Improve combat training for Xinjiang police

Police in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China need more realistic combat training in tackling terrorists, the country’s public security minister has said.

Better strategies to prevent and deal with terror attacks are required to ensure stability, said Minister of Public Security Guo Shengkun.

This warning came as police in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, seized around 400 replica guns and 230,000 rounds of ammunition.

Violent and terrorist activities are anti-humanity and anti-society in nature, said Guo, during a two-day study tour of Xinjiang that ended on Monday.

He called on local police to effectively carry out anti-terror measures and address both the root causes and symptoms.

Guo said police training should focus more on realistic combat situations in order to improve how incidents are handled.

Officers should also work on approaches to solving residents’ problems and try to befriend people from various ethnic groups, he added.

During his visit, Guo toured local police stations and communities in Urumqi and Kashgar, and visited the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

Meanwhile, Tang Liang, a spokesman with the Sayibak district bureau of public security in Urumqi, said the weapons and ammunition seizure followed a campaign against guns and explosives this month.

Police first seized 46 replica guns and 230,000 bullets from a store at a wholesale toy market, then discovered more than 350 replica firearms in its warehouse.

The store owner, surnamed Song, has been detained on suspicion of illegal firearms trading.

The replica guns sold for prices ranging from 200 yuan (US$32) to 3,000 yuan, Tang said.

More than 100 of the replica weapons were classified as guns and could cause great damage, he added.

The case is still under investigation.

Knife-wielding assailants killed 29 people and injured 143 at a railway station in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming last month. Evidence linked the attack to terrorists from Xinjiang.