China sentences 55 people for separatism, murder and terrorism at a stadium in its northwestern region of Xinjiang. 

The news of public mass sentencing was reported by the country's state media. 

The 55 defendants were presented at a stadium in Yii, which is near the border of China and Kazakhstan. The defendants were wearing orange vests and stood in the back police trucks. All of them were seen by 7,000 spectators. 

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The defendants were surrounded by armed guards and their heads bowed. Most of them appear to be from Xinjiang Uighur community. Of the 55, three were sentenced to death. 

According to reports, the three who were sentenced to death used extremely cruel methods to murder a Chinese family. 

Beijing has been on a crackdown chasing after members of militant Uighur groups. Officials blame them for the recent and growing number of violent attacks that took place across China. 

Celia Hatton of BBC News, Beijing described the mass sentencing to be reminiscent of China's Cultural Revolution. During the 1960s and 1970s, the ruling Communist Party gathered large groups of people, sentenced them publicly and executed them for challenging the Communist leadership. 

The same thing happened in the 1980s and 1990s in which public trials were held during the Chinese government's attempts to curb widespread criminality. 

Now, according to Hatton, Beijing is doing the same thing after an increasing number of violent attacks against civilians within Xinjiang's ethnic Uighur community. 

She said that the public theater is an attempt of the Chinese government to pacify the growing wary Chinese public by "showing a blatant display of force." 

Hatton also added that the mass sentencing is also a warning to militant members of the Uighur communities in Xinjiang who are hoping to challenge the more dominant Han Chinese minority moving into Xinjiang. 

Last week, Chinese officials announced a one-year campaign to crackdown on militant violence in Xinjiang. They have banned people from supporting or conducting any form of extremist activity. 

The announcement was made after 39 people were killed at a market in Urumqi by five suicide bombers. Urumqi is Xinjiang's capital. 

Uighurs are ethnic Chinese-Muslim minority. They comprise almost 45 percent of Xinjiang's population, while the remaining 40 percent are of Han Chinese descent. 

TagsUighurs, Xinjiang, Separatist movement, public sentencing