{"id":180778,"date":"2015-01-23T15:37:44","date_gmt":"2015-01-23T23:37:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=180778"},"modified":"2015-01-23T15:38:44","modified_gmt":"2015-01-23T23:38:44","slug":"amid-crackdown-xinjiang-arrests-nearly-doubled-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2015\/01\/amid-crackdown-xinjiang-arrests-nearly-doubled-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Xinjiang Arrests Nearly Doubled in 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"
In May of last year, Chinese authorities\u00a0launched a “year-long, ultra-tough, unconventional” crackdown on terrorism<\/a> in response to an upswing in violent attacks in Xinjiang and elsewhere in\u00a0China<\/a>. While official\u00a0reports at the campaign’s six-month mark trumpeted success with statistics on arrests and smashed “terror gangs,” death tolls suggested that violence in the region may have continued to increase<\/a>.\u00a0Xinjiang prosecutors on Friday reported that arrests in the region last year nearly doubled as\u00a0compared to 2013<\/strong><\/a>, and state media announced that the crackdown will be extended until the end of this year. AFP reports:<\/p>\n Prosecutors in the far-western area, home to China’s 10-million-strong Turkic-speaking and mostly Muslim Uighurs, approved the arrest of 27,164 criminal suspects in 2014, up more than 95 per cent on the previous year, the China Daily newspaper said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “We’ve shortened the time between approving arrests and prosecution in major terrorist-related cases so the suspects can be tried as soon as possible to show the region’s determination to fight terrorism,” Nixiang Yibulayin, ” Xinjiang’s chief prosecutor, was quoted as telling the region’s legislature on Thursday.<\/p>\n […]\u00a0The China Daily said the campaign – initiated in May after an attack in the regional capital Urumqi left 39 people dead and 94 injured and originally intended to last a year – had been extended for “at least” six more months. [Source<\/a><\/strong>]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n In addition to\u00a0increased security<\/a>, authorities\u2019 anti-terror efforts\u00a0have\u00a0also included\u00a0restrictions on religious dress<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0custom<\/a>; earlier this month, Xinjiang’s capital city of Urumqi approved a ban on the\u00a0burqa<\/em><\/a>. While the government puts blame for mounting violence on Islamic extremism encouraged from abroad<\/a>, human rights groups point to repressive regional policies as a\u00a0major cause of unrest. Last week, Human Rights Watch criticized China’s draft counter-terrorism law for its potential to legitimize and accelerate rights abuses<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Party leadership this week approved\u00a0a blueprint for national security goals<\/strong><\/a>. The\u00a0New York Times’ Chris Buckley\u00a0reports, putting this into the context of Xi’s tenure:<\/p>\n It was ratified by the Politburo, a council of 25 senior officials, and signaled President\u00a0Xi Jinping<\/a>\u2019s latest step to put security at the heart of his agenda. The\u00a0official announcement of the decision<\/a>\u00a0from Xinhua, the state news agency, did not disclose the precise contents of the new document, but it emphasized that China\u2019s leaders saw themselves entering perilous times.<\/p>\n […]\u00a0Warnings of looming danger have long been part of Chinese leaders\u2019 political language. But more than his predecessors, Mr. Xi has cast himself as an ardently patriotic defender of unitary national interests, taking a tough stance against neighbors in border disputes and against ethnic discontent in the Xinjiang region and Tibet.<\/p>\n Mr. Xi\u2019s catchphrase is \u201cthe China Dream,\u201d and the strategy outline expands on his previous efforts to build up a national security apparatus. He has also pursued an intense campaign to extinguish political dissent, which is seen as menacing to one-party rule, and said that control of the Internet is a mainstay of domestic order. […] [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n In a post for The Diplomat, Gabe Collins takes a close look at\u00a0data on recent Xinjiang attacks, and examines the tactical implications the terror crackdown could have for the Chinese\u00a0security apparatus<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n […] On a tactical level, Xinjiang\u2019s insurgency does offer China\u2019s public (and private) security apparatus a number of tangible benefits. Xinjiang gives China\u2019s security forces an internal, restricted access \u201cbeta lab\u201d in which to test new techniques and technologies (such as drones) before the Chinese military potentially employs them beyond China\u2019s borders.<\/p>\n The continuing conflict in Xinjiang is also creating a core group of police and paramilitary personnel with significant live fire experience in a hostile operational environment. These men (and increasingly, women) offer a prime talent pool for China\u2019s new\u00a0private security providers<\/a>\u00a0as they recruit staff to hire out to Chinese miners and construction firms operating in Africa and other areas where projects may require armed protection.<\/p>\n The growing insurgency in Xinjiang is imposing significant costs on the Chinese government, but the province\u2019s rich mineral resources and strategic geographical position are too valuable to give up, even at the cost of a much bloodier conflict than that which exists today. One looming question is \u201cwill Uighur insurgents expand their campaign to include key energy, mining, and other critical infrastructure in Xinjiang?\u201d Such a move is conceivable, but most of these assets lie in open desert and basin and range-type geography that is easily kept under surveillance by unmanned aerial vehicles and other means. […] [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Read more on security<\/a> and surveillance<\/a> in China, or\u00a0on Xinjiang violence<\/a>, via CDT.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In May of last year, Chinese authorities\u00a0launched a “year-long, ultra-tough, unconventional” crackdown on terrorism in response to an upswing in violent attacks in Xinjiang and elsewhere in\u00a0China. While official\u00a0reports at the campaign’s six-month mark trumpeted success with statistics on arrests and smashed “terror gangs,” death tolls suggested that violence in the region may have continued […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":985,"featured_media":180422,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[14744,14745,14746,100,5],"tags":[3805,4643,306,5921,7184],"class_list":["post-180778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-level-2-article","category-level-3-article","category-level-4-article","category-politics","category-society","tag-national-security","tag-security","tag-terrorism","tag-xinjiang","tag-xinjiang-violence","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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