Staff called back to work as Xinjiang scraps week-long National Day holiday
Civil servants, workers at state enterprises, teachers and some students have to cancel plans due to last-minute order ‘to prepare’ for party congress
Authorities in the Chinese region of Xinjiang have abruptly cancelled the week-long National Day holiday “to prepare” for the Communist Party congress later this month, residents say.
The last-minute blanket order affects civil servants, employees of state enterprises and government-affiliated units as well as teachers and some students in the far west region.
Locals complained that they had to cancel travel plans after they were summoned back to work and school on Monday – the first time a “golden week” holiday has been scrapped.
While the rest of the country enjoys an extended eight-day break, some employees were told to work through October – including weekends – while others were even ordered to attend ideology classes.
Xinjiang is going all-out in a 50-day political campaign that has seen local governments answering last month’s call by the regional administration to ensure there are no “large, medium or small-scale” incidents around the party congress. The twice-a-decade leadership reshuffle starts on October 18 and marks the start of President Xi Jinping’s second term.