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Beijing: A senior Chinese tourism official reassured Olympic visitors on Tuesday that the country is safe to visit despite an attack in the far western region of Xinjiang.
Sixteen policemen died in an attack on Monday in the former Silk Road city of Kashgar in Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur people.
"These kinds of things happen in other parts of the world too, and of course it will naturally have a psychological effect on tourists," said Du Jiang, deputy head of the China National Tourism Administration.
"But I think this is an individual incident. At the same time there has been no fundamental change to the fact that we are basically a safe travel destination," he added.
"I believe that through stepping up our work we can get the message across once again that China is safe and good value," he said.
He admitted, however, that the bad publicity in the run-up to the Beijing Games, including unrest in Tibet and protests during the torch relay, could put people off coming.
Compounding the problem has been visa curbs and tourist numbers in Beijing have plummeted before the Games, which start on Friday.
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