China Insists Muslim Riots Not Serious

Blaming bombings and rioting on a handful of terrorists and separatists, government leaders from northwest China insisted Friday that their restive region was politically stable and appealed for investment.

It was the first time senior leaders from Xinjiang had spoken to reporters in Beijing since bus bombs and separatist riots jolted the Muslim-dominated region last month, killing at least 19 people.

At a news conference to publicize an upcoming trade fair, they painted a picture of a stable, united region eager to develop its rich resources, including oil, gas, minerals and agriculture.

“Cases of violent conflict are unpreventable the world over, including in a few developed countries,” said Wang Lequan, the Communist Party chief for Xinjiang. “But this absolutely does not affect a region’s overall social stability.”

Wang said Xinjiang’s government was doing its utmost to avoid a repeat of last month’s unrest. He said separatists account for an “extremely small number” of Xinjiang’s 16.6 million people, less than 40 percent of whom are ethnic Chinese.

Abdulahat Abdurixit, who chairs Xinjiang’s regional government, said stability in Xinjiang offered a favorable climate for domestic and foreign investment.

Backed by a central government campaign to accelerate economic growth in poorer western regions, Xinjiang “faces an unprecedented opportunity for development,” he said.

Xinjiang is one of China’s most volatile ethnic regions. The region’s Turkic-speaking Uighurs and other Muslim ethnic groups resent Chinese migration into the region as a threat to their hopes for prosperity.

Xinjiang’s separatists draw inspiration, and perhaps help and weapons, from groups in newly independent former Soviet states that border the region.