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          Officials from China's Xinjiang Region Say Extremism Waning

   by Associated Press

   Communist Party officials in China's far western Xinjiang region say
   religious extremism is waning, but the government plans to step up
   border controls with Central Asian countries to prevent militants from
   entering the troubled area.

   Xinjiang Party Secretary Zhang Chunxian told reporters at China's
   annual legislative session that cases of violence have declined in the
   past year but "the struggle will last long term" given complicated
   international and domestic factors.

   Xinjiang is home to the Uighurs, a mostly Muslim ethnic Turkic minority
   that has chafed at Beijing's heavy-handed rule and restrictions on
   language and religious practices. Hundreds of people have died in
   violent attacks that the government blames on militant Islamic
   separatists.

   The central government under President Xi Jinping has introduced a
   series of measures aimed at bringing stability to Xinjiang, ranging
   from bolstering police presence and expanding security operations in a
   campaign called "Strike Hard," to promoting cultural assimilation
   through educational and poverty-alleviation programs.

   While banning Islamic headdresses or fasting during Ramadan, the
   government has also launched financial incentives for intermarriage
   with Han Chinese, the majority ethnic group in China.

   Officials said the government will continue both types of tactics this
   year, as well as continue embedding hundreds of thousands of party
   cadres in Xinjiang villages in an effort to sway public opinion about
   the central government.

   "We will stick to Strike Hard and high pressure whenever there are
   terrorist thoughts and in the meantime provide education and
   persuasion," Zhang said.

   The integration program has been the subject of intense debate within
   ethnic policy circles in China, with some experts arguing that polices
   such as enforcing the use of Mandarin - the national language - might
   exacerbate Uighur resentment while others say an assimilation process,
   however difficult, must take place before the region will achieve
   ethnic harmony.

   Che Jun, Xinjiang's deputy party secretary, said the government intends
   to strengthen cooperation with bordering countries to prevent the flow
   of militants and people leaving the country illegally.

   China has argued it has a domestic terror problem, with militants
   leaving the vast western border to train in bases in countries like
   Afghanistan and returning to carry out attacks. International human
   rights groups say many of those who leave the country are refugees
   fleeing Chinese rule rather than militants.

   The border issue came to the fore last year when Thailand deported
   dozens of Uighurs who had fled China, drawing international criticism
   from groups including the United Nations refugee agency.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/officials-from-china-xinjiang-region-
   say-extremism-waning/3225697.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/officials-from-china-xinjiang-region-say-extremism-waning/3225697.html