CHINA> Regional
2,100 officials sent to appease Uygur, Han people
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-09-06 20:51

Xinjiang sends 2,100 officials to neighborhoods to appease Uygur, Han residents: Wang Lequan

URUMQI: The regional government of northwest China's Xinjiang has sent 1,500 officials and police officers to communities densely populated by Uygur ethnic people in wake of a deadly riot on July 7 to help solve public disputes, said a senior party official here on Sunday.

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Wang Lequan, secretary of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), said after the riot, the regional government sent the officials, mainly of ethnic minority groups, to explain government policies and solve disputes.

"These officials have done a great deal of face-to-face educational work in communities and maintain social orders," he said.

Wang said the regional government would continue to send another 600 experienced senior official -- 100 bureau level and 500 section chief level officials -- to communities in the north part of the city, which is heavily populated by by Han Chinese.

"These officials along with officials to be sent by the city government of Urumqi will go door to door to explain policies and solve disputes," he said.

Wang made the remark at a meeting for mobilizing civil servants to go to the grassroot neighborhoods to help solve public disputes and maintain social stability.

He reviewed the unrest in Urumqi since the riot on July 5, which left nearly 200 people dead, mostly Han ethnic people.

He said four suspects stabbed a Han woman with syringe needles in Xiaoximen Shopping Area in Urumqi on Sept sparked a mass protest against the syringe attacks, which left five dead and 14 others hospitalized.

"The incident has seriously affect the normal public life, and caused social disturbance," he said.