RTRATFL.jpg (Photo : Reuters)
Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region will require residents to show an ID to buy fireworks for Chinese New Year, authorities announced on Tuesday.
The action is meant to prevent terrorists from getting a hold of the explosives and reduce safety risks from poor-quality fireworks.
The work safety department has demanded all firework retail outlets to install a system to track the flow of commodities and record the type and quantity of products purchased by each customer, said Li Jianghui, an official with the region's work safety department.
According to Guo Zhirong, head of the regional fireworks industry association, 19 fireworks manufacturers in Xinjiang and from dozens across the country have been approved to sell fireworks products this year.
Beijing blames the violence on "religious extremists," "separatists" and "terrorists" and has responded by launching a severe crackdown in recent months, with hundreds of arrests as well as campaigns against religious practices such as the wearing of veils, News Station reported.
The action is also meant to curb the rising violence from the separatist movement led by some Uyghurs, a Turkic-speaking and mainly Muslim ethnic group in the region.
In September last year, a series of blasts and a subsequent police crackdown against terrorists left at least 50 people dead, the state media reported. Also, a police was shot and six alleged bombers were killed in Xinjiang's Shule County, according to regional government portal Tianshan.
In the Spring Festival of 2014, customers were required to register using their ID cards if they were purchasing more than five boxes of fireworks.
The Global Times accounted that Chinese people traditionally light fireworks and firecrackers to celebrate the Spring Festival, or China's lunar New Year, which falls on Feb. 19 this year. The noise from the fireworks is meant to scare away evil spirits and bad luck.
