<p>"We should be aware that the stability of Xinjiang remains fragile," Zhang Chunxian, secretary of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region Committee of the Communist Party of China, told senior officials.<br /><br />"There are still many factors from home and abroad that may affect stability, and the task of maintaining stability remains tough," Zhang was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency.<br /><br />The meeting, attended by Xinjiang's high-level officials and leaders of the regional army and police forces, concluded that authorities were determined to prevent major cases involving violence and terror, and large "mass incidents" -- usually gatherings of people with complaints that may lead to chaos without proper handling.<br /><br />The participants at the high level meeting agreed that the key is rigorously preventing such incidents and striking hard against splittist and terrorist activities, the report said.<br /><br />Xinjiang, with 41.5 per cent of its population from the Uygur ethnic group, borders eight central and west Asian countries, many of which have been troubled by terrorists and extremists movements.<br /><br />In July 2009, 197 people were killed and 1,700 injured in China's worst riot in Urumqi in decades. Authorities blamed separatists and extremists for inciting the violence.<br /><br />In the wake of the riot, the central government ramped up development drives in the remote, mostly underdeveloped region with the aim of eliminating the seeds of unrest.</p>
<p>"We should be aware that the stability of Xinjiang remains fragile," Zhang Chunxian, secretary of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region Committee of the Communist Party of China, told senior officials.<br /><br />"There are still many factors from home and abroad that may affect stability, and the task of maintaining stability remains tough," Zhang was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency.<br /><br />The meeting, attended by Xinjiang's high-level officials and leaders of the regional army and police forces, concluded that authorities were determined to prevent major cases involving violence and terror, and large "mass incidents" -- usually gatherings of people with complaints that may lead to chaos without proper handling.<br /><br />The participants at the high level meeting agreed that the key is rigorously preventing such incidents and striking hard against splittist and terrorist activities, the report said.<br /><br />Xinjiang, with 41.5 per cent of its population from the Uygur ethnic group, borders eight central and west Asian countries, many of which have been troubled by terrorists and extremists movements.<br /><br />In July 2009, 197 people were killed and 1,700 injured in China's worst riot in Urumqi in decades. Authorities blamed separatists and extremists for inciting the violence.<br /><br />In the wake of the riot, the central government ramped up development drives in the remote, mostly underdeveloped region with the aim of eliminating the seeds of unrest.</p>