Xinjiang violence nothing to fuss about, official says

A top Xinjiang official and National People's Congress deputy says it is normal for an area with ethnic tensions to have rioting like the region has seen in recent years.

Li Zhi, deputy chief of the autonomous region's people's congress since 2008, made his remarks on the sidelines of the annual NPC session on Monday in response to questions about events in the region.

Li (pictured) became party chief of Urumqi, the region's capital, in November 2006, but was sacked after rioting in mid-2009 claimed an estimated 200 lives.

He argued that the Xinjiang government had not restricted the religious freedom of residents. He called the region secure despite a rampage by axe-wielding men in Yecheng that killed 20 people last week.

'This is nothing to fuss about,' Li said. 'Xinjiang is stable. Every country has rioters. Riots do not only happen in Xinjiang, but it seems that Xinjiang is considered a sensitive area. There are only a few bad people here.

'It is normal to have rioters,' he continued, noting that the United States experienced regular mass shootings. 'It would be abnormal, if we did not have rioters.'

He blamed last week's attack on a market in Yecheng that killed 13 shoppers on nine 'terrorists'. Police killed seven of the attackers and arrested the other two. The motive for the attack remains unclear.