1st subway in China's Xinjiang to require riders to show ID

The first subway line in the northwestern Chinese city of Urumqi will require riders to show identification, adding to a growing list of security regulations in the restive surrounding region of Xinjiang.

The rule, published by the official Xinhua News Agency, allows for fines of up to 200 yuan ($32) for violators once the line begins running later this year.

Xinjiang is home to the Uighur (WEE-gur) Muslim ethnic group, which monitoring groups say has been targeted in a sweeping surveillance and security campaign that has sent thousands of people into detention and political indoctrination centers.

Officials say the crackdown is necessary to stamp out a long-simmering separatist movement fed in part by Islamic extremism. Hundreds have died in violent clashes over recent years blamed by the government on separatists.