China defends 'anti-extremism' measures in Xinjiang as scrutiny mounts

FILE PHOTO: A police officer checks the identity card of a man as security forces keep watch in a street in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 24, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo

BEIJING (Reuters) - Vocational training is being used "to the greatest extent" in China's far-western Xinjiang region to ensure militant activities are "eliminated before they occur," a senior Communist Party official said.

The state media interview with Shohrat Zakir, the number two party official and most senior ethnic Uighur in Xinjiang, is China's most detailed defence yet of its policies in the region, which is home to a large Muslim population.