CHINA/FILE: The governor of China's restive Xinjiang region says a recent deadly knife attack at Kunming train station should not be linked to ethnicity

Record ID: 1960389

  • Title: CHINA/FILE: The governor of China's restive Xinjiang region says a recent deadly knife attack at Kunming train station should not be linked to ethnicity
  • Date: 6th March 2014
  • Summary: INDIAN OCEAN (FILE - APRIL 5, 2014) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (CCTV - NO ACCESS CHINA) MEN ON BOARD BOAT LISTENING IN EARPHONE DETAIL OF EQUIPMENT BEING USED WHICH IS SAID TO HAVE DETECTED POSSIBLE SIGNAL OF FLIGHT MH370'S BLACK BOX MEN ON BOARD BOAT USING EQUIPMENT TO TRY TO DETECT SIGNAL FROM MISSING FLIGHT MH370 A Chinese patrol vessel hunting for a missing Malaysia Airlines jet
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  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA2M45VNE708D96WNUH6LKPESCY
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: A deadly knife attack at a Chinese train station last week should not be linked to ethnicity, a senior government official said on Thursday (March 6), days after authorities blamed the incident on separatists from the country's troubled far western region of Xinjiang.
    China says militants from Xinjiang, home to a large Muslim Uighur minority, launched an attack in the southwestern city of Kunming, killing at least 29 people and injuring about 140.
    It was one of the worst bouts of violence to spill out of the region, where more than 100 people, including several policemen, have been killed in unrest since last April.
    Speaking to media at a Thursday news conference in Beijing on the sidelines of the annual National People's Congress, Xinjiang Autonomous Region Governor Nur Bekri said the recent unrest and attacks such as the one in Kunming should not be treated as an ethnic issue.

    "Violent terrorists cannot be representative of any single ethnicity, and they cannot be representative of any single religion. They commit, just as I said, inhuman, anti-society, evil atrocities," said Bekri.
    Many Uighurs say they are infuriated by Chinese curbs on their culture and religion, though the government says they are given wide freedoms.
    China bristles at suggestions from exiles and rights groups that the unrest is driven more by unhappiness at government policies than by any serious threat from extremist groups who want to establish an independent state called East Turkestan.
    Authorities say many have links with foreign groups, although rights groups and some foreign experts say there is little evidence to support this.

    "Behind a series of separatist activities, there have always been foreign forces committing crimes, foreign forces seeking to advance them. This does not exclude the provocations and hype of people from outside China, people with ulterior motives, people who are unwilling to see a united and strong China led by a socialist communist party. We will remain on high alert for this," said Bekri.
    In 2009 nearly 200 people were killed in riots in the Xinjiang capital, Urumqi.
    China stepped up security in Xinjiang after a vehicle ploughed into tourists on the edge of Tiananmen Square in October, killing the three people in the car and two bystanders. China labelled it a suicide attack by militants from Xinjiang.
    After three years in which China's domestic security budget exceeded its fast-growing military budget, this year the government did not publicise the overall figure despite an increased focus on stability at home
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