bilateral economic matters with Hu, while several trade agreements worth more than a billion euros were signed.

Leaders of the Group of Eight industrialised nations and a host of emerging powers are meeting until today in L’Aquila, which was devastated in April by an earthquake that killed nearly 300 people. — Sapa-AFP