Published by: THE WORLD UYGHUR NETWORK NEWS 1 October 1997

Beijing Xinhua Domestic Service, 9/26/97

Beijing, 17 Sep (Xinhua) - Today, the 15th National Party Congress held a news conference for Chinese and foreign reporters. Congress news spokesman Li Bing invited Chen Kuiyuan, secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Party Committee [TARPC]; Raidi, executive deputy secretary of the TARPC and chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Regional People's Congress Standing Committee; Wang Lequan, secretary of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional Party Committee [XUARPC]; and Abdulahat Abdurixit, deputy secretary of the XUARPC and chairman of the Xinjiang Autonomous Regional Government, to introduce relevant situations in Tibet and Xinjiang and answer Chinese and foreign reporters' questions.

When Wang Lequan introduced the situation in Xinjiang, he said:

"The people of all nationalities in Xinjiang get along with one another in harmony. In particular, earth-shaking changes have taken place in Xinjiang since the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee.

Xinjiang has enjoyed economic development; markets have prospered throughout the autonomous region; and the people's living standards have improved to a very great extent. The agricultural sector of Xinjiang has been reaping bumper harvests for more than a decade successively; this year will be another bumper-harvest year. Xinjiang has shown an increase in the production of grain, cotton, oil-bearing crops, and sugar-yielding crops for years on end. Particularly, with regard to cotton, Xinjiang is one of the largest commodity cotton bases of China.

Though industrial production was very backward in the past, current industrial output value has surpassed that of the agricultural sector. In the period of the "Eighth Five-Year" Plan, the economic growth rate of Xinjiang surpassed the average level of the whole country; its GDP increased at an average rate of 12.5 percent a year; and its financial revenue maintained a growth rate of more than 15 percent every year. Xinjiang's per-capita GDP ranked the 12th and per-capita financial income the 14th in China.

According to Xinjiang's program for development, we shall make full use of our advantageous resources and establish our own pillar industries to expedite entire economic and social development. The people of all nationalities in Xinjiang are full of confidence in striving to be ranked among advanced provinces and regions early next century."

A reporter asked:

"What is the situation of social stability in Xinjiang now?"

Wang Lequan said:

"Sometime ago, incidents of beating, smashing, looting and disturbance occurred in Xinjiang. They were committed by an extremely small number of evildoers. What they did went against the will of the people and was resolutely opposed by the people of all nationalities in Xinjiang. On the whole, both political situation and social situation are stable in Xinjiang."

A reporter asked:

"How are national relations in Xinjiang now?"

Abdulahat Abdurixit answered:

"Led by the party, all nationalities in Xinjiang have jointly developed, built, and safeguarded frontiers. They have forged profound bonds of friendship in their hard work together. The prosperity Xinjiang enjoys now is a result of efforts jointly made by the people of all nationalities to carry out construction.

A new type of national relations characterized by equality, mutual help, and unity is established between various nationalities in Xinjiang now. The Han nationality and other minority nationalities are inseparable from each other. It was only a small number of people who stirred up contradictions between different nationalities and conducted activities aimed at splitting the motherland. The overwhelming majority of people in Xinjiang ardently love socialism and maintain the unification of the motherland."