China aims to ease ethnic tensions with integration policy
New initiative will especially target cities in troubled Xinjiang, which exploded in deadly riots in 2009
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.
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“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.