A county in China’s troubled Xinjiang province has given 16 police officers and two members of the public just over 1 million yuan (US$160,000 or HK$1.12 million) for their contributions to helping maintain stability.

Hotan county in the region’s south gave a total of 1.09 million yuan to the 18 recipients, who also included three police officers who were promoted and given a raise, the region’s official news website Ts.cn reported. The report did not elaborate on what contributions they made.

Massive show of force staged in China’s Xinjiang region after terrorist attack

Xinjiang, which shares borders with eight nations in south and central Asia and is home to a large Muslim population of mainly Turkic-speaking Uygurs, has witnessed a wave of violence in recent years that has claimed hundreds of lives.

The government blames the violence on Islamist separatists and extremist forces, while rights groups said the government’s oppressive policies on religion and discrimination against the Uygurs and their way of life has inflamed the situation.

Hotan prefecture, which administers Hotan county and where 96 per cent of the population of 2 million are Uygurs, has witnessed two violent attacks in recent months. Eight people died in a knife attack in February and five were killed in a bombing in December.