|
China Urged To Expand
Military in Restive Xinjiang Region
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BEIJING
A top military official has urged the strengthening of
China’s 2.5 million semi-military presence in the
westernmost Xinjiang region to combat separatism and
attempts at "sabotage and infiltration," state press
reported Oct. 8.
The call was made by Zhang Qingli, commander-in-chief
of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corp, an
offshoot of the People’s Liberation Army that was
established in the ethnic Uighur-dominated region 50
years ago to ensure Chinese rule.
"The Corp should not be weakened but [should be] be
enlarged in the new era, with the main task to develop
the economy, maintain the stability of Xinjiang,
promote unity among ethnic groups and consolidate
border defense," Zhang was quoted by Xinhua news
agency as saying.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao vowed during a recent visit
to Xinjiang to reinforce the role of the Corp for
similar reasons, the report said.
The 2.54-million strong Corp staffs 186 regimental
farms and more than 1,500 industrial, construction,
transport and commercial enterprises in Xinjiang,
Xinhua said.
It does not form a part of China’s 2.5-million-strong
People’s Liberation Army, the world’s largest standing
army. Nonetheless it "plays an irreplaceable role in
smashing and resisting internal and external attempts
at sabotage and infiltration, and maintains the
stability and safety of the borders of the country,"
Xinhua said.
The Corp has also played a role in "a recent battle
against the so-called ‘Eastern Turkistan’ terrorist
group," it said.
The Muslim group has long called for the establishment
of an independent area in the region called East
Turkistan.
Xinjiang, a strategically important area bordering
Central Asia, is home to a number of ethnic groups, of
which the Uighurs, Muslim speakers of a Turkic
language, form the largest.
Human rights groups have accused the Chinese
government of using the global anti-terror campaign to
harshly punish Uighurs who hold dissenting views, even
those who were non-violent.
The Corp in Xinjiang has been seen as a colonial
element in the region since the People’s Liberation
Army took over there in 1949.
The Corp, dissolved in 1975 but reinstated by the
central government in 1981, and has enjoyed extensive
water, land use and resource rights in the arid
Xinjiang region.
Last year, the per capita GDP in the Corp was $1,283,
higher than the country level of $1,000, Xinhua said. .
|
