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Uphold China’s unity and socialist society, Xinjiang Communist Party chief tells minority and religious leaders
- Ma Xingrui calls for firmly establishing a correct view of ‘country, history, ethnicity, culture and religion’
- Echoes of President Xi Jinping as 62-year-old technocrat says sinicisation is ‘the only way’ forward for development of religions in the country
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Minority and religious leaders of Xinjiang should uphold ethnic unity and “guide religions to adapt to China’s socialist society”, the region’s new Communist Party chief has said.
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The call from Ma Xingrui – just four weeks into his new role – came as the far western Uygur autonomous region kicked off its annual gathering of local lawmakers and policy advisers, ahead of the national “two sessions” legislative meetings scheduled in March in Beijing.
Addressing local ethnic minority and religious deputies to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country’s top political advisory body, Ma said they should “make full use of their influence” among the masses to “accurately grasp the main task of forging a sense of common community of the Chinese nation”.
“[We should] promote extensive exchanges and integration among all ethnic groups to firmly establish a correct view of our country, history, ethnicity, culture and religion,” he was quoted as saying by local media.
Sinicisation was “the only way [forward ] for the development of religions in the country”, Ma said in a reiteration of President Xi Jinping’s policy on the matter.
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