Xinjiang’s legislature is considering a proposal to increase its public security budget from US$225 million to US$423 million, AFP reported, citing state media. Regional Chairman Nur Bekri told the Xinijang People’s Congress that the funds will be used to crack down on terrorism, separatism and religious extremism. In July 2009, the province was wracked by ethnic violence between Uighurs, the eight million-strong Turkic-speaking minority who make up the majority of the province’s population, and recently immigrated Han Chinese. According to government figures, the violence resulted in 197 deaths and 1,700 injuries. So far 22 people have been sentenced to death for the violence, most of them Uighurs. Nine executions have been officially reported. The Xinijang government has also ordered a ramping up of security down to the village level to increase identity checks and monitoring of religious activities.
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