A hospital in a city in the western region of Xinjiang that was the site of deadly ethnic unrest in 1997 has asked its staff members not to skip meals during Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting that begins on June 28, the local health department said.<\/p>\n
By DIDI KIRSTEN TATLOW
June 5, 2014 5:39 am<\/p>\n
A hospital in a city in the western region of Xinjiang that was the site of deadly ethnic unrest<\/a> in 1997 has asked its staff members not to skip meals<\/a> during Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting that begins on June 28, the local health department said.<\/p>\n The request at a meeting at the Chinese Medicine Hospital<\/a> in Yining, also known as Ghulja, on \u201cupholding ethnic minority unity,\u201d was made \u201cin order not to affect normal work and life,\u201d a Sina Weibo post by the county\u2019s health department said. Hospital staff members who belong to ethnic minorities were requested to sign their pledge of compliance in a \u201cresponsibility book.\u201d<\/p>\n Photographs on the health department\u2019s Weibo site showed two large tables where mostly female staff members, many in what appeared to be nurse\u2019s uniforms, were seated with their hands folded. The meeting was presided over by the hospital\u2019s Communist Party secretary, Zhang Xiguang, the post said.<\/p>\n The request was likely to upset some Uighurs, the Muslim, Turkic-speaking ethnic group based in Xinjiang. Tensions have been high between members of China\u2019s dominant ethnic Han and Uighurs who say their religion and way of life are under threat from central government policies. President Xi Jinping recently announced a yearlong \u201cstrike hard\u201d antiterrorism campaign, following a string of knife and bomb attacks that the authorities say were carried out by separatists from Xinjiang.<\/p>\n Reaction to the post was heated, and divided. Some commenters said it was only reasonable to ask medical personnel not to fast while they were working, as it could undermine safety.<\/p>\n