Students' lesson in solidarity like 'lifeline' following July 5

URUMQI: When Han rioters came crashing through the gates of the Xinjiang Medical University (XMU) in the region's capital, students and teachers from the same ethnic group formed a wall to protect their Uygur fellows from the mob.

Uygur students said they would shield Han schoolmates from Uygur rioters if that ethnic group attacked the campus.

In the eyes of XMU students, when rioters attacked one of them, they attacked them all, regardless of ethnicity and the students made a stand in the aftermath of street battles in Urumqi that killed at least 156 and injured more than 1,000.