China replaced the unpopular Communist Party boss for the restive Xinjiang region on Saturday, months after ethnic riots killed nearly 200 in the sprawling far-western region. State media reports gave no immediate reason for removing Wang Lequan, 65, who had served as party boss in Xinjiang since 1995. He was replaced by Zhang Chunxian, who turns 57 next month and has been the party boss in southern Hunan province since November 2006. The official Xinhua News Agency said the change was announced by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. It said Wang had been appointed as the deputy secretary of a political committee of the Central Committee. It is not known if he is still a member of the party’s Politburo, the 25-member body near the pinnacle of power in China. Read more on msnbc.msn.com

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