Xinjiang issues China's first local counterterrorism law

URUMQI -- The regional government of Xinjiang unveiled China's first local counterterrorism law Friday.

Based on China's Counterterrorism Law, passed in December 2015, the regional law details and supplements the national law in defining terror activities and terrorists, security precautions, intelligence, investigations, countermeasures and punishment.

The local rules, which feature measures to implement the nation's Counterterrorism Law in the region and contain 61 items in 10 chapters, took effect Aug. 1.

The legislative commission of the regional people's congress said the new measures stress that religious extremism is the ideological basis of terrorism and must be prevented and punished.

Nayim Yasen, head of the standing committee of the regional legislature, said Xinjiang, as the main battlefield in China's war against terrorism, has gained experience in combating terrorism in recent years, ensuring the practicality and effectiveness of the new law.