Xinjiang’s party boss is pushing a hard and soft line to tackle terrorism in the region, calling for better public education and handling of local grievances alongside a tough crackdown on extremists.
2014-10-06
Xinjiang’s party boss is pushing a hard and soft line to tackle terrorism in the region, calling for better public education and handling of local grievances alongside a tough crackdown on extremists.
Visiting Turpan, the scene of deadly violence last year, Zhang Chunxian, the region’s Communist Party chief, said religious leaders in Xinjiang should ward off extremism and local governments should “seriously reflect” on their past efforts against terrorism. The region should also improve its capacity to prevent terror attacks, he said.
Zhang’s remarks came ahead of the release of a white paper yesterday by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, which vowed to play a special role in safeguarding unification and in cracking down on violent terrorist crimes.
The corps said it faced a crucial task to maintain Xinjiang’s “lasting peace and stability”.
Zhang spent Thursday and Friday in Turpan, where a series of attacks in Shanshan county on June 26 last year killed 35 people, and caused 2.13 million yuan (HK$2.69 million) in property losses.
A local court imposed sentences of between 25 years in prison and death on the Uygur attackers in September 2013.
“A tough hand is needed to crack down, and a tough hand is also needed for education and channelling [people away from extremism],” Xinjiang Daily quoted Zhang as saying.
He said the regional government should be familiar with the needs of local citizens and improve their livelihood.
Cadres should abide by central government directives to foster ethnic unity, and be determined in the fight against terrorism, he added.
Terrorism should be tackled from its root and cadres should be on alert for every sign, and educate the public to “know the true face of extremist religious thoughts”, he said.
Zhang told the imam of a Turpan mosque to step up efforts for religious harmony. The party boss also visited an aircraft cooperative, where a Uygur woman said she was delighted to remove her headscarf.
Top party leaders have called for greater efforts to tackle violence and improve ethnic relations in the region.
A work conference on ethnic affairs chaired by President Xi Jinping last month said cities should neither close their doors to ethnic minorities nor take a hands-off approach to inward migration by those groups.
Xinjiang has been hit by a fresh series of violent attacks recently. Some 50 people, including 40 suspected assailants, were killed last month in multiple explosions in Luntai county. Fifty-four people were injured in the attack, regional authorities said.
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