SECURITY MEASURES IN XINJIANG, CHINA
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The Chinese government has ordered, on Thursday 08/04/2011, a sweeping security clampdown in the western Xinjiang region, the country’s top police official has said, in the aftermath of deadly attacks last weekend.
“Those criminals who dare to test the law and commit violent terrorist acts will be shown no leniency, no appeasement and no soft heart,” Meng Jianzhu, the public security minister, said.
Meng’s comments on Thursday came nearly a week after ethnic Uighur assailants stormed a restaurant in the city of Kashgar, killing the owner and a waiter, and then hacking four people to death on a nearby street (see also – Kashgar 06.03.09).
State media said at least 14 were killed and 42 injured in two separate incidents on Saturday and Sunday in the city, which China has blamed on Islamic fighters.
The attacks were the latest in several bursts of violence that have jolted Xinjiang, where many Uighurs, a predominantly Muslim Turkic-speaking people, resent the influx of Han Chinese (see – ETIP).
Meng made the comments, posted to the government website, during an anti-terrorism meeting in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi.
Meng Jianzhu avoided any mention of Pakistan, where China had said that separatist group receives training. China’s foreign ministry on Wednesday praised Pakistan as a firm partner against terror and religious extremism, playing down the risk that ties could be strained.
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