Cold weather in China has discouraged people to donate blood, as blood supplies have gone down rapidly in many provinces, officials said. “Few are willing to donate blood in such cold weather, and many non-local people have gone home for the Spring Festival,” said Zeng Jia, an official with the provincial blood centre in southeastern [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Xinjiang’
Blood donation in China goes down due to cold
January 14th, 2011 |
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China replaces top Communist boss in Xinjiang region
April 24th, 2010 |
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China has replaced the most powerful official in its western region of Xinjiang, where ethnic violence left nearly 200 people dead last July. Wang Lequan, who had served as secretary of the Communist Party in Xinjiang since 1994, was replaced by Zhang Chunxian, state media say.
India closely watching China’s border infrastructure: Krishna
April 21st, 2010 |
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India is keeping a close watch on China’s military modernisation and infrastructure in the border regions in Tibet and has taken necessary measures to safeguard its security, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said here Wednesday.
He also said in the Lok Sabha that Beijing has denied any plan to divert the Brahmaputra river by digging a [...]
Advanced Holdings wins 3 O&G contracts worth $8.5m in China; posts 27. …
February 24th, 2010 |
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Advanced Holdings, the global supplier of proprietary process equipment and technologies, clean energy solutions and environmental technologies, says it has secured three petrochemical and oil & gas contracts worth $8.5 million in China, bringing the group’s order book to $41 million.
Two of these projects are for petrochemicals plants in Daqing (Heilongjiang province) and Dushanzi (Xinjiang province) both owned by PetroChina, the largest oil producing group in China, to supply process equipment in their ethylene plants. These projects will start in 2Q 2010 and are expected to be completed in mid-2011.
Don’t mess with us
December 30th, 2009 |
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No forgiveness; no quarter. Happy Christmas from China
A SEASON of good cheer in much of the world, late December saw a typically harsh apportionment of justice by China’s legal system, and a typically rigid display of governmental indifference to foreign opinion. On Christmas Day a Beijing court sentenced Liu Xiaobo, a veteran human-rights activist, to 11 years in prison for “inciting subversion of state power”. China swatted away all criticism about this as groundless meddling in its internal affairs.
In a separate case that was not entirely an internal affair, China’s reaction was not much different. On December 21st Akmal Shaikh, a 53-year-old Briton charged with smuggling drugs, had his death sentence upheld by China’s Supreme People’s Court. Rejecting pleas for clemency from Mr Shaikh’s family, international human-rights groups, and the British government, Chinese authorities executed him by lethal injection on December 29th in the north-western region of Xinjiang, where he was first arrested in late 2007 after carrying roughly 4kg of heroin into the country. …
China sentences six to death over Xinjiang riots
October 13th, 2009 |
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A Chinese court in the restive far western region of Xinjiang on Monday sentenced six people to death for murder and other crimes committed during ethnic rioting in July in which almost 200 people were killed.
It was not immediately clear from the brief report by the official Xinhua news agency if any of the [...]
Beijing restaurant destroyed by explosion
September 25th, 2009 |
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A gas explosion has leveled a Xinjiang restaurant in downtown Beijing, weeks after the latest tensions in that area in the west of the country and ahead of next week’s sensitive 60th anniversary of communist China’s founding. The restaurant in the Xinjiekou area of central Beijing collapsed.
China sentences suspects in syringe attacks scare
September 12th, 2009 |
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A court in far-west China has tried and sentenced three suspects accused of joining in an outburst of needle-stabbing that ignited sometimes deadly riots and deepened ethnic divisions in the tense region. The Intermediate Court of Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang region, on Saturday
New unrest in Xinjiang capital Urumqi
September 3rd, 2009 |
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New unrest broke out in China’s restive Xinjiang region, as demonstrators took to the streets of the capital Urumqi to protest deteriorating public safety. This follows reported syringe attacks in Urumqi and comes nearly two months after violent rioting there killed nearly 200 people.
Tibet ‘Chinese issue’ says Dalai
August 10th, 2009 |
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By Shirong Chen
BBC News
Dalai Lama giving a press conference in Geneva – 7 August 2009″ border=”0″ vspace=”4″ hspace=”4″>
The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has said the Tibetan issue is a Chinese domestic problem.
His statement, given in an interview with the BBC, may breathe new life into the deadlocked talks between him and the government in Beijing.
But he also said Beijing’s policy on ethnic minorities was a "failure".
The Dalai Lama has been campaigning for "meaningful autonomy" for Tibetans within China, but talks ended last year in bitter accusations from Beijing.
Between 2002 and 2008, nine rounds of negotiations were conducted between Chinese officials and his representatives.
They degenerated from the initial cautious welcome to recriminations from the Chinese side.
Waiting for signals
In an exclusive interview with the BBC Chinese Service, the Dalai Lama said: "The Chinese government considers our problem a domestic one. And we also."
From the late 1980s, his "middle way" approach to the Tibet issue has gained international sympathy and eventually won him the Nobel Peace Prize.
THE TIBET DIVIDE- China says Tibet was always part of its territory
- Tibet enjoyed long periods of autonomy before 20th century
- In 1950, China launched a military assault
- Opposition to Chinese rule led to a bloody uprising in 1959
- Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama fled to India
- Dalai Lama now advocates a "middle way" with Beijing, seeking autonomy but not independence
But his proposals, including autonomy for Tibetans outside the present boundary of the Tibet Autonomous Region, have been described by Beijing as a "back door to splitting the motherland".
The mood worsened last year after the riots in Lhasa and other Tibetan communities surrounding Tibet.
The 74-year-old Dalai Lama put on a brave face during the wide-ranging and candid interview.
However, he admitted there had been no contact with Beijing after the talks with the Chinese government became deadlocked last year.
"We are simply waiting" for Beijing to send signals, he said.
On the future of the relationship between the Chinese government and the Tibetan community, the Dalai Lama pointed out that there were growing signs of frustration and resentment among the younger generation.
As long as he lived they would follow his instructions on non-violence, he said, but after he was gone they would have a free hand, something he called "quite serious".
The Tibet issue reflects wider ethnic problems in China.
While acknowledging the Chinese Communist Party as adaptive to new realities, the Dalai Lama described China’s policy on ethnic minorities as "a failure".
He said Beijing’s approach to the autonomous regions of Xinjiang and Tibet was not realistic.
"They always look from only one angle – how to keep, how to control. Only that angle. They don’t care about what the local people are feeling."
Nevertheless, the Dalai Lama called the recent riots in Xinjiang "very sad", saying he totally disagreed with violence and that "that kind of riot is no help to solving the problem".
The Chinese embassy in the UK was shown the interview and asked for a response, but declined to do so.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
China turns back Xinjiang plane
August 9th, 2009 |
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An aircraft bound for Urumqi in China’s restive Xinjiang region has been threatened with a bomb attack, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reports.
Airport officials were told not to let the plane to land, Xinhua said. It later said the plane had landed in Kandahar, citing diplomatic sources.
The agency had earlier reported the incident as a hijacking.
It did not specify whether the threat to the plane came from on board the aircraft itself, in its latest report.
The incident comes a month after about 200 people died in ethnic violence in Xinjiang’s regional capital, Urumqi.
Deadly clashes erupted between Han Chinese and the region’s Muslim Uighurs, some of whom want greater autonomy from China.
Since then China has maintained a heavy security presence in the region.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
China ‘to charge 83 over riots’
August 4th, 2009 |
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Chinese police say they will charge 83 people in connection with ethnic riots in Xinjiang last month that left almost 200 dead, state media report.
The group face charges including murder and arson, Xinhua said, adding that no dates had been set for the trials.
Xinhua also said 718 people had been detained, in what is the first official tally from the police in Urumqi city.
Police previously confirmed the arrests of more than 1,500 people, but it is unclear how many were later released.
"Those arrested will face charges of murder, intentional injury, arson and robbery," the report cited Urumqi’s chief prosecutor, Utiku’er Abudrehman, as saying.
"We want an independent investigation to establish the correct number [of detentions]"
Dilxat Raxit
World Uighur Congress
It marks the first step in prosecuting those implicated in the violence that saw fighting erupt between Muslim Uighurs and members of China’s dominant Han ethnic group.
A spokesman for the World Uighur Congress dismissed the official figure of 718 detentions, saying hundreds more Uighurs were being held.
"The numbers they give are simply not credible," said Dilxat Raxit. "We want an independent investigation to establish the correct number."
The violence in Xinjiang was the worst ethnic unrest in China for decades.
It began on 5 July during a protest over a brawl in southern China in which two Uighurs were killed. The government says 197 people died in the ensuing violence, and more than 1,700 were injured.
The government says most of the dead were Han Chinese, but the World Uighur Congress claims many Uighurs also were killed.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Xinjiang arrests ‘now over 1,500′
August 3rd, 2009 |
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Chinese police have recently arrested 319 people for last month’s violence in Xinjiang, according to state media.
This brings the total number of people detained over the riots to more than 1,500, although it is unclear how many people have since been released.
The violence between ethnic Uighurs and Han Chinese left almost 200 dead.
Meanwhile, Beijing has claimed that relatives of exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer have written letters criticising her over the riots.
Beijing has repeatedly blamed Mrs Kadeer – the head of the World Uighur Congress – for triggering the violence, a claim she vehemently denies.
A spokesman for the congress said the letters were fake.
Simmering unrest
The violence in Xinjiang was the worst ethnic unrest in China for decades.
It began on 5 July during a protest over a brawl in southern China in which two Uighurs were killed.
The government says 197 people died in the ensuing violence, and more than 1,700 were injured.
The government says most of the dead were Han Chinese, but the World Uighur Congress claims many Uighurs also were killed.
The 319 people who have been detained recently are in addition to 253 detentions last week and more than 1,000 before that, according to Xinhua news agency.
The most recent arrests came as a result of a call for information from the public, Xinhua said.
In the aftermath of the riots, local media published a list of wanted men and urged people to turn in suspects who were still at large.
It is unclear what proportion of those detained are Uighur or Han, or if any of them have been since charged or released.
Children’s letter
As head of the World Uighur Congress, Mrs Kadeer is often accused by China of fomenting unrest in Xinjiang, and has been blamed for orchestrating the July riots.
According to Chinese media, Mrs Kadeer’s son Khahar and daughter Roxingul, as well as her younger brother Memet, have written letters condemning their mother over the unrest.
"Because of you, many innocent people of all ethnic groups lost their lives in Urumqi on 5 July, with huge damage to property, shops and vehicles," Xinhua quotes one letter as saying.
"We want a stable and safe life… Please think about the happiness of us and your grandchildren. Don’t destroy our happy life here. Don’t follow the provocation from some people in other countries."
It is difficult to independently authenticate the letters, but Dilxat Raxit, a spokesman for the World Uighur Congress based in Germany, quickly rejected them as fakes.
"It’s not possible that one of her family members would write such a letter," he told reporters.
Five of Mrs Kadeer’s 11 children still live in Xinjiang, and according to human rights groups they have experienced many forms of harassment because of their mother.
Her eldest son, Khahar, was reportedly fined and forced to liquidate his mother’s business and two other sons have been given jail terms – one for tax evasion, the other for "secessionist" activities.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Uighur Kadeer arrives in Tokyo
July 28th, 2009 |
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Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer has arrived in Tokyo for a visit which has prompted an angry reaction from China.
Mrs Kadeer is expected to use her five-day stay to drum up support for the minority group.
Beijing holds that Mrs Kadeer was behind a recent outbreak of deadly ethnic unrest in Xinjiang province.
But Mrs Kadeer, once a businesswoman in China and now leader of the exile group the World Uighur Congress, has denied any involvement.
Her visit to Japan will include a news conference and meeting with members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
On Monday, Chinese ambassador Cui Tiankai called Mrs Kadeer a criminal.
"How would the people of Japan feel if a violent crime occurs in Japan and its mastermind is invited by a third country" Mr Cui was quoted as saying by Kyodo news agency.
He hinted that the visit could harm relations between China and Japan.
"We must prevent important matters that should be worked on together from being disturbed by a criminal or attention to our common interests from being diverted," he said.
Culture threat
Mrs Kadeer, who now lives in the US, was imprisoned in China for six years until 2005 on charges of endangering national security.
Nearly 200 people – mostly Han Chinese – died in the clashes between Uighurs and Han Chinese in the western province of Xinjiang, according to Chinese officials. Uighur exiles say hundreds of Uighurs were killed.
The unrest began on 5 July during a protest by Uighurs over a brawl in southern China in late June in which two people were killed.
China’s Uighurs are concentrated in Xinjiang but complain their rights and culture are being overridden by an influx of Han migrants from outside the region.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
China and Russia join for military exercise
July 26th, 2009 |
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The exercise comes weeks after China’s worst ethnic unrest in decades between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese in the far-western region of Xinjiang
Chinese hack site over Uighur film
July 26th, 2009 |
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Beijing unhappy at decision to screen film about exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer, accused of plotting Urumqi riots
Chinese hackers have attacked the website of Australia’s biggest film festival over its decision to screen a documentary about the exiled Uighur leader, Rebiya Kadeer.
Yesterday], two days after the Melbourne international festival opened, hackers replaced programme information with the Chinese flag and anti-Kadeer slogans and sent spam emails in an attempt to crash the site, according to reports in the Australian press.
“We like film but we hate Rebiya Kadeer,” one message said, demanding an apology to the Chinese people.
The festival director, Richard Moore, said staff had been bombarded with abusive emails after he rebuffed demands from the Chinese government to drop the film about Kadeer, The 10 Conditions of Love, and cancel her invitation to the festival.
“The language has been vile,” Moore told the Melbourne Age. “It is obviously a concerted campaign to get us because we’ve refused to comply with the Chinese government’s demands.”
He said the festival had reported the attacks, which appear to be coming from a Chinese internet protocol address, and was discussing security concerns with Victoria’s state police. Private security guards are being hired to protect Kadeer and other patrons at the film’s screening on August 8.
Kadeer denies Beijing’s claim that she masterminded this month’s riots in Xinjiang’s capital, Urumqi, in which almost 200 people died.The 10 Conditions of Love, directed by the Australian filmmaker Jeff Daniels, describes Kadeer’s relationship with her activist husband Sidik Rouzi and reveals the impact of her campaign for more autonomy for China’s 10 million mainly Muslim Uighurs on her 11 children, three of whom have received jail sentences.
Once one of the richest women in Xinjiang and held up as an exemplar of China’s purported multi-ethnic harmony, Rebiya Kadeer now heads two prominent Uighur exile groups, speaking out against Beijing’s oppression of the Turkic-speaking minority.
Kadeer’s persecution by the Chinese and her stature as a public face of the Uighur people have earned her comparisons to the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader. Like him, she has been an unrelenting target for Chinese opprobrium.
Her appearance at the Melbourne film festival means the event has also come into Chinese sights. Last week, three Chinese directors withdrew films, with two denying they were forced to do so by Chinese authorities. Director Tang Xiaobai, who withdrew her film Perfect Life after being phoned by the Chinese foreign ministry and the state administration of radio, film and television, said it was her decision to boycott the festival.
“I do not want to see my film screened on the same platform as a film about Kadeer,” Tang told the official English-language newspaper China Daily.
The row over the Kadeer documentrary is not the only row to hit the festival. The British film director, Ken Loach, last week withdrew his film, Looking for Eric, in protest at its decision to accept sponsorship from Israel.
The slogan of the Melbourne film festival is “Everyone’s a critic”.
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Chinese hack film festival site
July 26th, 2009 |
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Chinese hackers have attacked the website of Australia’s biggest film festival over a documentary about Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer.
Content on the Melbourne International Film Festival site was briefly replaced with the Chinese flag and anti-Kadeer slogans on Saturday, reports said.
In an earlier protest on Friday, Beijing withdrew four Chinese films.
Melbourne’s The Age newspaper says private security guards have been hired to protect Kadeer and other film-goers.
She is due to attend the screening of Ten Conditions of Love, by Australian documentary-maker Jeff Daniels, on 8 August.
‘Vile language’
Chinese authorities blame Kadeer – leader of the World Uighur Congress – for inciting ethnic unrest in Xinjiang, charges she denies.
Earlier this month, around 200 people died and 1,600 were injured during fighting in the region between the mostly Muslim Uighurs and settlers from China’s Han majority.
Kadeer, 62, spent six years in a Chinese prison before she was released into exile in the US in 2005. In 2004, she won the Rafto Prize for human rights.
Richard Moore, head of the Melbourne International Film Festival, told the Age his staff had been bombarded with abusive emails after the festival refused the Chinese government’s demands to withdraw the film about Kadeer and cancel her invitation to the festival.
"The language has been vile," Mr Moore said. "It is obviously a concerted campaign to get us."
He said police were investigating the website attacks, which appear to come from a Chinese internet address.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Chinese directors shun festival
July 22nd, 2009 |
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Two Chinese directors have boycotted Australia’s biggest film festival over the screening of a documentary about political activist Rebiya Kadeer.
Richard Moore, head of the Melbourne International Film Festival, said their films were pulled after he ignored political pressure from Beijing.
He told the AFP news agency "It’s hard to draw any other conclusion."
Chinese authorities blame Kadeer – leader of the World Uighur Congress – for inciting ethnic unrest in Xinjiang.
Earlier this month, at least 197 people died and more than 1,600 were injured during fighting in the region between the mostly Muslim Uighurs and a growing number of settlers from China’s Han majority.
Kadeer, 62, spent six years in a Chinese prison before she was released into exile in the US in 2005.
In 2004, she won the Rafto Prize for human rights.
She is expected to attend the screening of Ten Conditions of Love, by Australian documentary-maker Jeff Daniels.
‘Annoyed and irritated’
In a statement, Mr Moore said Jia Zhangke, director of the short film Cry Me A River, and Emily Tang, the director of Perfect Life, "have decided to withdraw their films from this year’s festival".
He added that Ms Tang had cancelled her trip to Melbourne as a guest of the festival.
Mr Moore said the screening of Ten Conditions of Love, which has sold out at the event, was the subject of a phone call from a Chinese consular official last week.
But he said the festival would stand firm by its decision to include the documentary in the programme.
He told AFP: "It makes me feel angry, annoyed and irritated all at the same time, that they would try to interfere with our programme for blatantly political ends."
China has not commented on the films being withdrawn.
A third Chinese film-maker, Zhao Liang, has also asked the festival to drop his film Petition, a controversial documentary examining injustices in China’s court system. </p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
China admits Uighur riot killings
July 18th, 2009 |
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A Chinese official says police shot dead 12 Uighur rioters in Urumqi this month, in a rare government admission of deaths inflicted by security forces.
Nuer Baikeli, governor of Xinjiang region and himself a Uighur, said those killed had ignored police warning shots and were attacking civilians and shops.
He said police had shown restraint and had no choice but to act.
Some 200 people – mostly Han Chinese – died in the clashes between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese in Urumqi.
"The rioters, the criminals, continued to act in an extremely vicious manner, insisted on having their way, and continued to threaten the lives of others," he told reporters.
"It was at this point that our public security forces and military police decisively fired. They shot dead 12 rioters. Of them, three died on site, and nine died as people tried to save them."
The violence in Xinjiang began on 5 July during a protest by Uighurs over a brawl in southern China in late June in which two people were killed.
Uighur groups in exile have said hundreds of Uighurs were killed.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Uighurs under blanket security in Urumqi
July 18th, 2009 |
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