http://www.uyghurnews.com/ Radio Free Asia English - Feed for Uyghur, Uighur, East Turkistan, Tibet News en-us http://www.uyghurnews.com/SiteDesign/etflag.gif http://www.uyghurnews.com/ Tibetan environmentalist is sentenced on charges of splittism a week after his brother’s trial. Unknown photographer courtesy of Robbie Barnett. Rinchen Samdrup in Lhasa in August 2004. Award-winning Tibetan environmentalist Rinchen Samdrup, 44, was sentenced on Saturday to five years in prison on charges of inciting to split the nation.  The Chamdo Intermediate People’s Court found Samdrup guilty of splittism based on evidence that an article about the Dalai Lama had been posted on Samdrup’s Web site. Samdrup pleaded not guilty and said during the trial that someone else had posted the article. “The court recessed for 20 minutes and the verbal verdict of five years imprisonment was given, which seems to have been decided long before the hearing in court,” Samdrup’s eldest daughter Dorjee Sangmo said. Rinchen Samdrup’s sentence comes just over one week after his brother, Karma Samdrup, was sentenced to the maximum penalty of 15 years for grave robbery, on charges that had been origin]]> SUN, 04 JUL 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=brother-gets-5-years&ItemID=QB-742010743461842424480 China office in Beijing, Jan. 13, 2010. HONG KONG—Chinese officials are reviewing the operating license of Internet search giant Google, which official media report has promised in its renewal application to abide by Chinese laws.According to the official Xinhua news agency, Guxiang, a company that operates Google’s Web sites in China, has submitted its application to the government.The application included a letter promising to abide by Chinese laws, it added.The report came after Google Chief Legal Officer David Drummond wrote on the company’s corporate blog that Google would stop automatically redirecting China users to its uncensored Hong Kong site in order to appease Beijing and secure the renewal of its Internet Content Provider (ICP) license. However, Internet commentators said Google's current redirection procedure would be untenable without an ICP license anyway."]]> FRI, 02 JUL 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=china-mulls-license&ItemID=VQ-742010261361842854296 THU, 01 JUL 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=the-risks-and-the-road&ItemID=TW-742010293161842230132 China's dissident elder statesman sees something to learn from a neighboring republic. AFP Bao Tong during an interview at his home in Beijing, April 27, 2009. HONG KONG—A former top Chinese official has warned the ruling Communist Party that its current political system is outdated, praising last weekend's constitutional referendum in neighboring Kyrgyzstan amid widespread violence in the south of the country. In an essay written for the 89th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, Bao Tong, former aide to ousted late premier Zhao Ziyang, contrasted two recent items of news. "One is that Kyrgyzstan has decided by referendum to become a democracy, bringing hope of long-term stability," Bao wrote from his Beijing home, where he has been held under house arrest since his release from a seven-year jail term following the 1989 pro-democracy movement. "The people of Kyrgyzstan have produced a new election law, with some determination, on the basis of a nationwide referen]]> THU, 01 JUL 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=kyrgyzstan-lessons&ItemID=ZF-742010867861842434401 Xinjiang—the site of a deadly ethnic clashes in July 2009—since 2008. Anger in Xinjiang Copyright © 1998-2010 Radio Free Asia. All rights reserved. © Radio Free Asia]]> THU, 01 JUL 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=xinjiang-unrest-timeline&ItemID=RX-742010357161842976991 Chinatown near the Lao capital. AFP Motorcyclists ride past That Luang temple in downtown Vientiane, Dec. 9, 2009. BANGKOK—A Chinese-Lao joint venture has pulled out of a deal to develop a Suzhou-style “model city” on the outskirts of the Lao capital, Vientiane, according to senior Lao officials. The "New City Development Project," which involved a 50-year lease for 1,000 hectares of land in and around the That Luang Marsh, required the group to pay roughly 7,000 households a total of U.S. $400 million in compensation for relocating their homes. Sinlavong Khoutphaythoune, a former mayor of Vientiane and current minister of planning and investment, said the concession had been canceled because the Chinese developer didn't want to pay the compensation. “Previously, the government had an agreement with the Chinese company to build a new city. But this has already been canceled,” Khoutphaythoune said. “Due to the high cost of compensation ]]> THU, 01 JUL 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=lao-chinatown-dropped&ItemID=IR-742010532061842779336 China are everywhere,” said Li Xunyong, chairman of the U.K.-based Union of European Taiwanese Associations. “But actually this has been damaging to some of the tourist spots in Ta]]> WED, 30 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=trade-pact-under-fire&ItemID=NI-742010735361842468908 China may have to change. AFP Chinese workers assemble electronic components at the Foxconn factory in Shenzhen, May 26, 2010. HONG KONG—As Taiwan-invested Foxconn promises to upgrade living conditions at its enormous electronics factory in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen after a spate of employee suicides, experts are calling for a rethink of traditional sweatshop business models amid a wave of industrial action.Foxconn, which assembles Apple's iPhone, said Sunday it had signed an agreement with two property management companies to take over the running of on-site housing for 450,000 of its migrant workers.Critics have blamed inhuman working conditions at the plant for the suicides, as China faces a wave of industrial action at foreign-invested companies over pay and working conditions.Li Xiaobing, director of the Western Pacific Institute at the University of Central Oklahoma, said that labor relations in China are gove]]> TUE, 29 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=sweatshops-not-enough&ItemID=OW-742010824461842614385 China’s Shaoguan left at least two people dead, sparking further ethnic tensions across the country, no Uyghur workers remain on the payroll, workers said.A Han Chinese worker at the factory, who was there when the violence was sparked in late June last year by the rumor of a sexual assault on a Chinese woman by Uyghurs, said the anniversary had passed without comment or incident, and that production had continued as normal.“The actual situation on the ground was far worse than the rumors circulating on the Internet,” he said. But he declined to give details, nor to elaborate on the reasons for the clash]]> TUE, 29 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=shaoguan-one-year-on&ItemID=WO-742010456461842588296 TUE, 29 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=daily-struggle-for-lake-dwellers&ItemID=QY-742010317161842645585 China Petitioners' Village. HONG KONG—Authorities in Beijing have dispersed a group of protesters who gathered near a railway station in the southern part of the capital and sang revolutionary songs from the Mao era, petitioners said.The protest came after an attempt to stage a silent sit-in outside the complaints department of China's ruling Communist Party was thwarted by police, and followed an entire concert of songs organized by petitioners on the previous evening."There was a group of petitioners outside the central government complaints office who were dispersed by a group of around 30 police," said Xu Nu, one of the protesters who sang the songs early Sunday.The petitioners, who have come to Beijing from across China in a bid to draw attention to alleged abuses in their hometowns, re]]> MON, 28 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=protesters-sing-red-songs&ItemID=UP-742010520561842335156 China is likely to let its currency rise slowly under new reform, experts say. AFP A Chinese bank worker arranges U.S. currency next to stacks of 100-yuan notes, March 20, 2010. BOSTON—China’s latest currency policy has received mixed reviews from U.S. analysts and economists amid signs that changes in the yuan’s value may be small, gradual, and slow.After months of mounting international pressure, China’s central bank announced June 19 that it would “proceed further with reform” of its rigid exchange rate system, which has kept the yuan tightly tied to the dollar for nearly two years.U.S. exporters have complained for years that China artificially undervalues its currency by 25 to 40 percent, giving its goods an unfair price edge abroad.Under its new policy, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has resumed a “managed float” that allows narrow daily fluctuations in value, which were suspended during the world financial crisis in 2008.Economists say the slight flexibility may add up to a s]]> MON, 28 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=chinas-cautious-float&ItemID=ZI-742010409361842284482 China's Anhui province, Jan. 25, 2007. HONG KONG—Tough new regulations aimed at monitoring Internet usage are being rolled out across China, with Internet cafes in the southwestern province of Sichuan now requiring a swipe of smart ID cards before allowing people online."You have to have a second-generation ID card now," an employee who answered the phone at one Internet cafe in the provincial capital, Chengdu, said. "And it has to belong to you."Local media reports said a new clampdown would get under way in Sichuan from June to September this year, following a similar police campaign in the central city of Wuhan, in which people using their relatives' ID cards were taken into administrative detention.Government regulations are calling for Internet cafes in the province to hook up their surveillance cameras to a central view]]> FRI, 25 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=china-expands-internet-controls&ItemID=YQ-6282010461551140779052 Tibetan has 10 days to file an appeal to a higher Chinese court. RFA Karma Samdrup in a December 2009 photo. HONG KONG—A court in China’s troubled northwestern region of Xinjiang sentenced a prominent Tibetan businessman-turned-activist to the maximum term of 15 years in jail and a heavy fine on Thursday on theft-related charges that were initially dropped in 1998, according to his wife and lawyer. Karma Samdrup, 42, denied the charges and has 10 days to appeal, his lawyer, Pu Zhiqiang, said in an interview. "The verdict was unfair,” his wife, Dolkar Tso, said. “I asked for some time to meet and talk to my husband but I was not allowed.” “I just want to let him know all his relatives are proud of him and he shouldn’t worry about us. But I wasn’t given the chance.” Pu, the lawyer, said that in addition to 15 years in jail, Karma Samdrup was sentenced by a court in Yanqi county, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), to five years’ deprivation of his political rights and a]]> THU, 24 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=tibetan-gets-15-years&ItemID=OU-6282010950551140326454 China’s Property Law on the outskirts of Wuhan in Hubei province, June 6, 2010. HONG KONG—Vast tracts of China's rural land have already been lost to agriculture in the name of economic development, and the country stands to lose a further 1.2 million square kms unless the government acts to stop it, experts said. "Changes in land use must be controlled within set parameters," China Agricultural University chief Ke Bingsheng told a recent top-level meeting in the northern Chinese proivince of Shanxi. Around 1.8 billion mu (120 million hectares) of agricultural land could soon be lost, Ke warned. "There is a shortage of land supply, and the forces of urbanization are an inevitable part of development," he said. Land acquisition for development, often resulting in lucrative property deals for local officials, sparks thousands of protests by farming communities every month, many of wh]]> THU, 24 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=huge-pressure-on-farmland&ItemID=NV-6282010812151140369312 WED, 23 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=call-to-open-flood-gates&ItemID=HZ-6282010729851140201053 China reject an initial offer, sparking an assembly plant closure. AFP Visitors view a display in Beijing by Japanese auto maker Toyota, April 25, 2010. HONG KONG—A strike at a Japanese-invested car parts manufacturer in south China's Guangdong province prompted car giant Toyota to halt production at a Chinese car assembly plant, after workers at the supplying plant went on strike calling for a pay increase. Denso's joint venture Nansha plant in Guangzhou halted production early Monday. Workers said they were unhappy with a proposed pay rise of 450 yuan per month and were calling for a pay increase of 800 yuan per month instead, raising their salaries to 2,000 yuan, in line with a recent award at Shenzhen-based, Taiwan-invested electronics giant Foxconn. "Of course we are unhappy with such a raise," one striking working said. "We are going to continue negotiations." "Our salaries right now are low, so low we have a hard time using words to describe how low they are.]]> WED, 23 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=strike-halts-toyota-plant&ItemID=PV-6282010532051140507941 China. "Our [North Korean] money is now called ‘the commoners’ currency,’ used only as a means of exchange when goods are purchased, but not as a means of saving," a resident of Chungjin city in the northern province of Hamgyeong said. "North Koreans [still] hold their savings in Chinese money," the resident said. On the country's black markets—the chief source of essential goods for many under a planned economy in which products are scarce and often monopolized by the country's elite—an]]> WED, 23 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=north-koreans-shun-new-won&ItemID=FZ-62820102115114055343 Tibetan goes on trial, 12 years after a court threw out charges against him. RFA Karma Samdrup in a December 2009 photo. HONG KONG—A prominent Tibetan businessman-turned-activist has gone on trial in China's troubled northwestern region of Xinjiang, on theft-related criminal charges that were initially dropped in 1998, his relatives said. Tibetan environmentalist and art collector Karma Samdrup went on trial Tuesday at a court in Yanqi county, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), on charges related to a grave robbery,  regional sources said. Dolkar Tso, Karma Sandrup's wife, said in an interview that her husband's trial lasted from 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, with a short lunch break. She said he appeared to have been drugged, deprived of sleep, and tortured. "I was allowed inside the courtroom," she said, adding that she wasn't able to speak to her husband. "When I saw my husband, I couldn’t recognize him. He is so thin ... He was a tall, heavyset man, but now he l]]> TUE, 22 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=tibetan-activist-on-trial&ItemID=WQ-6282010711251140784464 TUE, 22 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=rohingya-could-get-aid&ItemID=OE-6282010942951140361262 MON, 21 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=mao-portrait-protesters-reunited&ItemID=JF-628201040235114040678 Tibetans in a remote area of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) after they attacked security vehicles brought in to quell protests over a mine, according to local sources.The standoff occurred around May 21 in the U Yuk Sog Chen subdistrict of Namling [in Chinese, Nanmulin Xian] in Shigatse [Rikaze] prefecture, the sources said. An unnamed company had begun mining there in April, the sources said.Mining operations have been under way in the area for several years, but this new mine sits on land traditionally used for grazing cattle—and residents say it has affected water supplies.“The local Tibetans became desperate and appealed to the local leaders to stop the mining activities. They explained how the mining activities in the area affect the local environment, the supply of drinking water, and the grazing ground for their cattle,” one source said.“The Tibeta]]> MON, 21 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=tibetans-held-after-protest&ItemID=TO-6282010405751140529287 China has deferred to Russia on the crisis in Kyrgyzstan. AFP Kyrgyz soldiers inspect the Uzbek district of Osh, June 20, 2010. By Michael Lelyveld BOSTON—China has kept its distance from ethnic violence in neighboring Kyrgyzstan as the country seeks security assistance from Russia instead, analysts say. Despite its growing economic power in Central Asia, China has played a surprisingly small part in offering aid and relief to strife-torn Kyrgyzstan, where deadly riots erupted June 10. There has also been little involvement of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the nine-year-old regional security group in which China plays a leadership role. Instead, the embattled provisional government in Bishkek turned to Russia and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) of former Soviet nations in seeking peacekeeping forces to restore order in southern Kyrgyzstan. So far, Russia has committed only troops to guard its own airbase in the northern part of the country, while CSTO ]]> MON, 21 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=china-shrinks-from-security-role&ItemID=IY-6282010724151140748521 MON, 21 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=chinese-activist-freed&ItemID=US-6282010470351140266527 China face more mental than physical abuse, a U.N. rapporteur says. AFP Manfred Nowak gives a press conference in Johannesburg, Oct. 29, 2009. WASHINGTON—China’s prison system commonly subjects detainees to mental torment rather than physical abuse, according to a United Nations special rapporteur, although reforms are under way. Manfred Nowak, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, told an Open Society Institute gathering here that authorities in China set out to “break the will” of convicts and detainees to make them believe that they have committed a crime. “It’s much more mental torture—what they call 'reeducation.' That is on the one hand reeducation-through-labor camps. If you go in there it is just unbelievable what kind of brainwashing those people have to go through,” he said. Most inmates at reeducation-through-labor camps, Nowak said, are members of the outlawed Falun Gong religious movement, sex wo]]> MON, 21 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=mental-torture-alleged&ItemID=DO-6282010272651140573415 China removes a two-year currency peg to the U.S. dollar. AFP A Chinese bank worker counts stacks of U.S. and Chinese currency in Hefei, Anhui province, March 9, 2010. HONG KONG—China’s decision to allow more flexibility for the yuan has met with praise from economists, even as Beijing seeks to downplay the U.S. and European pressure that preceded the move. The People’s Bank of China made the announcement Saturday, ending a two-year currency peg to the U.S. dollar adopted during the global financial crisis. Peking University economist Xia Yeliang welcomed the Chinese central bank’s move. “China should have taken earlier initiatives to allow the yuan to rise. Nevertheless the current move was carried out under international pressure, especially that from the U.S. Congress. But no matter how late it might be, the action itself is positive,” Xia said. But he was cautious on the future of the exchange rate. “I don’t think China will let the yuan value rise drastically this year. My anticip]]> MON, 21 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=yuan-float-welcomed&ItemID=SS-6282010761651140120816 MON, 21 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=rohingya-seek-cambodian-asylum&ItemID=KJ-6282010451751140849938 Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). He said local officials had already implemented flood prevention measures in case the floods came back. But he declined to comment on the reported detentions of 13 Uyghurs for disturbing public order. "I can't answer that question," the officer said. "Can you get your information from the Internet—we are very busy here," h]]> FRI, 18 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=detention-for-flood-rescuers&ItemID=QS-62820102655114054208 Tibetans are unhappy with plans to relocate them as part of a reconstruction plan. RFA The epicenter of the earthquake hit Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in China's northwestern Qinghai province. HONG KONG—Hundreds of Tibetan residents of a quake-hit region of China's remote western Qinghai province have been protesting since Monday over attempts by the local government to remove them from their land.They gathered outside government offices in Yushu's Gyegu township with banners after the government made public reconstruction plans in which some people would be relocated."The important thing is that in the quake-hit area, a lot of the local people bought land here on which to build their houses," a monk from a local monastery, Tsering Gyatso, said."After the earthquake, the government wanted to move them all out to another place to rebuild their houses, and [the Tibetans] said no, they would build them themselves, and that they didn't want the [government's] land either."He ]]> THU, 17 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=tensions-rise-in-quake-town&ItemID=IW-6282010685451139306606 China’s national household registration system. “They are not the officers from our own residential ar]]> WED, 16 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=police-visit-church-leader&ItemID=FL-6282010345951139167744 WED, 16 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=dam-debate-on-lao-mekong&ItemID=XS-6282010721851139151810 China, the Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch, and Democracy China reported freezing and crashing that lasted the whole of last weekend. "This is the latest in a series of attacks this year," said Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch founder Liu Feiyue. "We have increased browsing compared with last year, so the number of attacks has risen proportionally." Liu said he believed the attacks happened because the government is unhappy with the content on his site, which contains criticism of the ruling Communist Party, including revelations [of wrongdoing] by a number of local governments. ]]> TUE, 15 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=rights-sites-under-attack&ItemID=XQ-628201012525113942343 China have warned the family of a mother and son suffering from cancer to stop accepting overseas donations for his medical treatment, according to the boy’s mother. Rozinishan, the 26-year-old mother of a young boy with leukemia, said she is grateful for contributions from fellow members of the Uyghur ethnic community to pay for her son’s medical treatment. Rozinishan herself was diagnosed with intestinal cancer in November 2008 and has been unable to work to raise money for her eight-year-old son, Abdul Weli. Her husband died the same year after a fatal heart attack. Rozinishan’s younger brother, Tohti Yusuf, said by telephone that after making the online plea, local government officials guaranteed they would take care of the family’s medical bills if they agreed to fo]]> TUE, 15 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=patient-pressed-on-gifts&ItemID=RR-6282010584551139721759 China are criticized for delaying news about a leak. RFA A screenshot showing the Daya Bay Nuclear Plant taken from the Web site of Hong Kong Nuclear Investment Co., a CLP unit that owns 25 percent of the plant. HONG KONG—The Daya Bay nuclear power plant in southern China had a “very small leakage” from a fuel rod that has been contained, Hong Kong’s leading electricity supplier, CLP Holdings Ltd., said in a statement, but activists say the firm should have revealed the incident sooner. A “small increase” in radioactive substances was detected in cooling water at the plant’s Unit 2 on May 23, CLP said in a statement. “The reactor cooling water is sealed in completely and isolated from the external environment, thus causing no impact to the public.” Operations at the power plant were unaffected and a task force of nuclear experts had been formed to investigate the situation, CLP said. Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station is located about 50 kms (30 mil]]> TUE, 15 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=plant-acccused-of-stalling&ItemID=GF-628201038765113914217 China Daily newspaper quoted Gu Yanzhou, deputy director of the Beijing Statistic Bureau, as saying.He said census officials would not pass on such information to family planning departments to provide a basis for fines, which are also commonly levied on mothers giving birth outside the rule]]> MON, 14 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=china-to-register-all-children&ItemID=GU-6282010363151139605978 China's military appears to be pursuing its own course on U.S. contacts, analysts say. AFP U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates speaks to reporters en route to Singapore, June 3, 2010. BOSTON—China's refusal to restore high-level military contacts with Washington has raised questions about civilian control of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), experts say.In a possible sign of internal divisions, the PLA declined to extend an expected invitation to U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates for a visit following an Asian security conference in Singapore, Pentagon officials said on June 2.China suspended high-level military contacts in January to show displeasure over a $6.4-billion U.S. arms sale to Taiwan. But U.S. officials believed that visits would resume after talks between Presidents Barack Obama and Hu Jintao, as well as Strategic and Economic Dialogue meetings last month."I'm disappointed that the [PLA] leadership has not seen the same potential benefits from this kind of military-to-]]> MON, 14 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=pla-takes-tougher-line&ItemID=HN-628201062255113984433 Xinjiang, home to the Uyghur ethnic group, are sending Uyghur students from outlying areas back from the regional capital before the anniversary of deadly ethnic clashes. "That's correct," said an official who answered the phone at the Urumqi municipal education department, when asked if the government was currently arranging transport for students to return to their hometowns. "It's being organized by the [Xinjiang Uyghur] Autonomous Region education department," the official said. "They would know about it." Overseas Uyghur groups cited an expanded police presence in Uyghur neighborhoods in Urumqi since early June, ahead of the anniversary of deadly ethnic violence in the regional capital. Those clashes were sparked by a Uyghur demonstration July 5 to call for an in]]> MON, 14 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=uyghur-students-sent-home&ItemID=OO-6282010568651139803400 MON, 14 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=underground-pastor-held&ItemID=IR-6282010687151139821672 FRI, 11 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=cheonan-fallout-hits-defectors&ItemID=AI-6282010403751139471693 FRI, 11 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=veteran-starved-in-black-jail&ItemID=WS-6282010693051139813321 Tibetan monk is said to be ailing in detention. Photo: Wikipedia Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, in an undated photo. UPDATED AND EDITED AT 1530 EST TO CLARIFY CHINESE LAW REGARDING THREATS TO NATIONAL SECURITY HONG KONG—Two sisters of a prominent Tibetan monk serving a life sentence in a Chinese jail despite an international outcry have visited him the southwestern province of Sichuan, where supporters have repeatedly rallied in his defense. "The two sisters met Tenzin Delek Rinpoche on April 27, 2010," said a source from Lithang, a Tibetan region of Sichuan province. "They had been requesting to meet him for a long time." The source said the sisters hurried to an unspecified meeting place some 200 miles (320 kms) from the provincial capital, Chengdu, after being informed of the meeting two days earlier. A second source confirmed the visit. "On April 25, 2010, the deputy governor and the head prosecutor in Lithang county suddenly appeared at the house of Sonam Dekyi and Dolkar, th]]> FRI, 11 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=sisters-visit-jailed-monk&ItemID=SL-628201073275113964088 China has been missing for eight months, according to his wife, who now lives in Kazakhstan. Enver Israil, 33, was detained last year on Oct. 1 along with around 20 other men in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) by authorities who were unable to locate his elder brother, Ershidin Israil. Police were searching for Ershidin Israil, 38, for allegedly releasing details of the beating death of Shohret Tursun, whom Uyghur police had detained on suspicion of participating in deadly ethnic riots in the capital Urumqi in July 2009. Enver Israil’s wife Asiye Kerimova is a native of Kazakhstan, whose border lies near the Israil family home in Ghulja, in ]]> FRI, 11 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=uyghur-held-in-leak-case&ItemID=YS-6282010508351139454888 THU, 10 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=farmers-threatened-in-land-grab&ItemID=LU-6282010883151139458195 China's] National People's Congress (NPC) decision of 2007, we have already strived for maximum latitude in putting forth such a package," Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Secretary Stephen Lam told legislators this week.Lam said Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Chief Executive Donald Tsang had already secured "a clear timetable" for the former British colony to progress to universal suffrage, apparently referring to the promise of full, direct elections for the Chief Executive i]]> THU, 10 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=scant-room-for-reform-debate&ItemID=OR-6282010942251139740498 China, as workers walk out at three Honda plants in the Pearl River Delta and at a Taiwan-invested machinery plant in Jiangsu, analysts and activists say. In the latest strike in southern China's Pearl River Delta region, workers at a third Honda auto parts plant in Guangdong province took to the streets Wednesday, official media reported. The strike at Honda Lock (Guangdong) came after Honda was forced to suspend production at two of its Chinese factories because of disputes at parts joint venture Foshan Fengfu and at a wholly owned subsidiary parts supplier. Production was suspended Wednesday at the two factories of Honda joint venture Guangqi Honda Automobile Co., Honda said in a statement, citing "a labor dispute." Foshan Fengfu is a join]]> WED, 09 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=strikes-spread-in-china&ItemID=TH-6282010346451139616600 WED, 09 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=graft-panel-expanded&ItemID=FJ-6282010633951139987090 TUE, 08 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=hun-sen-fines-mp&ItemID=UO-6282010808551139794246 China raid a Muslim study group as part of a religious crackdown. RFA Chinese People's Armed Police in front of the Grand Bazaar in Urumqi, on July 9, 2009. HONG KONG—Authorities near the western Silk Road city of Kashgar in China's troubled region of Xinjiang have detained a group of ethnic Uyghur women who had formed a group to study the Quran, overseas groups said."More than 30 Uyghur women were raided in force by the Chinese police in recent days after they got together to study the Quran," said Dilxat Raxit, a spokesman for the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress."They detained all those present and confiscated more than 40 Qurans."Raxit said that the Chinese government said the women were engaging in illegal religious activities."They forced them to take off their headscarves and detained two of them on criminal charges," he said.While the rest of the women were released, they were fined amounts ranging from 500 yuan (U.S. $73) to 5,000 yuan (U.S. $732) fo]]> TUE, 08 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=police-raid-quran-group&ItemID=YL-6282010973151139760142 TUE, 08 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=youths-held-by-army&ItemID=MW-628201090851139792845 China has become very rich. China is on the rise. That is a very big difference ... A lot of people attribute this prosperity to 21 years of oppression. By oppression I mean that the voices that opposed corruption have disappeared, and the voices which called out for democracy have faded away. This disappearance can only be for a limited time, can only be temporary, short-term. Like the book-burning campaigns against Confucianism 2,000 years ago. There is no one in China who doesn't know about them. Whether it's in 20 years' time, 200 years' time or 2,0]]> TUE, 08 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=memories-of-a-crackdown&ItemID=DV-62820104095511397270 China's western region before the anniversary of riots in Urumqi. AFP The sun rises over the Tazhong oilfield in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Oct. 12, 2006. By Michael Lelyveld BOSTON—China is tapping its energy industry to fund development plans for Xinjiang while leaving the door open for national reforms, analysts say. A new resource tax on oil, gas, and coal producers in Xinjiang is expected to raise 2 billion yuan (U.S. $292.8 million) for the western region this year, although state media have estimated the cost to companies such as PetroChina and Sinopec as high as 5 billion yuan. The switch to a tax based on energy prices rather than volume on June 1 could mark an end to a long-standing break for producers, but it also comes ahead of the one-year anniversary of deadly riots in the Xinjiang capital of Urumqi last July. Speaking at a Xinjiang work conference in Beijing on May 17-19, President Hu Jintao said that the tax is aimed]]> MON, 07 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=china-taxes-xinjiang-energy&ItemID=LQ-6282010412651139500689 MON, 07 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=tiananmen-still-happening&ItemID=FZ-6282010500551139665407 MON, 07 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=weapons-trump-development&ItemID=AV-628201078955113911847 China's 1989 pro-democracy movement. RFA Chai Ling (R) and Xiong Yan (L) share their memories in a discussion hosted by RFA's Mandarin service. Chai Ling was one of the best-known student leaders on Tiananmen Square, and has been nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize. Chai, who joined the student movement relatively late, went on to lead organized pro-democracy protests, including hunger strikes, alongside Wang Dan and Wu'er Kaixi. She led the last group of students to leave the Square in the early hours of June 4. She later fled China with the help of overseas organizations."How I got involved with the student movement is very simple. Basically I went on April 17 to help the students on Tiananmen Square by taking them water and bread. Then the police were beating people up and shoving them around and I suddenly got angry. I thought that we have been driven [by the Chinese government] for so many years, that now we should stop runnin]]> FRI, 04 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=remembering-tiananmen-square&ItemID=NO-6282010736551139716383 Tibetan who criticized China’s quake relief now faces formal charges. RFA Shogdung, in an undated photo. HONG KONG—Authorities in the western Chinese province of Qinghai have now formally arrested a Tibetan writer who signed an open letter critical of the government’s quake relief efforts in the region. This step almost always precedes a conviction in China. “As we were directed by the local authorities, my mother and I went to police station to receive the formal arrest letter for my father on May 28, 2010, around 6 p.m.,” Yeshi Tsomo, daughter of the Tibetan writer Tagyal, said in an interview. “The contents of the letter were very similar to what the Chinese officials had said earlier. My father was accused of instigating to split the motherland. This and the letter we were given earlier, when he was first detained, are almost the same except for the mention that his case had been transferred for prosecution,” she said. Tagyal is detained in Xining Metropolitan Detention Center No]]> FRI, 04 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=quake-critic-arrested&ItemID=XU-628201028165113952668 Tibetan girl born more than a century ago became a leading Buddhist mystic—and lives on today. Photo: Antonio Terrone Statue of Sera Khandro housed in Kathmandu, Nepal. WASHINGTON—A unique collection of writings by a female Tibetan mystic, little known even among Tibetan Buddhists, is providing a rare glimpse of religious life in Tibet 100 years ago and is stirring new interest among scholars seven decades after her death.The “treasure revealer” Sera Khandro (1892-1940) wrote her autobiography not in classical Tibetan but in the colloquial Tibetan dialect of Golok, in an area that now straddles the border between China's Sichuan and Qinghai provinces. She’s the subject of a forthcoming book by Sarah Jacoby, an assistant professor of religion at Chicago's Northwestern University.“Because Sera Khandro didn’t have a monastic education—she never studied in a monastery or a nunnery—she writes in a kind of ‘oral’ language,” Jacoby said in an interview.“So her autob]]> FRI, 04 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=translations-reveal-tibetan-woman-mystic&ItemID=RY-6282010199351139884408 China blocks efforts to commemorate the 1989 massacre in Beijing of pro-democracy demonstrators. Photo: courtesy of Zhu Yanguang Police in Beijing detained six artists as they staged public memorial events outside the capital's Museum of Fine Arts. HONG KONG—Attempts to stage public events and protests commemorating the 21st anniversary of the military crackdown on the 1989 student-led pro-democracy movement in Beijing's Tiananmen Square have been largely thwarted by Chinese authorities, activists said."The Chinese government continues to refuse to openly and truthfully address the events of June 4, 1989, and persists in its efforts to silence Chinese citizens who seek to commemorate the massacre," the nongovernment network Chinese human rights Defenders (CHRD) said.Activists using the microblogging service Twitter said a planned commemorative event on the campus of Beijing University, one of the centers of the student movement two decades ago, had failed owing to the presence of large]]> THU, 03 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=police-quash-tiananmen-memorials&ItemID=CK-6282010687351139446240 Tibetan residents of an earthquake-damaged western Chinese county are protesting local government plans to take possession of choice properties to reconstruct ravaged homes, schools, offices, and other sites, Tibetan sources say. Some properties claimed by the authorities suffered no damage in the April earthquake, which left nearly 3,000 people dead, according to Tibetans in Yushu county, Qinghai province, as well as Tibetans in exile who said they have been in touch with relatives there. “The local government has forced local residents out of their houses—they said they had to clean the area to build office buildings, schools, and parks, and they are planning to take away the sites for our homes and our fields,]]> THU, 03 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=tibetans-protest-over-land&ItemID=KJ-628201014885113991985 WED, 02 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=anatomy-of-a-factory-visit&ItemID=BE-62820109251139154084 China’s 400 million children have little to celebrate on International Children’s Day this year. AFP Chinese parents in Beijing help their babies exercise ahead of International Children's Day, May 31, 2010. HONG KONG—Many of China’s 400 million children live in “a dire situation,” commentators said, giving the nation little to celebrate on International Children’s Day. “Chinese children are the weakest group in society,” said Beijing Technical University professor Hu Xingdou, citing recent scandals involving tainted foods and drugs, heavy metal poisonings, collapsing school buildings, and violent attacks on young children. “Some children in China have been very unlucky—from the toxic milk scandal, to contaminated vaccines, to the earthquake in which a great many children died ... to the recent attacks on and killings of children.” This year’s International Children’s Day, on Tuesday, comes just days after the latest in a string of brutal attacks on children in Chinese kindergartens an]]> TUE, 01 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=scant-cheer-for-chinas-children&ItemID=RX-6282010305851139380265 TUE, 01 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=youth-shot-resisting-conscription&ItemID=TJ-6282010910251139452519 China are trying to cover up the circumstances surrounding the death of an employee from fatigue, according to the worker's relatives.The Foxconn factory in China’s southern business hub of Shenzhen is reeling after a series of suicides that workers say have been brought on by abusive labor conditions.Foxconn, owned by Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry, saw its 10th employee suicide Wednesday, sparking calls for an investigation into its working conditions.But unknown to the public, engineer Yan Li died suddenly at his home in Shenzhen just hours after the 10th employee took his own life.Yan’s wife, surnamed Gao, said in an interview that her husband awoke early experiencing shortness of breath and died shortly after. “Before that, he had to work overtime e]]> TUE, 01 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=worker-dies-of-fatigue&ItemID=WI-6282010742151139627391 TUE, 01 JUN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=daring-north-korean-fashion&ItemID=GY-6282010601351139708732 Tibetan capital, Lhasa, are being forced to install electronic surveillance equipment amid an ongoing security clampdown in the city, industry sources said. Under a new set of police regulations, hotels and guesthouses in the Himalayan city will be required to install electronic identity card readers and closed circuit television cameras to monitor guests. “We have had all [the equipment] intalled here,” said the owner of one Lhasa guesthouse. “We had to do this, because if we hadn't, the Lhasa municipal police [could]refuse to issue us with our business license.” “We now have monitoring equipment, a second-generation identity card reader, and a social information database system installed here.” He said the]]> MON, 31 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=surveillance-in-lhasa-hotels&ItemID=QH-6282010805551139383872 China's population, they said. Witnesses who asked not to be named said that after the fight quieted down, the brawlers returned with some 30 more Han men and attacked the restaurant with stones from a nearby construction site. “We have six workers in this restaurant and four were injured badly. Their heads were cracked and swollen,” a Uyghur restaurant employee said. “The police told us they detained 14 of the attackers. They told us the damages will be compensated for and asked ]]> SAT, 29 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=14-held-in-china-brawl&ItemID=GI-6282010609051139671519 China that supplies electronics to some of the world's biggest companies has announced a pay raise for staff after 12 of its employees attempted suicide, sparking calls for an investigation into its working conditions. Foxconn, which saw its 13th suicide bid by an employee who slashed his wrists Thursday, announced the next day a 20 percent rise in salaries at its China plants. An employee who answered the phone at the Shenzhen municipal police department declined to comment on the latest incident. "We don't know the actual details here in the duty office," the employee said. "I can't answer your questions because I don't understand the situation." Requests to Foxconn for an interview were declined, with an employee saying that journalists must first undergo an application proc]]> FRI, 28 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=factory-suicides-spark-worry&ItemID=VQ-6282010268351139551898 China is seeking eased curbs on sensitive U.S. exports before it revalues its currency, but experts say a trade-off would be unacceptable. AFP Chinese President Hu Jintao (C) speaks during the US-China Strategic & Economic Dialogue in Beijing, May 24, 2010. BOSTON—China has been pressing the United States for greater access to high-tech goods before it loosens controls on its undervalued currency, experts say.The two issues ranked high on the agenda at the May 24-25 meeting of the U.S.-China Security and Economic Dialogue (SED) in Beijing, although the talks produced little progress on either of the long-standing concerns.For years, Beijing has urged Washington to ease curbs on sales of high-tech items to China, while the United States has been equally persistent in seeking revaluation of the yuan to reduce its trade deficit.But recently, Chinese official comments and reports have been more openly suggesting a trade-off of currency controls for export controls."I don't have much do]]> FRI, 28 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=china-eyes-export-trade-off&ItemID=SZ-6282010872151139633772 China is thriving in spite of tight government controls on official media and a speedy censorship system that blocks content the ruling Communist Party doesn't like, experts said."There's a lot of motivation in China right now for the fight against corruption," said Zhu Ruifeng, editor-in-chief of the anti-corruption Web site Supervision by the People."Particularly on the Internet ... netizens have been using public supervision to force some departments into probing corrupt officials. This strong force against corruption would never have got so large if it hadn't been for citizens working online," Zhu said.Chinese spend more time online than netizens in any other country with the exception of France and South Korea, and are more likely to contribute to blogs, forums, chat rooms, an]]> THU, 27 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=citizen-journalism-on-the-rise&ItemID=PM-6282010759751139602339 China announce new religious restrictions. RFA/Erkin Tarim "No one under 18 may enter." Sign outside a mosque in Xinjiang. HONG KONG—Authorities in China’s northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region have officially introduced new religious curbs in the mostly Muslim area, according to a directive published online. The new directive, drawn up by officials in Shayar county, in Xinjiang’s central-western Aksu prefecture and originally posted online April 20, is the first of its kind to be published openly in the region. Authorities in Xinjiang frequently require religious groups to submit texts and curricula for examination before they may be used in worship or in school settings, but the government hasn't previously acknowledged this. The directive contains 10 measures that it says aim to “strengthen village management of grassroots religious organizations.” They include the requirement that all religious groups register with the village branch of the reli]]> WED, 26 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=muslims-face-new-curbs&ItemID=IS-6282010474651138937013 WED, 26 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=police-snatch-evictees-body&ItemID=JL-6282010934851138601999 WED, 26 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=60-years-of-tensions&ItemID=HO-6282010394851138271795 China in the wake of deadly unrest show how authorities have targeted members of the mostly Muslim minority, keeping them in custody without access to family and often without indicating when they might be tried or freed. The detentions, near Ghulja [in Chinese, Yining] in China’s northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), involved several members of three Uyghur families on charges of separatism and religious extremism. The first detention occurred on July 7, 2009, and involved four adult children from the same family in Bulaq Dadamtu village in Dadamtu township. The family’s patriarch, Turghan Polat, said his children have been imprisoned since then. “The authorities arrested my daughter because they claimed she taught religious cla]]> WED, 26 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=new-details-on-arrests&ItemID=CL-628201057025113864520 TUE, 25 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=row-over-propaganda-art&ItemID=HB-6282010851138861519 China is citing Europe's debt crisis as a new concern for its currency policy, but U.S. patience over trade deficits may be wearing thin. AFP A mix of Chinese currency, U.S. dollars, and euros is shown in a picture dated July 22, 2005. BOSTON—Europe's debt crisis may be the latest trouble for China's controversial currency policy, but experts say it should be no reason to stall needed reforms.Chinese officials are said to be delaying a long-awaited increase in the value of the yuan because of concern about new economic pressures in its largest export market.While the euro plunged to a four-year low against the dollar on May 17, it has also dropped by some 14 percent against the yuan this year, making Chinese products more costly to buy.Analysts say that despite growing pressures for appreciation of its undervalued currency, China may be getting cold feet as it worries about the price effect in Europe and the prospect of lower demand for its goods."I think they were getting to a decisio]]> MON, 24 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=china-fears-euro-slide&ItemID=MS-628201090551138997376 Tibet's exiled leader holds a discussion with Chinese netizens on a popular microblogging service. AFP A screen grab shows the Dalai Lama Twitter page, Feb. 23, 2010. HONG KONG—Thousands of Chinese netizens put questions online to Tibetan exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in an unprecedented dialogue on the microblogging service Twitter, although official censors acted fast to block it from many users.Moderated by U.S.-based writer Wang Lixiong, the dialogue was the first direct contact in decades between the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing has condemned as a separatist responsible for ethnic tensions in Tibet, and ordinary Chinese, for whom nonofficial news about Tibet remains blocked or censored."Google Moderator was down for a while, and even worse ... the Chinese government blocked it thereafter," wrote Wang via Twitter at the start of the mass interview. Wang said a total of 1,253 people submitted 289 questions via Google's Moderator service with a further 12,473 votes from netizens]]> MON, 24 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=chinese-quiz-dalai-lama&ItemID=FD-6282010985651138845684 MON, 24 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=flames-engulf-burmese-market&ItemID=CP-6282010873351138814251 Tibet ban popular ringtones characterized as 'separatist.' www.tudou.com Screen grab from a video of the song "The Hope of the Son of the Snow-City," taken from Tudou. HONG KONG—Students and teachers at a high school near the Tibetan city of Shigatse have been told to delete certain popular Tibetan-language songs from their cell phones after they were designated "unhealthy" by local education officials, according to its Web site.The school announced recently that owing to the "increasing complexity of separatism," a list of 27 popular Tibetan-language tracks had been banned, whether in audio or video disk format, or as digital media files on people's cell phones."Staff and students must not have any of the above songs as their mobile phone ringtone," an April 21 statement posted on the school's Web site, but since removed, said. "If you have any of these songs as your ringtone, please will you delete them; if you own any of the above discs, please will you destroy them b]]> FRI, 21 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=crackdown-on-tibetan-ringtones&ItemID=FF-523201053230131227784 FRI, 21 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=burke-honors-reporting-in-korea-and-china&ItemID=CP-5232010411530131151452 FRI, 21 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=kept-in-the-dark&ItemID=IW-523201030073013195967 FRI, 21 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=dissident-jail-term-extended&ItemID=JL-5232010389830131241444 China. The school had also faced fierce competition from a new institute established by the Chinese Embassy called the Big Montessori School—built directly in front of the Omer Uyghur Language School and opened for classes on April 7, 2010, Omer school officials said. Omer Khan, 35, who co-founded the]]> THU, 20 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=language-school-shuts-down&ItemID=YN-5232010193330131529091 China, at least for the rest of the year, regardless of his destination.Ilham Tohti, a prominent economist at Beijing's Central Nationalities University, said he had been refused permission on eight separate occasions to travel overseas to attend academic conferences and to give lectures since deadly ethnic violence gripped the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region last July."Two people [from the state security police] came to visit me and informed me that in the future I wouldn't be able to travel overseas," Tohti said. "They gave no explanation whatsoever.""This time I wanted to go to the Netherlands and Hungary on a trip that had to do with academic exchange and my professional specialism."Fearful of a repeat of his unofficial detention]]> THU, 20 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=travel-ban-for-uyghur-scholar&ItemID=VW-523201068353013157251 WED, 19 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=broadcasterwebcaster-vietnamese-service&ItemID=OJ-5232010229830131374294 Tibetans. WASHINGTON—China has jailed scores of Tibetan writers, artists, singers, and educators for asserting Tibetan national identity and civil rights in the two years since widespread protests swept the region, an overseas advocacy group says in a new report. “Despite knowing very well the risks, [Tibetans] still dare to publish their own opinions, to exchange opinions among themselves, about the situation in Tibet. And this has been criminalized to an extraordinary extent by the Chinese authorities,” Ben Carrdus, senior researcher for the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), said in an interview. “We’re seeing people sentenced to 15 years to life imprisonment for their ideas.” ICT released “A ‘Raging Storm’: The Crackdown on Tibe]]> WED, 19 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=tibetan-writers-artists-jailed-report&ItemID=WI-5232010490330131833506 Xinjiang, but censorship is likely to continue. uighurbiz.net uyghur online Screengrab of 'Uyghur Online' message board, on April 19, 2010 HONG KONG—China's restoration of most Internet services to the troubled region of Xinjiang, 10 months after deadly ethnic rioting, was a political decision with no real impact on continuing controls on the Muslim ethnic minority Uyghurs, analysts said.Official media announced on Friday the full restoration of Internet services, which had been subject to a full and then partial lockdown since ethnic rioting was sparked last July by a Uyghur demonstration in the regional capital, Urumqi."It has been 302 days in all. We netizens in Xinjiang were isolated from the world," wrote user Jiayi on the Sina microblogging service. "Today, I want to stand here and say, 'We're back!'"But Uyghurs and Han Chinese alike said they expect tight government censorship of content to continue, as many popular Uyghur Web sites]]> WED, 19 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=xinjiang-online-controls-remain&ItemID=CU-52320103226301313570 China signs a huge deal with Nigeria. AFP Nigerian official Malam Shehu Ladan (R) shakes hands with Chinese official Yu Zhende (L) following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in Abuja, May 13, 2010. HONG KONG—Massive political and economic investment by the Chinese government in Africa over recent years is beginning to pay off for Beijing, with the inking of a U.S. $23 billion deal to build three refineries and a petrochemical complex in Nigeria, experts said.The deal, announced last week between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) and China State Construction Engineering Corp. (CSCEC), cemented China's position as top foreign investor in Africa, with infrastructure and resources exploitation projects ranging across the continent."They are looking to use economic interests and economic diplomacy to secure the export of resources to China in the future," U.S.-based China economist Cao An said in a recent interview."China has been looking all along to set u]]> TUE, 18 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=africa-investment-pays-off&ItemID=ME-5232010326030131492179 TUE, 18 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=online-campaign-for-aids-activist&ItemID=YB-523201055683013183407 China. Local resident In a photo submitted by a local resident, police confront Tibetans on a road in Yarshul village, May 15, 2010. KATHMANDU—Fifteen Tibetans are injured, one seriously, and four are detained after Chinese security forces fired on them as they refurbished a road claimed by a Chinese-owned cement factory in northwestern Gansu province, witnesses said. "One Tibetan was hit in the chest and is said to be in serious condition. His injury could be fatal. All those injured have been taken to hospital," the witness said. What security forces were firing—rubber bullets, tear-gas, or live ammunition—wasn't immediately clear. On May 15, Tibetans from Yarshul village in the Hortsang subdistrict of Labrang [in Chinese, Xiahe] were gathering to refurbish a road that had been taken over by the Xiahe Amdo Cement Co. Ltd., Tibetan witnesses said. At some point, company officials, police, and cadres arrived, and the county]]> TUE, 18 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=clash-over-cement-factory&ItemID=NK-5232010988830131856356 MON, 17 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=oil-spill-sidelines-vietnamese-fishermen&ItemID=IH-5232010278030131202795 China's energy efficiency targets, but the recent surge in power consumption is the government's fault, experts say.Wen reacted sharply to reports that efficiency fell 3.2 percent in the first quarter as the government struggles to cut energy waste by 20 percent before the end of 2010."Areas that achieve their energy-saving targets must be rewarded," Wen said, according to the official Xinhua news agency."Those that haven't must make their main leaders and relevant leaders accountable, and they will be punished accordingly, and might even be dismissed," Wen warned after a State Council meeting on May 5.But energy analysts say the latest setback in the government's five-year campaign to cut energy use per unit of GDP is a direct result of its massive stimulus spending to spur]]> MON, 17 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=china-vows-energy-crackdown&ItemID=VW-5232010653030131201292 China's northern province of Shaanxi have painted a grim picture of simmering pressures among farming communities in the region, after last week's gruesome attack on a kindergarten in the area.Villagers living in a different town in the same county where the killings occurred say they have been bombarded with government requisition notices for their farmland amid the global economic slowdown, sparking protests, beatings, and detentions for anyone who tries to protest the loss of his or her land."The whole county is rife with land profiteering," said one resident of Dahekan township, Li Jinyi. "Murky Nanzheng and corrupt Hanzhong have pushed local farmers to death's door... Things have been so hard]]> MON, 17 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=local-farmers-irked-over-land&ItemID=SI-5232010828830131989205 China city of Shenzhen as he prepared to cross the border into neighboring Hong Kong on Sunday before continuing his trip overseas. “When approaching booth No. 20 at customs, I was suddenly stopped by the police officer at the window, who called his bosses as well as two guards to keep me from leaving. Then two border control officers came and checked my documents,” Tang said. “They led me to another place. After about half an hour, the border officers said they had received instructions from upper-level management that I was not allowed to exit. I asked for the reason but they refused to explain,” he said. “I said, ‘Your actions ha]]> MON, 17 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=lawyer-barred-from-going-abroad&ItemID=BH-523201089430131448419 China's first legal aid lawyer has no regrets. http://www.woman-legalaid.org.cn A screenshot taken from the homepage of the Women’s Legal Research & Services Center Web site, April 21, 2010. HONG KONG—Amid a worsening political climate for China's nongovernment and civic groups, women's rights lawyer Guo Jianmei says she is unruffled by the withdrawal of official support from her Women’s Legal Research & Services Center last month, with few fears for the future. "I was the first legal aid lawyer in China," Guo said in a recent interview. "I have worked in government departments and as a journalist ... But I think that the last 15 years have been the happiest in my life." "They were also the most tiring, and the hardest, and the riskiest years of my life. But they were the years when I felt most satisfied with myself and with my contribution [to society]," she said. Guo's Center had its official ties to prestigious Beijing University cut, denying it the political protection and ]]> FRI, 14 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=womens-advocate-fears-nothing&ItemID=DO-5232010549930131108594 China has prompted increased security measures at schools around the country and raised concerns about mental health treatment. Source: Reuters Go to Related Story: China Reels Over Attacks Copyright © 1998-2010 Radio Free Asia. All rights reserved. © Radio Free Asia]]> FRI, 14 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=attacks-on-chinese-children&ItemID=JT-5232010753530131793354 China. AFP Then U.S. First Lady Hillary Clinton passes the microphone to Guo Jianmei at a panel in Beijing, June 29, 1998. Guo Jianmei graduated from the Beijing University Law School in 1983 and was assigned to a job in a government department. She later went to work in the media, and it was as a reporter that she was first introduced to the concept of the nongovernmental organization, at the NGO section of the Fourth World Congress on Women in Beijing, 1995. She soon went on to set up a legal aid center for women, which for 15 years acted under the auspices of her alma mater, until Beijing University withdrew its official backing last month. Here, Guo talks about her life and work. I love the work that I do now. I love my career. That is totally authentic for me. I felt as if I'd found my home. I saw so many people from NGOs, so full of positive energy, so lively, so willing to shoulder responsibility, with such an attitude towards li]]> FRI, 14 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=i-can-face-anything&ItemID=CF-5232010299830131110398 FRI, 14 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=junta-hampers-water-aid&ItemID=KA-5232010363830131315735 China's central government has ordered a nationwide security clampdown around schools following an attack on children in a Shaanxi kindergarten which left nine people dead, the fifth of its kind in less than two months.Nine people, seven of them small children aged four and five, were confirmed dead at the Hanzhong Municipal 3201 Hospital after a local man went on a rampage with a kitchen cleaver before committing suicide."At this time there are still 11 children in the hospital with [cleaver] injuries to the head," an emergency room worker surnamed Zhang said."Their condition is very serious and they are still in intensive care, and their lives are still in danger." "We were unable to save seven children and one adult on their arrival at the hospital. The adult was the owner o]]> THU, 13 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=china-reels-over-attacks&ItemID=BC-5232010167230131603382 THU, 13 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=renegade-general-vows-civil-war&ItemID=RV-5232010342130131405727 Tibetan human rights. WASHINGTON, DC – Radio Free Asia contributor and Tibetan blogger Tsering Woeser is a winner of the 2010 Courage in Journalism Award, which is sponsored by the International Women’s Foundation. Woeser, based in Beijing, has defied numerous calls and threats of from Chinese authorities to stop reporting on Tibetan human rights abuses in China. Though she remains under house arrest and constant police surveillance, Woeser continues to publish commentary on Radio Free Asia’s Web site and break vital stories about crackdowns in Tibet on her Chinese-language blog and Web site, Invisible Tibet. Because Woeser is a banned writer within China, her language site is hosted abroad. “Courage is the defining trait in Tsering Woeser’s life and work,” said Dan Southerland, Radio Free Asia’s Vice President and Executive Editor. “We at Radio Free Asia thank the International Women’s Foundation for honoring Woes]]> THU, 13 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=commentator-wins-courage-in-journalism-award&ItemID=DX-5232010716830131409034 THU, 13 MAY 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=key-dates-in-thai-unrest&ItemID=TX-5232010834730131436927