
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 16, 1995                   TAG: 9505160109
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun
DATELINE: URUMQI, CHINA                                LENGTH: Short

CHINESE PERFORM NUCLEAR TEST

China detonated a small nuclear device Monday morning in the Gobi desert, triggering diplomatic protests and further aggravating tense relations with the mainly Muslim population that lives near the test site.

The underground test, which came just days after more than 170 nations agreed to extend the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, was in Lop Nor, about 150 miles south of Urumqi, provincial capital of China's Muslim province of Xinjiang.

``They use us as guinea pigs for their tests. The tests never take place where the Chinese live, only where we Muslims live. It's racist,'' said a local resident of the Uighur nationality.

Xinjiang, also known as Chinese Turkestan, is 60 percent Muslim, with the largest group being Uighur, an ethnic group closely related to the Turks. China conquered the region in the 18th century and in the 1950s forced millions of Chinese to migrate to the province to solidify control.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said China will stop nuclear testing once a comprehensive test ban treaty is implemented.

by CNB