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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| China punishes 17 officials over Xinjiang rampage |
| 2015-01-10 |
| China has punished 17 officials for lapses in connection with explosions and riots in Xinjiang in September. Scores of people were killed in the violence which began when explosions killed six people. Riots followed the blasts and police gunned down 40 people, some of whom were trying to blow themselves up, state media said at the time. After an investigation, Xinjiang's Communist Party committee gave 17 officials "party and government disciplinary" punishment for security and other lapses. Zhang Chunxian, the province's party secretary, said the security situation was "extremely grim". He said, "Xinjiang's anti-terrorism fight has entered a phase that is more complicated and more intense. We must take the initiative to brandish the sword, take the offensive and comprehensively attack." It is difficult for foreign journalists to report in Xinjiang, making it almost impossible to reach an independent assessment of the security situation. The Committee to Protect Journalists has said Chinese officials have detained two brothers of a Uighur reporter living in the United States. A fourth brother was sentenced to five years in prison in 2014 for violating state security laws, according to the group. US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Thursday, "We're deeply concerned by reports that family members of the Radio Free Asia journalist Shohret Hoshur continue to be harassed, including reports that his brothers have been imprisoned, apparently in retribution for his reporting." |
| Posted by:ryuge |