China's President Xi Jinping on Saturday urged the minorities in the country to forge "ethnic unity" and a sense of community for the Chinese nation even as new laws have been introduced to repress minorities' identity.
The Chinese President made the remarks while addressing the annual session of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature. Xi was listing out the basic "convictions", that were to take the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) forward.
Xi called for efforts to help all ethnic groups stay closely united "like the seeds of a pomegranate that stick together" in jointly building the great motherland, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Xi also said that when ethnic groups are united and in harmony, people will live happily in a prosperous country and a stable society, adding that any work that can help forge a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation should be done in a thorough, meticulous and solid manner.
He also said that "full and rigorous governance must be exercised over the Party to root out any elements that would harm the Party's advanced nature and purity".
The remarks come after a series of reports highlighting the new draconian measures that the Chinese authorities have introduced in ethnic minority-dominated areas like Tibet.
A new code of conduct for members of the CCP in Tibet explicitly forbids party members from all forms of religiosity in both public and private life. The six-point code of conduct is the first party regulation that clearly and comprehensively details the specific types of religiosity forbidden for party members in Tibet, The Hong Kong Post had reported.
Another regulation called 'Measures on the Administration of Internet Religious Informative Services' which came into effect on March 1 bans all foreign organizations and individuals from spreading religious content online in China and Tibet except those who have acquired government licenses.
Around the same time, nearly 800 Uyghurs were detained in the Manas county of Xinjiang region, Radio Free Asia reported citing an official from the area who previously worked at the detention facility.
According to the official, these Uyghur inmates had been arrested for committing "serious crimes," such as praying, were being taught "the national language" of Mandarin Chinese in the camp.
As a part of its crackdown on ethnic minority groups, Chinese authorities have targeted and arrested Muslim Uyghur businessmen, intellectuals, and cultural and religious figures in Xinjiang for years reported the media outlet.
Nearly 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities are said to be held in a network of detention camps in Xinjiang since 2017, allegedly to prevent religious extremism and terrorist activities.
Notably, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday said that the Chinese government "continues to commit genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang against predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other minority groups" while addressing the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
( With inputs from ANI )
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