Taming the terrorism devil

Terrorism poses a grave threat to people's lives and properties in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, as well as the socio-economic development of the region and the rest of China. To ensure the safety and security of the people, the fight against terrorists has to be intensified in accordance with law. And there should be no leniency.

This strong message was conveyed by Minister of Public Security Meng Jianzhu in his speech to the national anti-terrorism conference in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, on Thursday. Meng has adopted the right attitude toward the series of terrorist attacks that claimed many an innocent's life in the region recently.

As the minister said, the fight against terrorism in China's western autonomous region will be long and hard because the situation there is complicated. A group of extremists and separatists is hell-bent on denying that the autonomous region is part of China and stability is crucial to the socio-economic development of the region. They use every means, terror included, to fan passions and turn one ethnic group against another without even thinking that good relationship between different ethnic groups is a prerequisite for peaceful and decent life for all.