China deploys more troops in Xinjiang to plug infiltration

China arrested 27,164 criminal suspects last year in the volatile Xinjiang and authorities have beefed up security in the violence-prone region which borders PoK and Afghanistan by deploying more troops, making it the country's largest provincial-level military region.
The military reinforcement comes against a backdrop of the US troops pulling out of Afghanistan and extremists launching terrorist attacks on civilian targets, state-run China Daily reported.
Xinjiang, the province with majority of Uygur Muslims is experiencing most violent attacks in by East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), an Al-Qaeda backed outfit which became active in the backdrop of unrest between Uygurs and Han migrants.

Peng Yong, commander of the PLA Xinjiang military region, said troops will vigorously enforce border controls and carry out "realistic combat training".
The Xinjiang military region is a regional command that covers Xinjiang and the Ali area in the west of the Tibet not far from Indian border.
"We have the responsibility to stay on high alert and strike hard against terrorist activities in the region," Peng said.

Three more PLA Generals have been appointed to the Xinjiang military region, including Li Wei, a major general, who will serve as its commissar.
The two other appointees, Ye Jianjun and Han Bingcheng, are also major generals, the Daily report said.

Sources familiar with the Chinese military system said Xinjiang is the largest provincial-level military region in China, the report said.
It has four deputy commanders and four deputy commissars, while other military regions normally have only one deputy commander and one deputy commissar.
Meanwhile, prosecutors have approved the arrests of 27,164 criminal suspects last year, an increase of more than 95 per cent year-on-year, the chief prosecutor of the region was quoted as saying by the report.
"We've shortened the time between approving arrests and prosecution in major terrorist-related cases so the suspects can be tried as soon as possible to show the region's determination to fight terrorism in accordance with the law," said Nixiang Yibulayin, Xinjiang's chief prosecutor was quoted as saying to the region's legislature.

Significantly like other Chinese official media, the China Daily report too stated that Xinjiang shared border with Pakistan, while that part of the territory is part of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir which links up with Chinese city Kashgar.