Xi: Fight extremism with jobs, schools
Print Edition
PRESIDENT Xi Jinping said yesterday that China must strengthen education and work to alleviate poverty in the western region of Xinjiang, as the government works to weed out extremism in a region prone to unrest.
His remarks, made in a speech at a central work conference on the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region — a two-day meeting that closed yesterday — came after five suicide bombers attacked a vegetable market in the regional capital of Urumqi last week.
The incident was the deadliest in the region for many years, killing 39 people and injuring 94.
Xi said that investment in the region must be increased to alleviate poverty, and that funding for education must be expanded. China will also push forward bilingual education, he said.
“We must emphasize absorbing local labor and encourage Xinjiang people to work in the region,” Xi said.
He added that “law-abiding” worshippers must be protected even as the Party cracks down on extremists. Religious leaders’ teachings must be grounded in patriotism.
Local officials in Xinjiang held a public rally in a stadium for the mass sentencing of 55 people on Wednesday, meting out at least three death sentences for crimes such as “violent terrorism.”
Xi has called for “nets spread from the earth to the sky” to defend against terrorist acts in Xinjiang, stressing long-term stability as the main goal for the region.
While urging strengthened precautions and international anti-terrorism cooperation, Xi also called for “walls made of copper and steel.”
Calling for “meticulous” religious work, the president stressed that there should be a focus on helping religion adapt to a socialist society.
The role of religious figures and believers should be ensured in boosting economic and social development.
“Focus on fostering a team of patriotic clergy and boosting the general quality of people in the religious circle so as to ensure that the leadership of religious organizations is firmly in the hands of people who love the country as well as religion,” he said.
According to Xi, the basic principle for easing religious tensions is to protect legal religious activities, deter illegal and extreme ones, guard against infiltration and crack down on crimes.
The president noted that people’s normal religious demands should be protected in accordance with laws and regulations and their customs should be respected.
“Legal channels for religious people to accurately grasp religious knowledge should be broadened,” he added.
Xi also called on all ethnic groups in Xinjiang to show respect, tolerance and appreciation for each other, in a bid to boost ethnic unity in the region.
He said all ethnic groups in Xinjiang must “show mutual understanding, respect, tolerance and appreciation among themselves, and learn from and help each other,” so that they can be united together “like the seeds of a pomegranate.”
“The more separatists attempt to sabotage our ethnic unity, the more we should try to reinforce it,” the president said, adding that unity is the “lifeline” for people of all ethnic backgrounds.
Efforts must be made to allow all ethnic groups to contribute to the Chinese dream of great rejuvenation, and to share the fruit of the country’s development and prosperity, Xi said.
He suggested that authorities should strengthen exchanges and communication between different ethnic groups, promote bilingual education, and strive for a more integrated social structure and community environment where people are not grouped solely based on their ethnicity.
They should also allow and encourage more people from minority ethnic groups to receive eduction, work or live in other parts of the country, so as to enhance mutual understanding among different ethnic groups and boost ties between them, Xi said.
Earlier this month, Xinjiang’s regional public security department said local police had busted 23 terror and religious extremism groups and caught over 200 suspects.
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