Death sentenced after Chinese Brawl

Sunday the New York Times reported one man has been sentenced to death and another to life in prison after a brawl in a toy factory that was blamed for starting riots in Western China last summer.

According to the ShanghaiDaily.com, the fight happened in June and left two factory workers dead.

According to the New York Times, "Two courts in southern Guangdong Province, where the toy factory was located, also sentenced nine other people to prison terms ranging from five to eight years for taking part in the fights, according to Xinhua."

The ShanghaiDaily reported the Intermediate People's Court of Shaoguan held that Xiao Jianhua was the principal instigator of the brawl, incited his co-workers to join the affray between Han and Uygur workers, and led the assault.

Xiao was sentenced to death and fellow worker Xu Qiqi was given a life term after they were convicted of manslaughter.

The fight was a result of rumors at the Early Light Toy Factory in Shaoguan City, that maintained a group of Muslim Uighurs had raped two Han Chinese women. It raged at a factory dormitory through the early-morning hours of June 26, Two Uighur men were killed and, by some accounts, about 120 other people injured, most of them Uighurs.