Updated May 23, 2014 12:50:28
China has moved to reassure its people it will conduct thorough and speedy investigations into the attack at a marketplace in the North Western province of Xinjiang.
The government immediately dispatched one of its top officials - its Minister for Public Security Guo Shengkun - to the scene in the provincial capital Urumqi.
Mr Guo also heads the national anti-terrorism team formed last August.
On Thursday morning two cars crashed through barriers and ploughed into a street market.
The assailants threw bombs from the cars before one of them exploded; 31 people have died and more than 90 are injured.
The bombing appeared to be the most violent event in Xinjiang since the 2009 protests.
Hours after the attack Beijing's city government reassured its residents the capital is ramping up security.
Our entire city has 22 check points.
We check every car that comes into the city.
Zhang Bin, Beijing deputy police chief
Speaking on national television, Beijing's deputy police chief Zhang Bin reassured the city's 20 million residents the capital's anti-terror measures were comprehensive and began at its borders.
'Our entire city has 22 check points,' Mr Zhang said.
'We check every car that comes into the city.'
He added they had stepped up aerial surveillance as well.
The level of security in Beijing always goes up a notch in the lead up to and during important or sensitive political events.
The 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown is only a fortnight away but this time the precautions have gone up another level.
On the day of this latest blast in Urumqi, sniffer dogs were seen inside a subway station close to Tiananmen Square.
Passengers entering another subway station several kilometres down the road had to go through security scanners as well.
All this is on top of the armed police patrols stationed at key intersections in the city.
Paramilitary, police and security volunteers were also seen spread throughout a train station when the ABC visited the site a week ago.
These safety measures are being taken very seriously not only because of the recent knife attacks and bomb blasts at main transport nodes in Kunming and Urumqi.
Ethnic tensions
It's also because the capital itself was the scene of a shockingly bold car crash in front of the Forbidden City last October.
Five people and more than 30 others were injured in that incident.
The attack in Beijing was blamed on separatists from Xinjiang - so too were those at the Kunming and Urumqi train station.
So what evidence is there to support the Chinese government's claim?
After the car crash by Tiananmen Square the country's official news agency Xinhua says banners calling for 'jihad' (holy war), long knives and other objects were found in a temporary residence where the suspects were found.
Following the brutal stabbings in Kunming, China's foreign ministry said 'East Turkestan flags' were found at the scene.
This week China appealed to Interpol for the arrest of a man from the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) for allegedly plotting the knifings and explosions at the Urumqi train station just before the Labour Day long weekend.
The ETIM is believed by the Chinese to have links with Al-Qaeda.
That incident occurred on the last day of Chinese President Xi Jinping's official visit to Xinjiang.
Some members of the ethnic Uighur minority have been resisting Chinese rule for decades and are blamed for raising ethnic tensions.
China has often accused overseas groups for inciting unrest as well. Xinjiang borders Pakistan and Afghanistan among others.
'Grave' terrorism fears
The upsurge of violence outside Xinjiang is worrying in part because these are coordinated, well-planned attacks.
China's recently published National Security Studies annual report for 2013 points out the country is facing a 'grave' terrorism condition because of poor intelligence training and local preparedness.
Just as worrisome is the dramatic rise in violence within Xinjiang for there has been an increase in the number of reported attacks over the past year.
It's difficult to verify information about any of these incidents.
For example: what started a clash between police and a group of individuals at a police station near Kashgar, an old Silk Road city? Why did police open fire? Were knives and explosives really used in the exchange?
There are few independent sources and the activities of reporters are strictly monitored.
Moreover locals fear retribution for speaking to the foreign media.
Hardening stance
There are also signs authorities may be taking a harder stance against dissent.
Uighur rights advocates such as prominent Uighur scholar and economist Ilham Tohti, has been accused of 'separatism', one of the most serious charges under Chinese law.
Human Rights Watch says Mr Tohti is being held incommunicado.
On top of that the provincial government of Xinjiang has not been willing to have discussions about these issues.
At this year's National Peoples' Congress official delegates from the province pretended as if nothing had happened most of the time, preferring to speak at length about the economy.
When one government representative did answer a question from the large media contingent he said regional forces were to blame.
The area where the street market was set up in Urumqi is home to a mixed community of Han-Chinese and ethnic Uighurs.
On the day of the attack the Xinjiang government's official online news portal faded to a plain grey as a mark of respect for the many innocent people who were killed in a morning round of violence.
Topics:terrorism, defence-and-national-security, china, asia
First posted May 23, 2014 12:40:03
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