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Analysis | ‘A new direction’: is China shifting focus to economic opening-up in Xinjiang and Tibet?
- Key meetings suggest Beijing is gaining confidence about social control in the two politically sensitive ethnic minority regions
- But although there is talk of development, analysts do not expect the leadership to cave in to Western pressure over its policies
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China has signalled it may tilt its policy focus back to economic development in the politically sensitive regions of Xinjiang and Tibet, where it appears to be gaining confidence about its grip on social stability.
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But analysts have questioned the extent to which Beijing will be able to open up the two ethnic minority regions if it continues its repressive measures around religion and culture, and whether it will be able to convince the outside world about its policies.
Beijing is facing international criticism over its treatment of minority groups in Tibet and Xinjiang, where it is believed to have detained at least 1 million Uygurs and other ethnic Muslim minorities in internment camps.
President Xi Jinping revisited the idea of including Xinjiang in the opening-up strategy for the west of the country at a key work conference on the region last month. He defended Beijing’s policies in the far western region and emphasised the need to build the local economy.
Days later, a senior official overseeing Tibetan and religious affairs wrote of an “orderly” opening up in Tibet after a policy meeting on that region was held in Beijing.
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