Top China police officer says Xinjiang getting better but threat of unrest remains

China police boss says Xinjiang getting better

BEIJING — The situation in western China’s Xinjiang region is stable more than six months after deadly ethnic riots, but “hostile forces” are still looking for ways to foment unrest there, the country’s public security minister said Wednesday.

Meng Jianzhu, the country’s top police officer, praised security forces for their work in restoring stability to the region but warned the situation was still complicated.

“Now the overall social situation of Xinjiang is stable and the situation is now developing toward a good direction,” Meng said in a letter sent to police in the region to mark the upcoming Lunar New Year.

But he added that “hostile forces at home and abroad are not content with their failure, and are looking for any possible opportunities to launch new sabotage activities against us.”

Nearly 200 people died in July when Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking minority ethnic group, clashed with police during a protest in the Xinjiang regional capital of Urumqi. The crowd scattered throughout the city, attacking majority Han Chinese and burning cars. Two days later, Uighurs were targeted in revenge attacks.

It was the country’s worst ethnic violence in decades.

China also announced Wednesday that the government had approved a plan to recruit 5,000 special police officers in Xinjiang “to help prevent unrest such as the devastating riot of July 5 last year,” according to the official Xinhua news Agency.

Zhu Changjie, director of the regional public security bureau, was quoted as saying it would be the largest recruitment campaign of its kind in Xinjiang. The recruits would receive a month of intensive training and then serve alongside special police officers sent from other provinces.

Besides the additional security measures, China has also been trying those arrested after the riots. So far, courts in Urumqi have sentenced about two dozen people to death for involvement in the riots, including nine who have already been executed.

Many Uighurs resent Beijing’s heavy-handed rule in Xinjiang, their traditional homeland, and the region has long been wracked by ethnic tensions that occasionally break out into violence. China says it respects minority rights and has boosted living standards and economies in minority areas such as Xinjiang.

China has blamed July’s rioting on overseas-based groups agitating for broader rights for Uighurs in Xinjiang. Chinese authorities cut Internet and text messaging services in the region, saying they were used to cause unrest. Limited Internet services were restored at the end of last year, while limited phone texting services began last month.