China's capital boosted armed police patrols on Monday following a spate of attacks the government blames on terrorists seeking independence for the northwestern region of Xinjiang.

With three weeks to go before the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, Beijing's police force said on its microblog that 150 additional vehicles and nearly 2,000 police and auxiliaries were being assigned to guard key intersections around the city of more than 20 million people.

The measure was taken to increase the public's sense of security, intimidate would-be assailants, and shorten response times to violent incidents, the police statement said.

"This armed patrol brigade will speedily and effectively take down all forms of terrorist activity," it said.

China has increased security countrywide in the wake of two recent attacks at train stations that killed 30 people and at least two attackers. The assaults were blamed on extremists from among Xinjiang's native Turkic Muslim Uighur ethnic group.

The violence has also included an unprecedented attack last year on Tiananmen Gate in the heart of Beijing that killed three Uighur assailants and two tourists.

Although Uighur separatists have been waging a low-level insurgency for decades, recent attacks have been bolder and bloodier, targeting civilians and underscoring shortfalls in Beijing's ability to respond.

Uighur activists say the violence is being fueled by restrictive and discriminatory policies imposed by China's majority Han ethnic group.

China has blamed several incidents on overseas-based separatist radicals in the East Turkistan Islamic Organization, although it has presented little evidence.

