Heavily Muslim Xinjiang focus of most state security arrests
Three-quarters of arrests on secretive charge on mainland last year were in restive western region, US-based human rights group says
About three out of four people arrested on the mainland on suspicion of "endangering state security" last year were from Xinjiang and likely ethnic Uygurs, a US rights group said.
Endangering state security comprises a total of 12 crimes under the country's Criminal Law, seven of which are potentially punishable by death.
Dui Hua said few details were given of endangering state security cases as they were considered state secrets, but it estimated that 75 per cent of trials on such charges last year took place in Xinjiang, a region that Beijing calls a separatist hotbed. Many of the remainder held on the charges were ethnic Tibetans.
Dui Hua collated the figures from the official China Year Lawbook. The rise in arrests was due to the authorities efforts to "fight the crimes of splittism, subversion and terrorism'', the foundation said, citing the lawbook.
"Due to real and perceived independence movements, Uygurs and ethnic Tibetans bear the brunt of crackdowns on splittism," the group said.