Chinese city in restive Xinjiang offers huge rewards for anti-terror tips
Payment offered for tips ranging from attack plans the wearing of forbidden clothing or beards
Authorities in Xinjiang are offering 100 million yuan (US$14.5 million) in rewards for anti-terror tips, state media said, a policy that coincides with a dramatic rise in regional security spending.
Hundreds of people have been killed in Xinjiang in the past few years, most in unrest between members of the mostly Muslim Uygur minority, who call the region home, and ethnic majority Han Chinese. Beijing blames the unrest on Islamist militants.
After a period of relative calm, there has been a rise in violence in recent months in the region’s south, which includes the Uygur heartland of Hotan, where officials are offering hefty rewards for people with information on violations ranging from violent attacks to illegal beards.
The rewards range up to 5 million yuan for verifiable “operational inside information” on plans for attacks in crowded areas or at government and Communist Party departments, the state-run Hotan Daily said on Tuesday.
“The awards for reporting violent terrorists and religious extremists establishing ties, or inciting or swearing oaths of holy war, or clues on the organisation of illegal cross-border entry and exit are 3 million yuan to 2 million yuan,” the newspaper said.