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Uyghur News / Uyghur American Association

» China's rise in crime is expected to continue - 28-February-2010
The Montreal Gazette AILEEN MCCAB Canwest News Service February 27, 2010 China faces rising crime rates and increased social unrest this year, according to the country's top think tank. A new report from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said criminal prosecutions were up 10 per cent and public security cases up nearly 20 per cent in 2009, and it predicted the rise would continue even as the economy improved in 2010. In real numbers, that meant 5.3 million criminal cases and 9.9 million public security cases were prosecuted last year. According to the Beijing Times, the 2009 jump was the first increase China has seen in its crime rate in nearly a decade. The report warned that the widening gap between rich and poor in Chinese society, coupled with increased unemployment, will ensure the crime rate continues to climb. It said things such as robbery, petty theft, fraud and bank-card crimes are likely to increase and that Ponzi schemes and illegal fundraising will be more prevalent

» China insider sees revolution brewing - 26-February-2010
Sydney Morning Herald JOHN GARNAUT February 27, 2010 BEIJING: China's top expert on social unrest has warned that hardline security policies are taking the country to the brink of 'revolutionary turmoil'. In contrast with the powerful, assertive and united China that is being projected to the outside world, Yu Jianrong said his prediction of looming internal disaster reflected on-the-ground surveys and also the views of Chinese government ministers. Deepening social fractures were caused by the Communist Party's obsession with preserving its monopoly on power through 'state violence' and 'ideology', rather than justice, Professor Yu said. Disaster could be averted only if 'interest groups' - which he did not identify - were capable of making a rational compromise to subordinate themselves to the constitution, he said. Some lawyers, economists and religious and civil society leaders have expressed similar views but it is unusual for someone with Professor Yu's official standing to make

» US to rethink its relationship - 25-February-2010
Phnompenh Post Thursday, 25 February 2010 15:03 Sebastian Strangio THE government’s deportation of 20 ethnic Uighur asylum seekers to China in December will likely force the United States to reconsider the nature of its relationship with Cambodia, a senior American official said on Tuesday. Speaking at a daily press briefing in Washington, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs PJ Crowley said the US was still unhappy about the sudden deportation. “We’re deeply disturbed that the Cambodian government, in violation of its international obligations, forcibly removed 20 Uighur asylum seekers to China in December without the benefit of a credible process for determining their refugee status,” he said. “We have expressed our disappointment, and we will factor this into future decisions that we make about our relationship with Cambodia.” In response to questions about what specific measures had been taken, Crowley did not comment, but added: R

» China?s global role - 25-February-2010
Article Link Brij Tankha First Published : 25 Feb 2010 11:07:00 PM IST Last Updated : 24 Feb 2010 11:28:13 PM IST Today the question is not about the rise of China but its role as a global power and how this will affect Asia and the world. The new US administration under President Barack Obama was to usher in a new and less conflictual relationship but has had to face opposition from rivals as well as allies and friends. Relations with the US have deteriorated fuelled by the differences in Copenhagen on climate change, US arms sales to Taiwan, and Obama’s meeting with the Dalai Lama. The handling of Tibetan and Uighur protests, as well as concerns over environmental damage, and curbs on information and opposition have dented China’s image. Far from gradually becoming more open and allowing space for dissent, China has been increasingly restrictive, curbing even peaceful opposition with harsh prison sentences for those who fall out of line. The Chinese media and policy make

» Claims UN ignored Uighur deportation warnings - 25-February-2010
ABC Feb 26, 2010 By Conor Duffy There are claims the United Nations' refugee agency (UNHCR) ignored repeated warnings about the imminent forced deportation of 20 Uighur asylum seekers from Cambodia to China last year. The Cambodian government was condemned around the world when it deported the asylum seekers at gunpoint in December. Two Australian women - joint Nobel Peace Prize winner Sister Denise Coghlan and Taya Hunt, a legal officer with the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) - represented the Uighurs for six months prior to their deportation. The pair have spoken exclusively to AM. Ms Hunt provided legal and humanitarian support to the Uighurs and is one of the few people to have close contact with them. "[They were] very grateful for the assistance we were providing them and generally just a nice, calm group of people," she said. "There was a pregnant woman in the group and her beautiful two children." Ms Hunt says the first Uighur arrived in Cambodia in June and the rest in October.

» Demolishing Kashgar's History - 24-February-2010
By Joshua Hammer Photographs by Michael Christopher Brown Smithsonian magazine, March 2010 If destruction continues unimpeded, preservationists will run out of time to save Kashgar's Uighur quarter (where new construction flanks ancient mosques). "If nothing is done," says Beijing-based preservationist Hu Xinyu, "next year this [Old City] will be gone."The second-story rooms of the centuries-old mud-brick houses were cantilevered atop log beams and nearly touched each other across an alleyway paved with hexagonal stones. Women wearing dark veils leaned out of tiny windows. Poplar doors, painted bright blue or green and adorned with brass floral petals, stood half open—a subtle signal that the master of the house was inside. The aromas of freshly baked bread and ripe peaches wafted up from vendors’ wooden carts. VISIT Smithsonian FOR MORE PICTURE It was early morning and I was exploring the back streets of Kashgar, a fabled city on the western edge of China, with a Chinese

» Groups ask US for funds to break China 'firewall' - 23-February-2010
Article Link AFP Feb 23, 2010 WASHINGTON — A coalition of human rights campaigners on Tuesday urged the US government to fund efforts led by the Falungong spiritual movement to circumvent Internet censorship in China and other nations. Congress approved 30 million dollars in the 2010 budget to combat cyber censorship in China, Iran and elsewhere. But lawmakers have voiced concern that the funding since 2008 has been used ineffectively. In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, rights advocates - most from China - urged that money go to the Global Internet Freedom (GIF) Consortium, originally set up to evade China's Internet "firewall." "By taking the right steps, the United States can make a historic contribution to its own security and to the advancement of democracy by rapidly tearing down the information firewalls of the world's closed societies," it said. The letter was signed by exiled leaders of the 1989 democracy uprising in Tiananmen Square including Chai Ling,

» China Vows Sanctions Against US Companies Will Go Forward - 23-February-2010
VOA 23 February 2010 Peter Simpson | Beijing The rift between China and the United States looks far from healing as Beijing reiterates its plan to punish U.S. companies following disagreements between the two countries. Beijing's anger at Washington over a range of issues from arms sales to Taiwan and the U.S. president's meeting with Tibet's exiled leader the Dalai Lama, showed no signs of abating Tuesday. Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang reaffirmed punitive sanctions against American companies would go ahead, because of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. In addition, China is angry over U.S. positions on a number of issues, including trade, human rights and allegations of Chinese cyber-attacks on U.S. organizations. He says it is up to the United States to heal relations. Qin says that China demands that the U.S. seriously regard China's position and take credible measures to undo the damage done. And, he says, sanctions against U.S. companies will go ahead. Qin refused, however,

» China at risk of a home-grown financial crisis - 22-February-2010
The Financial Times By Jonathan Bell Published: February 22 2010 14:23 The pathology of the western financial crisis is all too familiar: misallocation of capital fuelled by cheap credit and lax regulation, a proliferation of investment vehicles with limited credit assessment, and systemic biases predicated on ever-rising real estate prices. We should worry, then, that Chinese banks may be facilitating a home-grown version, especially as they plan to raise $30bn-$50bn in capital over the coming year. The particular concern is the estimated Rmb3,000bn ($450bn) of local infrastructure loans extended in 2009, representing 30 per cent of the record new bank lending last year. Many were non-recourse loans to provinces, municipalities and counties through shell companies, known as Urban Development Investment Corporations. Some went to fund projects backed by assets, such as commercial real estate, others to projects with future cash flows such as subways and toll roads. Still others are so

» Google will pave way to freedom in China: Dalai Lama - 22-February-2010
The Vancouver Sun By Lisa Baertlei Reuters February 22, 2010 The Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet, said the United States and other countries could help his campaign for a free Tibet by promoting an open society in China. "Censorship ... is the source of the problem," the Dalai Lama said Saturday in Beverly Hills. The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule. He now lives in exile in India and advocates "meaningful autonomy" for Tibet within China. "The Chinese people have no opportunity to know our issue," said the Buddhist monk, who Beijing has branded as a dangerous separatist for demanding Tibetan self-determination. "Once China becomes an open society - freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of information - all this unnecessary fear and doubt will reduce," he said. "That's the real answer for this problem. "Americans can help in this change," he said, adding the lack of free information has helped the Chinese government por

» What are they afraid of? - 22-February-2010
Article Link The Economist Posted: Tuesday, Feb 23, 2010 at 2032 hrs IST Updated: Tuesday, Feb 23, 2010 at 2032 hrs IST “The forces pulling China toward integration and openness are more powerful today than ever before,” said President Bill Clinton in 1999. China then, though battered by the Asian financial crisis, was busy dismantling state-owned enterprises and pushing for admission to the World Trade Organisation. Today, however, those forces look much weaker. A spate of recent events, from the heavy jail sentences passed on human-rights activists to an undiplomatic obduracy at the climate-change negotiations in Copenhagen last December, invite questions about the thinking of China’s leaders. Has their view of the outside world and dissent at home changed? Or were the forces detected by Clinton and so many others after all not pulling so hard in the direction they were expecting? The early years of what China calls its “reform and opening” after 1978 w

» China Foreign Ministers agree to further enhance cooperation... - 22-February-2010
APP Feb 22, 2010 BEIJING, Feb 22 (APP): Foreign Minister of Pakistan Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jeichi Monoday expressed satisfaction at the current state of Pakistan-China strategic cooperation and agreed to further expand cooperation between the two friendly countries in all fields. Foreign Minister of Pakistan, who is currently visiting China, held formal talks with his Chinese counterpart, at the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The official talks lasting more then two hours were followed by a luncheon hosted by Foreign Minister Yang Jeichi in honour of the Pakistan delegation. During the meeting the two sides discussed and reviewed the entire range of bilateral, regional and international issues. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi referred to China as Pakistan’s time tested and all weather friend and underlined that the relations with China remain the corner stone of Pakistan’s foreign policy. He said the exchange of high level visits demonst

» USCI visiting scholar Yang Zhongdong: exploring the interplay between ethnicity, religion, and identity... - 22-February-2010
An interview with USCI's visiting scholar, Yang Zhongdong. Article Link Release Date: 02/22/2010 By Ying Jia Huang “I believe mutual understanding is a very important step in achieving harmony in ethnic areas of China,” said Professor Yang Zhongdong. In a country with fifty-six official ethnicities, China’s cultural, geographic and linguistic diversity is astounding. Yang Zhongdong, a professor at Xinjiang University in Urumqi and currently a visiting scholar at the USC US-China Institute, points out that establishing connections across ethnic lines is the first and most important step in achieving social integration and harmony in China. The Xinjiang Uyghurs Autonomous Region, Professor Yang adds, has thirteen historical ethnicities recognized by the Chinese government and embodies China’s diversity. Since 1999, Professor Yang has taught at Xinjiang University’s School of Humanities, lecturing on the history of Xinjiang. His research interest focuses

» Chinese censors tormented by mythical animal - 22-February-2010
From Times Online February 21, 2010 Jane Macartney, Beijing A new mythical animal is on the prowl on the Chinese internet. The Yake lizard is the latest creation of China’s nimble and imaginative netizens as a way to poke fun at the authorities and their bid to corral online debate and to block access to sites the censors deem inappropriate. Internet satirists were inspired by the language used by a Uighur artist performing on the Spring Festival Gala show, the annual Chinese New Year’s Eve jamboree created and broadcast by China Central Television to entertain viewers gathered at home for the most important festival of the year. Watched by the largest television audience on Earth, it is an opportunity for wholesome family entertainment peppered with propaganda. When the artist from the restive, mainly Muslim western Xinjiang region performed the song “The Party’s Policies are yakexi” – using the Uighur word for “good”, Chinese netizens

» Dissidents, Ex-Political Prisoners Organizing Geneva Rights Summit... - 22-February-2010
Article Link Havel & Walesa Co-Chair; Dissidents to Call for Internet Freedom; 25 NGOs Co-Sponsor GENEVA-(BUSINESS WIRE)-On March 8-9, 2010, to enhance the annual session of the UN Human Rights Council, renowned dissidents, rights activists and experts will come together in Geneva, Switzerland, to urge action against rights abusers, boost democracy dissidents worldwide, and issue a call for internet freedom. The second annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy, to be held at the Geneva international conference center next to the UN, is organized by a global civil society coalition of 25 human rights groups, including Freedom House (www.freeedomhouse.org), Ibuka (www.ibuka.net), UN Watch (http://www.unwatch.org), and Burmese, Tibetan and Zimbabwean organizations (full list at http://genevasummit.org/the_coalition/new), with support from the Canton of Geneva. Co-chairing the summit’s honorary committee are two of the world’s most recognized former dissid

» China's Tibet Tactics - 22-February-2010
The Wall Street Journal FEBRUARY 22, 2010, 10:52 A.M. ET Much ado has been made about President Obama's chat with the Dalai Lama last week and the predictable response from Beijing. "The U.S. act grossly interfered in China's internal affairs, gravely hurt the Chinese people's national sentiments and seriously damaged the Sino-U.S. ties," said a government spokesman with the usual understatement. But the verbal barrage reveals more about China than it does about U.S. policy toward Tibet. Beijing believes it can browbeat other nations into ignoring its human-rights violations in Tibet. In 2008, China canceled a trade summit with the European Union because of a planned meeting between the Dalai Lama and Nicolas Sarkozy. In 2007, shortly after the Dalai Lama received the Congressional gold medal, U.S. warships were turned away from Hong Kong. Similar petty retaliations have followed the Dalai Lama's meetings with leaders in European countries in recent years. The fist-shaking has yielded

» China?s Crises in Tibet and Xinjiang - 22-February-2010
Beijing believes investment is the way out By Ji Da New Epoch Weekly A Tibetan man (L) in traditional clothing watches as Chinese paramilitary troops in riot gear march along the streets of Guomaying,on the Tibetan plateau.(Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images)While those in charge of propaganda work to intoxicate the country with the image of a “harmonious society” at the behest of party leader Hu Jintao, frequent uprisings in China’s western ethnic provinces of Tibet and Xinjiang have, to the embarrassment of officials, laid bare the lie. In fact, the intensifying social conflicts in the west have pushed China’s teetering stability to the limit. Official Chinese media reported that a Tibetan protest on March 14, 2008 resulted in 13 deaths and an economic loss of 200 million yuan (US$29 million). Over the following nine months, numerous other protests broke out in Tibet and surrounding areas. Neighboring Xinjiang Province experienced street protests on an even l

» Rift Widens as U.S. and China Seek Opposing Goals - 19-February-2010
The New York Times February 20, 2010 By EDWARD WONG BEIJING — When President Obama met with the Dalai Lama in the White House on Thursday, he was following a tradition that all recent American presidents had dutifully honored. Yet, to some Chinese Mr. Obama’s support of the Dalai Lama represents something more troubling and disrespectful. The meeting, while low-profile, and the routine announcement last month of American arms sales to Taiwan, were taken as the latest signs that despite China’s rapid ascent, the American government still refused to compromise on issues that China considered sacrosanct: matters of sovereignty and territorial integrity. On Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry called in Jon M. Huntsman Jr., the American ambassador here, to lecture him on the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of the Tibetans, whom China considers a separatist. “At this time, China and the U.S. cannot find any agreement on strategic issues,” said Yan Xuet

» Uyghur Leader Dead at 85 - 18-February-2010
Radio Free Asia Feb 18, 2010 General Mehmet Riza Bekin Pasha's body is carried to its burial site by a military guard in Ankara, Feb. 18, 2010. ISTANBUL, Turkey—Gen. Mehmet Riza Bekin Pasha, an outspoken advocate for ethnic Uyghurs living under Chinese rule, died in the Turkish capital Ankara this week at the age of 85, after a six-month treatment for lung disease at the Gulhane Military Medical Academy here. Active in Uyghur politics and education, he also staged Uyghur-related human rights events in Turkey and founded the nonprofit East Turkestan National Freedom Center, which supported Uyghur students in Turkey and around the world. Rebiya Kadeer, president of the World Uyghur Congress, described him as a forceful leader. “I am so sad to lose my friend—one of strong alliance to our Uyghur cause. He is a history-maker who brought glory to the Uyghur people and who respectfully dedicated his whole life to their freedom,” Kadeer said. “He continuously pro

» Upbeat Australia launches free trade push - 17-February-2010
Article Link AFP Feb 16, 2010 SYDNEY — Australia will resume stalled talks with China within days as it pursues an ambitious free-trade push following its strong recovery from the global downturn, Trade Minister Simon Crean said. He said discussions with China would open in Canberra next week, while Australia was also in talks with Japan and South Korea and was studying a deal with India. He said Canberra and Beijing were strongly committed to free-trade negotiations which stumbled on technical issues before diplomatic ties suffered a series of setbacks last year. "The key market access areas of these negotiations have been difficult, and negotiations have taken longer than we would have hoped," Crean told Australia's Foreign Correspondents' Association on Tuesday. "But high-level political commitment on both sides remains." Rapidly industrialising China has become Canberra's biggest trading partner with deals worth 76 billion Australian dollars (68 billion US) over the past fin