600 million yuan more for Xinjiang armed police

BEIJING - The central government has allocated another 600 million yuan for the armed police in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in a bid to maintain social stability following last year's deadly riot in Urumqi, the political commissar of the region's armed police said on Friday.

"Months after the July 5 (2009) incident, Xinjiang still remains one of the hottest areas for the armed police's anti-terrorism campaign, although the autonomous region appears to be very stable and under control," General Yu Linxiang, political commissar of the country's armed police force, told China Daily at the headquarters of the army's delegation of the National People's Congress.

The riot in the region's capital left 197 dead and more than 1,700 injured. The Chinese government said the riot, which has seriously affected Xinjiang's economic development, was instigated by "three forces" - separatists, extremists and terrorists - from overseas.