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Riots 2 years on: Xinjiang livelihood improves
Source: Xinhua |
July 12, 2011, Tuesday
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Print Edition
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YAO Gang was about to leave home for a hard job at a construction site some 1,000 km away from home.
Before walking out, the 46-year-old native of the city of Urumqi waved a final good-bye to his son, who lay paralyzed in bed. Yao's son was wounded in riots that broke out two years ago in Urumqi, the worst violence in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in decades.
Yao's son's skull was shattered in the chaos of the mob. Doctors have to use pipes to support his head. His limbs are paralyzed, his hearing impaired, he is depressed and he frequently suffers epileptic fits.
An official in charge of dealing with the riots' aftermath said the government offers free in-hospital treatment and handed out subsidies in housing, jobs, and education for all victims. The brain surgery for Yao's son was free and the family receives a monthly subsidy of more than 1,000 yuan (US$153). "But even with that, we still struggle," Yao said. "I have to work to earn extra money for the family to survive."
The government says the riots on July 5, 2009 left 197 people dead and 1,700 others injured. The aftermath still haunts the region, which is no stranger to violence in its long battle against separatism, terrorism, and religious extremism.
Although overseas Uygur groups were blamed for plotting the unrest, China looked into domestic woes that left the society vulnerable to the incitement of violence.
Policies have been implemented to address social problems sparked by the imbalance of wealth and development, and exacerbated in regions inhabited by mixed ethnic groups. Unprecedented packages of development assistance were announced by the central government and governments of affluent regions. Two years on, the efforts to defuse tension and boost balanced development in Xinjiang are in full swing as the region recovers along with the victims, though slowly, from the riots.
Xinjiang, with its desert-oasis scenery and distinctive ethnic culture, reported a record 30 million tourists in 2010, including at least 1 million tourists from abroad, government statistics show. Last year's tourism revenues topped 30 billion yuan (US$4.6 billion), an all-time high for the region.
The strips of shanty towns that once shocked visitors to Urumqi's urban areas are now disappearing. The authorities have stepped up efforts to tear down mud-and-brick makeshift houses and replace them with modern concrete apartments.
About 15,000 households in 50 slum areas will be covered by the government-funded project this year, officials say. All of the city's 234 slum areas will be demolished and rebuilt by 2012, and the government will spend another two years to improve community facilities, Xie Min, deputy director of Urumqi's construction committee, told Xinhua.
Job creation
Creating jobs has been one of the priorities of the Xinjiang government over the past two years, as officials consider stable income through employment crucial to lifting poor Uygur families out of poverty and discouraging idle youth away from venting their energy in violence.
Xinjiang, covering about one-sixth of China's land territory, is home to large stretches of deserts. Agriculture has been the prime sector of Xinjiang. The development of industries and services lagged far behind those of other Chinese regions. Turwinjan Tursun, a researcher with the Academy of Social Sciences of Xinjiang, said the difficulty of employment was especially true for the southern part of Xinjiang where the economy relies heavily on desert-oasis farming.
Two major programs were launched to address the issue last year, said Tian Wen, the top official of the regional government in charge of human resources management.
For one, thousands of jobless college graduates were sent to job skill training in universities and companies in China's developed regions, all at the government's expense. Additionally, each level of government and affiliated institutes were ordered to generate more jobs on the government's payroll to hire members of jobless families.
Official figures show that last year about 510,000 unemployed residents in urban Urumqi got jobs under the government programs. In the same year, about 2.31 million people in the countryside were given seasonal jobs like helping in the harvests at cotton-producing areas or were sent away to become migrant workers like Yao.
The central government last year unveiled unprecedented aid packages to boost development in Xinjiang, a region that is rich in oil and gas reserves and borders eight countries, including key trading partners like Russia, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan.The central government's plan aims to build oil refineries, heavy machinery factories, cotton manufacturing bases, and modern animal husbandry facilities in Xinjiang by 2015.
The authorities aim to narrow the gap between Xinjiang and other inland regions as much as possible over the next 10 years, guaranteeing that Xinjiang will fulfill its goal of achieving a "moderately prosperous society in all aspects" by 2020.
Urumqi will be built into a "core city" in western China and an "international trade center" of central and western Asia by 2020. The authorities have planned two new districts in the city to be built to world-class city standards, a new rail linking it to inland regions and a second airport.
Before walking out, the 46-year-old native of the city of Urumqi waved a final good-bye to his son, who lay paralyzed in bed. Yao's son was wounded in riots that broke out two years ago in Urumqi, the worst violence in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in decades.
Yao's son's skull was shattered in the chaos of the mob. Doctors have to use pipes to support his head. His limbs are paralyzed, his hearing impaired, he is depressed and he frequently suffers epileptic fits.
An official in charge of dealing with the riots' aftermath said the government offers free in-hospital treatment and handed out subsidies in housing, jobs, and education for all victims. The brain surgery for Yao's son was free and the family receives a monthly subsidy of more than 1,000 yuan (US$153). "But even with that, we still struggle," Yao said. "I have to work to earn extra money for the family to survive."
The government says the riots on July 5, 2009 left 197 people dead and 1,700 others injured. The aftermath still haunts the region, which is no stranger to violence in its long battle against separatism, terrorism, and religious extremism.
Although overseas Uygur groups were blamed for plotting the unrest, China looked into domestic woes that left the society vulnerable to the incitement of violence.
Policies have been implemented to address social problems sparked by the imbalance of wealth and development, and exacerbated in regions inhabited by mixed ethnic groups. Unprecedented packages of development assistance were announced by the central government and governments of affluent regions. Two years on, the efforts to defuse tension and boost balanced development in Xinjiang are in full swing as the region recovers along with the victims, though slowly, from the riots.
Xinjiang, with its desert-oasis scenery and distinctive ethnic culture, reported a record 30 million tourists in 2010, including at least 1 million tourists from abroad, government statistics show. Last year's tourism revenues topped 30 billion yuan (US$4.6 billion), an all-time high for the region.
The strips of shanty towns that once shocked visitors to Urumqi's urban areas are now disappearing. The authorities have stepped up efforts to tear down mud-and-brick makeshift houses and replace them with modern concrete apartments.
About 15,000 households in 50 slum areas will be covered by the government-funded project this year, officials say. All of the city's 234 slum areas will be demolished and rebuilt by 2012, and the government will spend another two years to improve community facilities, Xie Min, deputy director of Urumqi's construction committee, told Xinhua.
Job creation
Creating jobs has been one of the priorities of the Xinjiang government over the past two years, as officials consider stable income through employment crucial to lifting poor Uygur families out of poverty and discouraging idle youth away from venting their energy in violence.
Xinjiang, covering about one-sixth of China's land territory, is home to large stretches of deserts. Agriculture has been the prime sector of Xinjiang. The development of industries and services lagged far behind those of other Chinese regions. Turwinjan Tursun, a researcher with the Academy of Social Sciences of Xinjiang, said the difficulty of employment was especially true for the southern part of Xinjiang where the economy relies heavily on desert-oasis farming.
Two major programs were launched to address the issue last year, said Tian Wen, the top official of the regional government in charge of human resources management.
For one, thousands of jobless college graduates were sent to job skill training in universities and companies in China's developed regions, all at the government's expense. Additionally, each level of government and affiliated institutes were ordered to generate more jobs on the government's payroll to hire members of jobless families.
Official figures show that last year about 510,000 unemployed residents in urban Urumqi got jobs under the government programs. In the same year, about 2.31 million people in the countryside were given seasonal jobs like helping in the harvests at cotton-producing areas or were sent away to become migrant workers like Yao.
The central government last year unveiled unprecedented aid packages to boost development in Xinjiang, a region that is rich in oil and gas reserves and borders eight countries, including key trading partners like Russia, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan.The central government's plan aims to build oil refineries, heavy machinery factories, cotton manufacturing bases, and modern animal husbandry facilities in Xinjiang by 2015.
The authorities aim to narrow the gap between Xinjiang and other inland regions as much as possible over the next 10 years, guaranteeing that Xinjiang will fulfill its goal of achieving a "moderately prosperous society in all aspects" by 2020.
Urumqi will be built into a "core city" in western China and an "international trade center" of central and western Asia by 2020. The authorities have planned two new districts in the city to be built to world-class city standards, a new rail linking it to inland regions and a second airport.
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