Xinjiang to strengthen education on national unity among youth

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-10-12 22:45

URUMQI: Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, whose capital suffered a deadly riot three months ago, plans to enhance education on ethnic solidarity among youngsters, local officials said here Monday.

New curricula about China's national unity will be added to all primary and middle schools and universities in the region, said Ashat Kerimbay, chairman of the Regional Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

In addition, grassroots cadres are required to pay more attention to people's daily life and guide people to go out of scare from horrible scenes in the riot, said Kerimbay.

The top political adviser of Xinjiang made the remarks at a Party conference held Monday to commend 41 organizations and 52 individuals that were conferred awards on September 29 in Beijing for their role in promoting ethnic harmony.

A total of 739 organizations and 749 individuals from across the country won awards from the State Council at a ceremony for major contributions to ethnic harmony.

At Monday's conference, Wang Lequan, secretary of CPC Xinjiang regional committee, called for implementation of the government decision and concrete measures taken as soon as possible.

The July riot left 197 people dead and more than 1,600 injured in Urumqi, badly hurt people's feelings and undermined social stability.

The municipal government of Urumqi decided to exempt taxi drivers from road tolls for three months beginning from mid-October, a move to compensate their economic losses from the riot, said Mei Haibo, an officer with the city's passenger transportation administration office.

More than 7,000 qualified local cab drivers will benefit from the measure, earning 305 yuan ($44.7) more each.