Riot-hit Xinjiang capital at risk for years

(WARNING): Article contains propaganda!

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BEIJING (Reuters) - The capital of China's restless far western region of Xinjiang, hit by ethnic riots last year in which about 200 died, faces a long struggle to maintain stability, its mayor said in comments reported on Friday.

Energy-rich Xinjiang is strategically located at the crossroads of Central Asia, and Beijing has shown it is determined to keep a tight grip on the region.

Last July, Uighur protests in Xinjiang's regional capital, Urumqi, gave way to deadly attacks that mainly targeted members of China's Han Chinese majority. Many Uighurs, a Muslim Turkic people, resent the growing Han presence in the region.

At least 197 people died in the initial riots, mostly Han Chinese, and two days later Han residents held protests and staged revenge attacks on Uighur neighborhoods.

"Urumqi faces an arduous fight against separatism now and for years to come, after last year's riots," mayor Jerla Isamudinhe told the city's largely rubber stamp assembly, in remarks carried by the official Xinhua news agency.

"We should be vigilant and high-handed in our fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism," he said. "We should stop all sabotage activities and attempts beforehand."

China blamed the riots, as it does with most violence or protests in Xinjiang, on separatist groups seeking an independent East Turkistan. Beijing says some of these groups have links to al Qaeda, something disputed by many exiles and rights activists.

The mayor said Urumqi would "step up efforts to maintain social stability, by keeping a closer eye on migrants' communities, ex-convicts and other sensitive areas and suspicious people," Xinhua said.

"We'll continue to promote unity among different ethnic groups across the city, and help build up trust and respect among different walks of life," the mayor added. "In particular, we'll step up with ethnic unity education at schools."

At least 26 people have been sentenced to death over the July riots.

The government said last month it would push for a surge of investment in Xinjiang, seeking to boost control and ethnic unity there.

Xinjiang's population of 21 million is divided mainly between Uighurs, long the region's majority, and Han Chinese, many of whom arrived in recent decades. Uighurs now make up about 46 percent of the region's population.

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6140J520100205.