Originally Published by New York Times, 13 January 2010

BEIJING — The government of the vast western region of Xinjiang, which last July was rocked by China’s deadliest ethnic violence in decades, is almost doubling its security budget this year compared with 2009, according to a report on Wednesday in China Daily, an official English-language newspaper.

The move is an indication of how deeply worried Chinese officials are that members of the Uighur and Han ethnic groups could clash again in the cities and desert oasis towns of the oil-rich region, and of the extraordinary measures the officials are taking to clamp down on the area.

The Uighurs are a Turkic-speaking, primarily Muslim people who often say the ethnic Han, who make up the majority of China’s population, discriminate against them. The Uighurs are the largest ethnic group in Xinjiang but are concerned by the displacement of their culture as growing numbers of Han migrants settle in the area.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/world/asia/14xinjiang.html