China has executed nine people over deadly ethnic unrest in its far-western Xinjiang region. Regional authorities said today that this is the first executions since the violence in July. It is not clear when the executions took place.<br/><br/> According to previous statements by the Xinjiang government, this first group consisted of eight members of the mainly Muslim Uighur ethnic minority and one majority Han Chinese.<br/><br/> China tried and convicted 21 defendants in October, nine were sentenced to death, three were given the death penalty with a two-year reprieve, a sentence usually commuted to life in jail, and the rest were given various prison terms.<br/><br/> The violence erupted on July 5, pitting Uighurs against members of China's dominant Han group, leaving 197 dead and more than 1,600 injured.