Security crackdown imminent in restive Xinjiang

Source: china post

BEIJING -- China is ordering a sweeping security clampdown in the western region of Xinjiang following recent deadly attacks blamed on Muslim ethnic Uyghur militants, with Beijing vowing “no mercy” toward anyone pursuing violence or separatism.

Public Security Minister Meng Jianzhu has ordered officials to mobilize all available resources and manpower to create a “high-pressure environment” in which to contain terrorism, official newspapers reported Friday.

“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,” Meng was quoted as telling participants at an anti-terrorism conference Thursday in the regional capital of Urumqi.

Meng urged authorities to work to prevent violence in villages and cities though education and intelligence gathering. He vowed prosecutions for anyone threatening lives or property, pushing for separatism or undermining relations between minority Uyghurs and majority Han Chinese settlers in the region.

“Stick out your antennae, weave a tight web of prevention and wipe out the hot beds of violent terrorism at their roots,” said Meng, who presides over a large chunk of China's massive internal security budget, which has reportedly exceeded the official US$91.5 billion defense budget.

The conference follows a trio of recent attacks blamed on militants among Xinjiang's native Turkic Muslim Uyghur population opposed to heavy-handed Chinese rule. At least three-dozen people, including the alleged attackers, were killed in the attacks in the cities of Hotan and Kashgar, which came just ahead of the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Uyghurs are culturally, linguistically and religiously distinct from China's Han ethnic majority, and share many links with the native populations of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and other parts of Central Asia. Many deeply resent the Han Chinese majority as interlopers and see mass migration to the region as dooming them to minority status in their own homeland. A low-intensity separatist movement has existed for decades, but recent years appear to have ushered in an upsurge in violence.

The recent attacks came despite a massive security presence that was tightened following a major anti-Chinese riot in Urumqi two years ago in which at least 197 people were killed, hundreds arrested, and scores left missing.

Beijing blames the violence on militants based overseas, saying some trained in terrorist camps in neighboring Pakistan. China's naming of its longtime ally is seen as a move to bolster its claims and perhaps pressure Islamabad to increase pressure on militants within its borders.

Uyghur activists and security analysts dispute that claim, saying there is no evidence of a foreign hand behind the attacks. They blame the violence on economic marginalization and restrictions on Uyghur culture and the Muslim religion that are breeding frustration and anger among young Uyghurs.