County in Xinjiang praises officers, residents for protecting social stability

Eighteen people from Hotan county in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region have shared 1.1 million yuan ($159,700) in rewards for their contributions to maintaining social stability - including fighting terrorism - according to a news report in Xinjiang Daily over the weekend.

Sixteen police officers and two Hotan residents were applauded for their outstanding efforts.

Of those rewarded, three received a pay raise, according to the report. Details were not specified, but rewards have been given in the past to residents for tipping off the authorities about illegal activity, and to police officers whose actions placed them in danger or otherwise went beyond the normal call of duty.

The names of awardees are normally withheld to protect them from possible retaliation.

"We should fight those who aim to destroy our homes, disturb our peaceful way of life and harm social stability," the paper quoted one of the officers as saying. He called on more residents to get involved in fighting terrorism, extremism and separatism to protect Hotan.

The news report added that 14 officials have been punished for dereliction of duty, and have been removed from their posts, demoted or expelled from the Party. Several have been placed under criminal investigation.

"Our county has increased its focus on stability and has begun strictly punishing officials who behave improperly or who are malfeasant," Lu Boran, Hotan's Party chief, told the newspaper.

He also spoke highly of the residents' participation in anti-terrorism work. Those who voluntarily join the fight and encourage others to help maintain stability deserve to be rewarded, he said.

Li Wei, an anti-terrorism expert at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said that such rewards have become common.

China's first Anti-Terrorism Law, which took effect in January last year, stipulates that rewards be handed out for anti-terrorism contributions. Three months later, Xinjiang offered a cash reward of up to 5 million yuan for people providing key information about plotters.

"Encouraging residents to report clues and rewarding informants has been written into law, which means the government has legal grounds for doing it," Li said.

He said such rewards, however, will not necessarily become more frequent in the region, since "the problem of terrorism will be eased when more people join the fight".

Similar reward programs are being brewed up in other areas in the country, "as the anti-terrorism fight is a national task", he added.