Published by: THE WORLD UYGHUR NETWORK NEWS, May 9, 1997

Urumqi Xinjiang Television Network, 05/07/97

Wang Lequan, autonomous regional party committee secretary, was

interviewed by Yoshito Horie, a reporter from Japan's Asahi Shimbun, in

Urumqi this morning.

[video shows Wang speaking to Horie through an interpreter in a

reception room]

Wang Lequan told the Japanese reporter:

A common wish of people of all ethnic groups in our region is to live

and work in peace and contentment. The pursuit of separatism does not

enjoy popular support. The government will never be softhearted toward

a handful of ethnic separatists and radical religious forces that

endanger national security and carry out violent and terrorist

activities, and it will deal them a relentless blow. Through

rectification and stepped-up education among cadres and people, we will

strengthen grass-roots organs of state power, safeguard stability, and

speed up Xinjiang's economic construction. During this morning's

interview, Wang Lequan briefed Yoshito Horie on our region's social

stability, ethnic unity, and economic development.

He said:

During the Eighth Five-Year Plan period, Xinjiang made rapid progress

in all areas of work. Infrastructure there improved greatly, and

bumper harvests of grain, cotton, and oil-bearing crops were reaped for

several years in a row. Xinjiang still lags behind inland and coastal

areas, however. I believe Xinjiang will embark on the path of rapid

development in the near future, given the state's implementation of

special policies toward Central and West China, and the development of

our region's two pillar industries -- petroleum and cotton -- during

the Ninth Five-Year Plan period. People's living standards will also

undergo tremendous changes.

In closing, he expressed the hope that more friends from foreign news

organizations would visit Xinjiang to take a look and deepen mutual

understanding.

[video shows Wang, Horie, and the interpreter standing for a group

photo]