A TOP Chinese security official has vowed to “resolutely” stamp out unrest and terrorism in the far western region of Xinjiang after recent deadly attacks blamed on ethnic Uighur militants.
“Those criminals who dare test the law with their persons and carry out violent terrorist acts, we will punish harshly, showing no mercy and never being soft,” the minister of public security, Meng Jianzhu, told an anti-terrorism conference in the regional capital of Urumqi.
Xinjiang is, along with Tibet, one of China’s most politically charged regions and there are regular outbreaks of violence there. Nearly 200 people, most of them ethnic Han Chinese, were killed during riots in July 2009.
Last weekend there were two attacks in the ancient Silk Road city of Kashgar, one in a restaurant and another on a night market.
Authorities said 13 people died in the attacks, while eight of the alleged attackers were also killed. China blames the attacks on separatists it believes were trained in camps in nearby Pakistan.
Late last month, more than 20 people were killed in clashes between the largely Muslim Uighurs and police in the remote city of Hotan. The attacks came just ahead of the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Mr Meng, who is a member of China’s cabinet, the State Council, promised to “severely punish and never tolerate those who are involved in terrorism”. His remarks were carried in official media.
“Criminals who dare test the law with their persons and carry out violent terrorist acts, we will punish harshly, showing no mercy and never being soft,” Mr Meng said, adding that authorities would use an “iron fist” to boost the public’s sense of security. “Xinjiang’s stability has a bearing on the region’s development, as well as the nation’s overall stability, security and unification,” he said. “The promotion of reform and development should be combined with safeguarding social stability.”
Xinjiang is China’s largest province, but is thinly populated, with about 20 million people, of whom some nine million are Uighurs, who share a linguistic and cultural heritage with central Asia. Many of them believe their culture is being wiped out by the arrival of Han Chinese settlers and are pushing for independence.
Xinjiang, which is nestled at the borders of Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, has significant oil reserves and is China’s largest natural gas producing region.