China Nearly Doubles Security Budget for Xinjiang

By EDWARD WONG

BEIJING — The government of the vast western region of Xinjiang, which last July was rocked by China’s deadliest ethnic violence in decades, is almost doubling its security budget this year compared with 2009, according to a report on Wednesday in China Daily, an official English-language newspaper.

The move is an indication of how deeply worried Chinese officials are that members of the Uighur and Han ethnic groups could clash again in the cities and desert oasis towns of the oil-rich region, and of the extraordinary measures the officials are taking to clamp down on the area.

The Uighurs are a Turkic-speaking, primarily Muslim people who often say the ethnic Han, who make up the majority of China’s population, discriminate against them. The Uighurs are the largest ethnic group in Xinjiang but are concerned by the displacement of their culture as growing numbers of Han migrants settle in the area.

At least 197 people were killed and more than 1,700 injured, most of them Han, when Uighurs rampaged through parts of the regional capital of Urumqi on July 5, Chinese officials say. Han vigilantes sought revenge over the next few days. The Uighurs had rioted partly in reaction to government handling of an earlier ethnic brawl in southeast China.

This year, the regional government will spend $423 million on public security, up 88 percent over last year, China Daily reported, citing a budget proposal released Tuesday during an annual official conference.

“The government decided to increase the spending on public security this year to enhance social stability in Xinjiang,” said Wan Haichuan, director of the region’s finance department.

Speaking at the conference, Nur Bekri, chairman of the regional government, repeated the official assertion that the “three forces” of terrorism, separatism and religious extremism were responsible for the rioting. He added that the authorities foiled other “organized plots” after the July 5 violence in Urumqi, China Daily reported.

In the aftermath of the rioting, the Chinese government sent units of the People’s Armed Police, a paramilitary force, into cities and towns across Xinjiang and bolstered the presence of regular uniformed police officers. But the rioting had deeply shaken the faith of many Chinese in the abilities of the security forces. Han residents of Urumqi in particular criticized the police for not reacting quickly and forcefully to the outbreak of violence, and later called for the resignation of Wang Lequan, the senior Communist Party official in Xinjiang.

The announcement this week of the expanded security budget could help restore confidence among Han residents but could also raise fears among some Uighurs. Uighur families in Urumqi have said that security forces detained hundreds of Uighur men in the days and weeks after the rioting, and nearly two dozen prisoners have received death sentences, some of which have been suspended.

The government also blocked access to the wider Internet and text messaging for most residents of Xinjiang and set up internal Web sites heavy on political propaganda. The government began relaxing the blocks late last month, but residents still cannot freely access the Internet.

Source: New York Times.
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/world/asia/14xinjiang.html.