Beijing is seeking to desegregate ethnic communities by encouraging integrated residential blocks, Premier Li Keqiang said yesterday. The initiative, according to party elites from Xinjiang, will especially target cities in the troubled region where Uygurs and Han Chinese have led segregated lives since deadly riots in 2009. Ethnic tensions have long plagued Xinjiang and Tibet, where many local ethnic groups complain of religious and political suppression. Speaking to National People’s Congress delegates, Li said ethnic problems should be resolved by pursuing the “correct path” with “Chinese characteristics” and that governments should promote a more “integrated” society for different ethnic groups. READ MORE: Teaching Chinese properly is the key to helping ethnic minorities in Hong Kong “We will follow closely the Party’s policies concerning ethnic groups, launch extensive activities to promote ethnic unity and progress, facilitate the development of a social structure and a community environment in which different ethnic groups are integrated, and promote interaction, communication, and integration between ethnic groups,” said Li. Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference delegates said yesterday that the initiative to further integrate ethnic groups with Han Chinese would mostly affect the autonomous region, in particular its capital city, Urumqi. Guo Lina, a delegate of the Xibo ethnic group from Urumqi, said the city’s authorities had already put in place a policy to eliminate barriers by designating a certain number of flats in residential buildings for ethnic minorities. Uygur students were also encouraged to study in Han Chinese schools, she added. While Uygurs remain majorities in other parts of Xinjiang, Han Chinese account for 74 per cent of Urumqi’s population. Delegates said ethnic segregation had become more pronounced since 2009, when a series of riots claimed around 200 lives and led to the arrest of at least 1,000 Uygurs. Jiang Zhaoyong, an ethnic affairs expert, said similar efforts to promote integration between ethnic groups had floundered before the 2009 riots. “From the government’s point of view they wish to put together groups that are different in religious beliefs and living habits to promote harmony and alleviate distrust, but it is a very difficult task because of these differences,” Jiang said. READ MORE: Hong Kong’s ethnic minorities strive to break down barriers Meanwhile, deputies from Tibet have found a new way to display loyalty – wearing the badges of Chinese leaders. Two types are popular: one featuring President Xi Jinping alone and the other mug shots of Xi and his four predecessors – Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao – in a circle. A Tibetan delegate said the badges were given to him last year on the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan government. When asked why he was wearing them, he smiled, patted the badges and said: “Because we believe in it.” Staff with the Tibetan delegation also wore the Xi badges and several stressed they were wearing them “out of their own free will”. One staff member said it was the first time the Tibetan delegation had worn badges to the congress. The “voluntary” display of allegiance by Tibetan delegates came as tensions continue to simmer in the country’s far western regions. Additional reporting by Nectar Gan