Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, is skipping the G8 summit in Italy and returning to Beijing as ethnic tensions, which have already claimed at least 156 lives, flare again.

The two ethnic groups involved in the violence are the Muslim Uighurs and the Han Chinese.

The Uighurs have, for a long time, considered themselves victims of discrimination by the majority Han Chinese.

The riot has turned out to be one of the deadliest seen in the country for decades and there have been shocking pictures of the two main groups battling it out on the streets.

With this year marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic, can China present an image of a harmonious and unified nation?

We ask: Should China re-consider its policies in minority regions or risk a civil war?

Inside Story discusses with guests: Dru Gladney, the president of the Pacific Basin Institute at Pomona College and former professor of Asian studies at the University of Hawaii; Andrew Leung, the former UK representative of the Hong Kong government, and Rukiye Turdush,  the president of the Uighur Canadian society. 

This episode of Inside Story aired from Wednesday, July 8, 2009.