Uighur official admonishes cadres:

Asia

A senior Uighur official in China’s restive western region of Xinjiang has admonished other Communist Party “cadres” from the mostly Muslim Uighur minority for failing to pull their weight in the fight against terrorism, state media said.

China has increased security in Xinjiang to fight what it sees as a grave threat from Islamist extremists stirring up ethnic tension.

Rights groups say that party restrictions on the religion and culture of the Uighurs create simmering resentment of the state and of policies that encourage the majority Han people to move to the region in vast numbers.

“I have become deeply aware, in these severely complicated circumstances, that we Uighur cadres have not taken on the bulk of the work (in fighting terrorism),” said Mehmet Emin Bekri, a top official in south Xinjiang’s Kashgar city, according to a post on an official city account on WeChat, a popular social media app. (RTRS)

A couple dressed in Japanese traditional wedding Kimonos pose for a wedding photograph under the blooming cherry blossoms in Tokyo on April 5. (AP)