BEIJING - When news broke last week that Xinjiang's Communist Party chief Chen Quanguo was stepping down after five years of iron-fisted rule in the once-restive region, some China watchers thought Beijing was finally softening its stance.
After all, it had moved Mr Chen from Tibet - where he, too, governed with a strong hand - to Xinjiang in 2016 to be equally tough, if not tougher, after terrorist attacks in the western region.
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