No mercy for terrorists, Party chief vows
By Wang Qingchu |
March 8, 2012, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE government will show no mercy to terrorist groups and fight them unswervingly, Zhang Chunxian, Party chief of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, said yesterday.
Terrorists will not be pardoned as they target innocent civilians, especially children and women, Zhang told reporters on the sidelines of the annual parliamentary session in Beijing.
"We shall fiercely crack down on each terrorist attack and will never let terrorists wave knives against our women, children and innocent people," Zhang said during a panel discussion.
He said Xinjiang's situation is stable despite a series of riots and violent attacks last July and this February. The attacks were related to foreign separatist forces, Xinhua news agency quoted Zhang as saying.
On the evening of Febuary 28, rioters killed at least 10 people and injured a number of others in Yecheng County of Xinjiang's Kashgar prefecture. Witnesses said rioters armed with cleavers attacked innocent pedestrians on the streets of Yecheng. Police shot dead two of the attackers.
Zhang said the Yecheng incident as well as other terrorist attacks that rocked Xinjiang last year were related to the "three evil forces" of separatism, extremism and terrorism.
"This is not a religious problem, nor is it an ethnic problem. Their deeds are against the human race. They wave knives at the old people, women and children with extremely brutal means," he said.
When asked how to handle human rights issues and maintain social stability, Zhang said those were two different concepts.
"Maintaining social stability is to safeguard the social order, while fighting terrorists is another issue. We respect people's rights and create for them a democratic, free and lawful society," Zhang said.
Xinjiang is home to about 9 million Uygurs, a mostly Muslim ethnic group. Xinhua quoted security experts as saying that growing religious extremism has fanned most of the violent attacks.
During Xinjiang's most deadly unrest in decades, 197 people were killed and about 1,700 injured after riots broke out in the capital city of Urumqi on July 5, 2009.
In March 2008, five months before the Beijing Olympics, police arrested a 19-year-old Uygur from Xinjiang for her foiled terrorist attempt on a passenger flight.
Terrorists will not be pardoned as they target innocent civilians, especially children and women, Zhang told reporters on the sidelines of the annual parliamentary session in Beijing.
"We shall fiercely crack down on each terrorist attack and will never let terrorists wave knives against our women, children and innocent people," Zhang said during a panel discussion.
He said Xinjiang's situation is stable despite a series of riots and violent attacks last July and this February. The attacks were related to foreign separatist forces, Xinhua news agency quoted Zhang as saying.
On the evening of Febuary 28, rioters killed at least 10 people and injured a number of others in Yecheng County of Xinjiang's Kashgar prefecture. Witnesses said rioters armed with cleavers attacked innocent pedestrians on the streets of Yecheng. Police shot dead two of the attackers.
Zhang said the Yecheng incident as well as other terrorist attacks that rocked Xinjiang last year were related to the "three evil forces" of separatism, extremism and terrorism.
"This is not a religious problem, nor is it an ethnic problem. Their deeds are against the human race. They wave knives at the old people, women and children with extremely brutal means," he said.
When asked how to handle human rights issues and maintain social stability, Zhang said those were two different concepts.
"Maintaining social stability is to safeguard the social order, while fighting terrorists is another issue. We respect people's rights and create for them a democratic, free and lawful society," Zhang said.
Xinjiang is home to about 9 million Uygurs, a mostly Muslim ethnic group. Xinhua quoted security experts as saying that growing religious extremism has fanned most of the violent attacks.
During Xinjiang's most deadly unrest in decades, 197 people were killed and about 1,700 injured after riots broke out in the capital city of Urumqi on July 5, 2009.
In March 2008, five months before the Beijing Olympics, police arrested a 19-year-old Uygur from Xinjiang for her foiled terrorist attempt on a passenger flight.
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