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/ China highlight debate over capital punishment. AFP The Chinese Supreme People's Court building in Beijing, March 30, 2006. HONG KONG—Three Chinese death-row inmates who say they were tortured into confessing to crimes they didn’t commit have staged a hunger strike to draw attention to their case, amid a new U.N. warning that the death penalty carries too high a cost to societies that use it. The three men—Fang Chunping, Huang Zhiqiang, and Cheng Fagen—began to refuse food at the Jingdezhen municipal jail in the eastern province of Jiangxi on Tuesday in protest their convictions and sentences for murder along with one other man, Cheng Lihe, who didn’t join the hunger strike. Beijing-based rights lawyer Teng Biao said he along with dozens of other lawyers had been involved in the case. “All the lawyers involved in this case think that there is a very big problem with these convictions,” Teng said. “These four men were forced to confess to crimes they hadn’t commit]]> FRI, 26 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=hunger-strike-on-death-row&ItemID=DF-228201035534515940489 FRI, 26 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=quiz-mekong-river-in-burma&ItemID=RM-2282010215545159107399 FRI, 26 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=orphan-refugees-have-few-options&ItemID=OY-2282010190445159708781 human rights abuses in his country. "Burma VJ: Reporting From A Closed Country," by Danish filmmaker Anders Østergaard, recounts how the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), a Norway-based news team, managed to surreptitiously film and distribute footage of 2007 street protests against Burma's military rulers. The protests were violently crushed by the military, with even monks falling victim to government-sanctioned violence. DVB director Aye Chan, speaking here this week after a screening of the film at the U.S.-funded National Endowment for Democracy, said Burma’s problems too often become center stage for a brief time before]]> THU, 25 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=oscar-nod-may-aid-awareness&ItemID=BX-2282010879645159452334 China's two annual parliamentary sessions are about to open. Whom do they represent? They represent the people, who are voluntarily following the Party leadership. They represent officials, who get their power to lead the people from Party orders. In short, they represent the Party, the leadership, and their followers, all mixed up together. They represent public servants and their masters. This is where their convenience, their legality, their power, their interests, the truth, where it all lies. Now that is superiority. And while we're thinking about this, all mixed up and muddle-headed, lets also think about Greek mythology. The Greek gods aren't much like Chinese gods. Chinese gods all have the feeling of a leader to a greater or lesser extent: they inspire fear. Most of the Greek gods who live on Mount Olympus seek ple]]> THU, 25 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=on-titans-of-greek-mythology&ItemID=NS-2282010512245159416625 WED, 24 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=cambodias-circus-kids&ItemID=CC-2282010944245159189574 China stands to gain clout with a bigger financial foothold in North Korea. AFP Wang Jiarui (L), head of the International Liaison Department of Chinese Communist Party, walks with Kim Jong-Il (C) in Pyongyang, Feb. 8, 2010. SEOUL—China's reported plans to invest billions of dollars in North Korea reflect Beijing's bid to prop up the regime and keep a dominant role in the region rather than to lure Pyongyang back to multilateral talks, analysts say. A number of state-owned Chinese banks and other companies are close to a deal to invest nearly U.S. $10 billion in North Korean infrastructure, after talks with the official Pyongyang-based Taepung International Investment Group, Seoul’s Yonhap news agency has reported. The report couldn't be immediately confirmed. The investment earmarks funds to build railroads, harbors, and homes in North Korea, the report said, adding that more than 60 percent of the investment would be put up by Chinese banks. The deal, with North Korea’s State Develop]]> WED, 24 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=cash-for-influence&ItemID=YO-2282010919145159790956 China looks set to go ahead with a large-scale shake-up of its Internet cafe industry in a move critics say is aimed at further tightening controls over its citizens online. Officials at China's Ministry of Culture recently set out guidelines for people wishing to set up large chains of Internet cafes, paring back the thousands of privately run smaller operations. “It’s hard to mount ‘clean-up’ operations when there are so many Internet cafes,” said the proprietor of an Internet cafe surnamed Chen in the eastern province of Anhui. “There isn’t the time and energy to install monitoring software at every single one of them, and they can always delete it again anyway.” “The point of this is to cut down on the number of small and medium-sized Internet cafes,” Chen said. Investment sought Officials say they want to encourage entrepreneurs to bid ]]> WED, 24 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=china-to-shake-up-cybercafes&ItemID=QG-2282010522045159887262 American Women in Radio & Television’s Gracie Allen Award this year. WASHINGTON, DC – Radio Free Asia is a proud recipient of American Women in Radio & Television’s Gracie Allen Award this year. In recognition of this honor, RFA President Libby Liu praised the team behind RFA’s winning entry, “Half the Xinjiang Sky,” a multimedia Web page focusing on in-depth coverage, images, and video relevant to Uyghur women following the deadly events in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and Guangdong province in the summer of 2009.  “With this prestigious award, we recognize the impact journalism can make in understanding the lives of women throughout the world,” Liu said.  “Radio Free Asia’s multimedia team developed this Web page with the hope of spotlighting the struggles and reality faced by Uyghur women in China since last summer.“We at Radio Free Asia are honored and thank American Women in Radio & Television for recognizi]]> WED, 24 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=rfa-wins-gracie-for-web-coverage-of-uyghur-women&ItemID=EX-2282010582745159145513 TUE, 23 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=opposition-calls-for-talks&ItemID=YR-2282010186245159232198 TUE, 23 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=a-glimpse-of-north-korea&ItemID=VE-2282010161245159833581 TUE, 23 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=burma-frees-opposition-leader&ItemID=OQ-2282010593845159596909 China continues to drive tensions, despite a decline last year. AFP Chinese 100 yuan notes shown alongside a U.S. $100 dollar bill in Beijing, Oct. 14, 2004. BOSTON—The U.S. trade deficit with China has declined for the first time in eight years, but experts expect little change in debates over Beijing's controversial currency policy.In 2009, the trade gap with China fell to U.S. $226.8 billion from a record $268 billion a year before, but the improvement was the result of the recession rather than any shift in China's policies, economists say."It's the weaker economy," said Gary Hufbauer, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, noting a 12 percent drop in imports from China and a 45 percent cut in the U.S. trade deficit with the world."China was just part of the larger story," Hufbauer told Radio Free Asia."U.S. imports drop pretty fast when we have a recession because our imports are dominated by consumer goods," ]]> MON, 22 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=deficit-strains-china-ties&ItemID=UX-2282010483045159541424 China's central government to abolish labor camps. AFP A "re-education through labor" group heads to work in Tuanhe, near Beijing, June 12, 1986. HONG KONG—A former official in northeastern China who was sent to labor camp after she organized a petition calling for the abolition of China's gulag, has renewed her call in a letter to China's leaders ahead of this year's annual parliamentary sessions in Beijing.Liu Jie, former director of a state livestock farm under the jurisdiction of Heilongjiang's provincial general land reclamation bureau, was herself sent for "re-education through labor" by administrative sentence, which can be imposed for up to three years without trial, after signing the October 2007 petition along with 12,000 others.Liu, 56, was released in April 2009 after serving 18 months in a labor camp in Qiqiha'er, where she was sent for "instigating trouble" and "disturbing social order.""I know Liu Jie," said Beijing-based civil rights lawyer Li ]]> MON, 22 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=call-to-end-chinas-gulag&ItemID=JI-2282010915045159314373 China's central government to abolish labor camps. AFP A "re-education through labor" group heads to work in Tuanhe, near Beijing, June 12, 1986. HONG KONG—A former official in northeastern China who was sent to labor camp after she organized a petition calling for the abolition of China's gulag, has renewed her call in a letter to China's leaders ahead of this year's annual parliamentary sessions in Beijing.Liu Jie, former director of a state livestock farm under the jurisdiction of Heilongjiang's provincial general land reclamation bureau, was herself sent for "re-education through labor" by administrative sentence, which can be imposed for up to three years without trial, after signing the October 2007 petition along with 12,000 others.Liu, 56, was released in April 2009 after serving 18 months in a labor camp in Qiqiha'er, where she was sent for "instigating trouble" and "disturbing social order.""I know Liu Jie," said Beijing-based civil rights lawyer Li ]]> MON, 22 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=call-to-end-chinas-gulag&ItemID=AH-2282010146545159895980 Tibetan monks in Dharamsala, India, shows protests in Ngaba on March 16, 2008. HONG KONG—Hundreds of Tibetans staged a rare public protest in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan during the lunar new year holiday, known as Losar, according to sources in the region. Hundreds of monks and nuns from Gede and Se monasteries, and the Mani nunnery, staged a sit-in in Ngaba township [in Chinese, Aba] on Feb. 14. "Yes, [the Tibetans held a sit-in]," said one Ngaba resident. "The Tibetans have all left. Gone home." A second resident, asked if armed police were dispatched to the scene, replied, "Yes, yes, lots of them." Dekyi Dolma, a nun whose hometown is in Ngaba but who currently lives in the northern Indian town of Dharamsala, said as many as eight or nine monasteries and nunneries were involved in the protest. "They staged the sit-in because the auth]]> FRI, 19 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=tibetans-protest-detentions&ItemID=FW-2282010664345159325798 China, according to several North Korean sources. These tougher measures have made it harder for cash-strapped North Koreans to make calls abroad appealing for help and sharply increased the cost of obtaining a guide to help sneak out of the country, they said. North Korea’s Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of State Security announced Feb. 8 that the Pyongyang government had the means to crush “reactionary forces.” An announcer on government-run Korean Central Television (KCTV) said: “We possess a world-class striking force and means to protect our security that have not yet been entirely mentioned or made public.” Sources inside North Korea subsequently said in interviews that the authorities had stepped-up patrols for woul]]> FRI, 19 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=crackdown-on-mobile-phones&ItemID=LD-2282010553545159270313 FRI, 19 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=rohingya-beaten-deported&ItemID=HX-2282010157045159356998 Dalai Lama’s meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, Feb. 18, 2010. Credit: Lhasa resident. WASHINGTON—Braving warnings from Beijing that the meeting would harm Sino-U.S. ties, U.S. President Barack Obama met here Thursday with Tibet’s exiled leader the Dalai Lama. Obama used his first presidential meeting with the Dalai Lama to press Beijing, which has drawn international criticism for its heavy-handed treatment of Tibet, to preserve “[Tibet's] unique religious, cultural, and linguistic identity and the protection of human rights for Tibetans in the People’s Republic of China.” “The president commended the Dalai Lama’s commitment to nonviolence and his pursuit of dialogue with the Chinese government,” the White House said in a written statement after the nearly hour-long meeting. Tibetans inside China meanwhile reported special prayers and offerings in]]> THU, 18 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=dalai-lama-meets-obama&ItemID=RI-228201046845159291892 Tibetans in China risk persecution by praying for a good outcome to a meeting between their spiritual leader and the U.S. president. RFA/Lhasa resident Residents of Lhasa pray for a good outcome ahead of the Dalai Lama’s meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, Feb. 18, 2010. KATHMANDU—Tibetans inside China burned incense, prayed, and raised Buddhist prayer flags ahead of their exiled leader’s first White House meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, despite tighter security by Chinese authorities who regard the Dalai Lama as a dangerous separatist. In Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and the epicenter of a 2008 anti-Chinese uprising, witnesses reported stepped-up security beginning on Wednesday, including several hundred armed personnel, in the city and concentrated around the Barkhor area in particular. Residents of Lhasa pray for a good outcome ahead of the Dalai Lama’s meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, Feb. 18, 2010. Credit: RFA/Lhasa resident. But Tib]]> THU, 18 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=tibetans-pray-before-obama-meeting&ItemID=WW-2282010564545159721709 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 sa]]> THU, 18 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=uyghur-leader-dead-at-85&ItemID=JO-2282010625245159979959 Tibet to Vietnam? What more do you know about this river? Related links: Traveling down the Mekong River Copyright © 1998-2010 Radio Free Asia. All rights reserved. © Radio Free Asia]]> WED, 17 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=quiz-mekong-river&ItemID=FJ-228201022874515966645 China's central government tells local authorities to handle their own problems. Sent by Tongle villager Zhang Protesting villagers are dispersed by police in Pingle county, Guangzhou, Jan. 19, 2010. HONG KONG—A top law enforcement official has called on Chinese local authorities to "keep trouble in the townships," referring to the tens of thousands of clashes that happen annually between protesters and the authorities around the country.In a clear endorsement of recent crackdowns on petitioners seeking redress for grievances against the government at a higher level of authority, Zhou Yongkang said "conflict should not be handed up to a higher level."According to a recent report in the official Communist Party journal Qiushi, Zhou told a Dec. 18 nationwide law enforcement teleconference that "small problems should stay in the village, and bigger problems should stay in the township."Zhou, political and legislative committee chairman for the Party's Central Committee, said efforts shoul]]> WED, 17 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=warning-as-unrest-grows&ItemID=VI-2282010460245159648252 China and the United States will be tested this year by several issues, including currency manipulation, trade, Internet censorship, human rights, U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, and U.S. President Barack Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama. RFA Graphic with Reuters Copyright © 1998-2010 Radio Free Asia. All rights reserved. © Radio Free Asia]]> WED, 17 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=china-and-us-ties-in-2010&ItemID=HI-2282010149545159391806 WED, 17 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=economy-rains-on-kims-parade&ItemID=NP-228201038745159336321 WED, 17 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=river-water-sickens-villagers&ItemID=QT-2282010813645159736741 TUE, 16 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=systems-administrator-engineer-technical-operations&ItemID=BE-2282010703445159671635 TUE, 16 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=vietnams-rice-bowl&ItemID=YI-228201049745159787716 TUE, 16 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=the-end-of-the-river&ItemID=MA-228201011044515945968 China has called on the ruling Communist Party to free prisoners of conscience in their region and to open up debate on political change. The activists also called for the release of Tan Zuoren, jailed recently after he launched a personal investigation into allegations of shoddy construction of the region's schools following the deaths of thousands of children during the devastating 2008 Sichuan earthquake. “The government has made little effort to change in the past year,” wrote the Sichuan and Chongqing-based activists in an open letter to China's leaders released online during the Lunar New Year holiday. “It continues to use oppressive measures against justice in order to protect its dictatorship,” the activists wrote, in particular with regard ]]> TUE, 16 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=new-year-letter-slams-party&ItemID=OF-2282010885345159446389 China AFP A worker piles coal in Huaibei, in eastern China's Anhui province, Feb. 7, 2010. BOSTON-China has shaken up its energy administration for the fourth time in seven years, but it is unclear whether the moves will produce new policies, experts say.On Jan. 27, the State Council announced the establishment of a National Energy Commission (NEC) headed by Premier Wen Jiabao to "step up strategic policy-making and coordination," the official Xinhua news agency reported.But the announcement did not say whether the new body would immediately replace the National Energy Leading Group, also organized under Premier Wen to plan policy in 2005.China's government has taken a series of similar bureaucratic steps in recent years, reflecting the importance of coordinating policies as energy use has soared. It's a modest, small, incremental improvement in the focus of the leadership on energy Each ti]]> MON, 15 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=energy-shortfalls-prompt-elusive-reform&ItemID=XT-2282010945345159714260 FRI, 12 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=resettlement-for-gitmo-uyghurs&ItemID=QE-2282010806045159771549 China does not rest with the Communist Party. Who does it rest with? It rests with the people; however, according to the court judgement, Charter 08, which wanted to do away with a single party dictatorship, was guilty of subversion. So it was with the first verdict, and with the first appeal, which upheld the original verdict. This sort of final appeals process is very disappointing.Liu Xiaobo's decision to continue to appeal was the last opportunity for the autho]]> FRI, 12 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=final-conclusion-on-liu-xiaobos-final-appeal&ItemID=WL-2282010695245159716064 China are afforded no protection under the country's laws. AFP A warning sign is shown on a barbed-wire fence separating China and North Korea, May 27, 2009. DANDONG, China—A freezing December wind rakes across northeast China, as a group of seven children sit in a circle in the living room of a missionary's Dandong apartment, a stone's throw from the border with Stalinist North Korea.The seven boys and girls of elementary school age are playing a game with the foster mother who cares for them in spite of Chinese laws which forbid taking in a stranger's child as if it were one's own.According to the foster father, who preferred to remain anonymous, "It is illegal [so] we are not allowed to receive any foreign aid."  "I tell others that I am taking care of my relatives’ children...It is obvious that none of their relatives can take care of these children," he said.Many of the children in his care were left stranded after their North K]]> FRI, 12 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=korean-children-left-in-china&ItemID=LU-2282010127345159489013 FRI, 12 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=apology-issued-for-currency-gaffe&ItemID=VF-228201017145159423907 China. Related links: Traveling down the Mekong River Watch the related videos: Melting Glaciers Harnessing the Lancang Jiang Rubber Kingdom Along River Copyright © 1998-2010 Radio Free Asia. All rights reserved. © Radio Free Asia]]> THU, 11 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=quiz-mekong-in-china&ItemID=BT-2282010534945159853724 Tibetan inmate of a jail in China’s southwestern Sichuan province has kidnapped a prison guard in retaliation for harsh treatment in detention, sparking a region-wide manhunt and a U.S. $14,000 reward. “An arrest order has been issued,” said an officer who answered the phone at the Kangding county public security department in Sichuan’s Kardze [in Chinese, Ganzi] Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. “[The reward] is 100,000 yuan (about U.S. $15,000). [The wanted man is] Pasang,” the officer said. Sources in the region, under tight security since unrest flared in Tibetan communities in March 2008, said the guard was taken hostage Feb. 1 in the prefecture’s Kardze county. “One of the Tibetan inmates in the prison, known as Pasang, forcibly took hostage one of the prison guards, known as Chang Kasong, and broke out of the jail,” one Kardze-based source said.]]> WED, 10 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=tibetan-kidnaps-prison-guard&ItemID=OL-2282010595545159111976 China's 1989 crackdown says he's looking forward to his new life. AFP Activist Fang Zheng, who lost his legs 20 years ago dances with his wife Zhou Jing for the first time since receiving his prosthetic legs in Washington, DC, October 7, 2009. WASHINGTON—A promising Chinese athlete whose legs were crushed by a tank during the military crackdown on the 1989 student-led pro-democracy movement has been granted political asylum after traveling to the United States for new prosthetic limbs. Fang Zheng, 42, who danced a waltz at an event honoring him on Capitol Hill, which was carried on national television, said he had given two reasons to U.S. officials considering his application. “One reason was that the Chinese government has already inflicted a great deal of physical and emotional suffering on me because I was injured in the June 4, 1989 crackdown,” Fang said. “They have refused to this day to pay me any compensation, and suppress me instead.” Fang said that just before he ]]> TUE, 09 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=tank-victim-gets-us-asylum&ItemID=WJ-2282010178745159181555 China's handling of the Tiananmen crackdown in 1989, according to Tan's lawyers. Tan published several articles online about the military suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations, but he wasn't arrested until he began an inquiry into the deaths of thousands of children in the May]]> TUE, 09 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=quake-activist-gets-five-years&ItemID=SV-2282010153645159782938 TUE, 09 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=us-capital-faces-new-snow&ItemID=MG-228201014345159840227 TUE, 09 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=business-as-usual&ItemID=SN-2282010903445159784742 MON, 08 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=vietnams-floating-marketplace&ItemID=NH-2282010507045159871426 Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and its population of Muslim Uyghurs.Urumqi mayor Jerla Isamudinhe announced a persistent crackdown on the “three forces” of terrorism, separatism, and extremism on Thursday, saying the city faced an “arduous fight against separatism now and for years to come.”Isamudinhe told a session of the municipal People’s Congress that all “s]]> MON, 08 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=urumqis-winter-of-discontent&ItemID=RH-2282010225345159492585 China’s carbon target gets mixed reviews. AFP A factory emits smoke in Jilin city, in northeast China's Jilin province, March 1, 2009. By Michael LelyveldBOSTON—International climate commitments have fallen short of U.N. targets to control global warming, but experts hope major nations will improve upon pledges they have already made.The United States has pledged to cut emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020, while China has committed to lower its “carbon intensity” by 40 to 45 percent over the same period.The intensity index has stirred debate because China and other developing countries have refused to reduce total emissions, citing their needs for economic growth.Instead, they would cut carbon content, or intensity, per unit of economic output.Last year, the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) projected that China’s total CO2 emissions will rise some 57 percent by 2020, compared with 2007, while U.S. emissions would fall by 3.5 percent.Chi]]> MON, 08 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=climate-pledges-fall-short&ItemID=WV-2282010743145159922402 China office in Beijing, Jan. 13, 2010. HONG KONG—Chinese authors are considering a lawsuit against Internet giant Google as a group representing writers’ interests works through a list of more than 10,000 pieces of writing that may have been posted on its online library without permission.Chinese Written Works Copyright Society deputy chief Zhang Hongbo said the group would be watching a Feb. 18 hearing between Google on one side and U.S. and Canadian writers on the other with close interest.“We will wait and see what happens at the Google hearing on Feb. 18,” Zhang said.“We will see the reaction from the United States and Canada, and other quarters and we will weigh up what sort of a statement to make.”Last month, Zhang’s group said it had found nearly 18,000 books by 570 Chinese authors that had been scanned by Google and included in its digital library, Google Books—mostly with]]> MON, 08 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=chinese-authors-mull-lawsuit&ItemID=JN-2282010803745159180653 FRI, 05 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=dissidents-named-for-peace-prize&ItemID=YU-2282010663845159247563 FRI, 05 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=vietnams-street-children&ItemID=CR-2282010810245159162682 THU, 04 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=tensions-in-the-taiwan-strait&ItemID=HH-2282010328045159592498 THU, 04 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=lawyer-missing-for-a-year&ItemID=UY-2282010388645159850749 human rights organizations and at the United Nations. Will the issue of the Hmong in the temporary internment camp in Huay Nam Khao village of Petchabun province and in the border police prison at Nong Khai, which has dragged out for the last five or six years, really be finished now that the Hmong have all been returned to Laos? Or will the issue grow bigger and get worse because no independent agency has been allowed to meet and talk freely with, or go and visit, those who were repatriated? The Hmong, who had been living in the camps in north]]> WED, 03 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=lack-of-transparency-for-returnees&ItemID=PV-2282010564145159643474 Americans, but they’re expecting, perhaps, that the men should be on Swiss soil in a month,” Gilson said. “I think they will not believe it’s true until their feet are on the ground in Switzerland … They have been told things many times,” she said. “I hope [they w]]> WED, 03 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=resettlement-in-30-days&ItemID=MI-2282010539045159244857 WED, 03 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=karen-said-to-face-danger&ItemID=RW-228201056845159674674 China, shown in an undated screenshot. HONG KONG—Vendors in China say they routinely ship out sedatives believed to be associated with “date rape” in the West, with some openly claiming that the drugs can aid would-be rapists. “I have three kinds of drug here—[for] sedation, an unconscious dream state, and date rape,” said one vendor in the southeastern province of Fujian when contacted by a reporter posing as a potential customer. “The rape one is 980 [yuan],” he said. “There are 20 doses. It can be taken directly in a drink. After the person is knocked unconscious, they also get sexually aroused.” The vendor was the contact person named on a Web site offering the sedative Flunitrazepam, which gained notoriety in Western countries as a “date rape” drug under the brand-name Rohypnol. It’s also known in China as FM2. The medication, sometimes prescribed for severe insomnia, also induces a]]> TUE, 02 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=rape-drugs-sold-online&ItemID=FO-2282010117545159932924 Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomo]]> TUE, 02 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=uyghur-decision-imminent&ItemID=TV-2282010977545159999834 China in New York. HONG KONG—Chinese dissident He Jian, a signatory to the Charter 08 petition calling for broad political and democratic reforms, has been confined to a Shanghai mental hospital, according to knowledgeable sources. He frequently circumvented China’s so-called Great Firewall software to outmaneuver China’s aggressive online censorship, posting articles on Twitter and other overseas Web sites in support of Charter 08 and its drafter, Liu Xiaobo. Liu was sentenced in December to 11 years’ imprisonment for initiating the manifesto. Police in Shanghai’s Putuo district detained He at the Putuo Psychiatric Health Center “two or three days ago,” sources said Tuesday. An officer contacted by phone at the Putuo Police Station declined to comment, saying he wasn’t “involved in particular cases.” But an official at the Putuo P]]> TUE, 02 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=activist-sent-to-mental-hospital&ItemID=XS-2282010123945159914953 Dalai Lama, as talks stall between the Chinese government and the Tibetan government-in-exile. AFP Envoys of the Dalai Lama Lodi Gyari (C) and Kelsang Gyaltsen (R) address a press conference in Dharamsala, Feb. 2, 2010. DHARAMSALA—U.S. President Barack Obama plans to meet with exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama despite warnings the move could damage U.S.-China relations, a White House spokesman said Tuesday. “The President told China's leaders during his trip last year that he would meet with the Dalai Lama, and he intends to do so,” the spokesman said, adding that a date will be announced as the meeting draws nearer. “The Dalai Lama is an internationally respected religious and cultural leader, and the President will meet with him in that capacity,” he said. The Dalai Lama was presented with an award last October by top congressional leaders from the Tom Lantos human rights Commission in a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in Wa]]> TUE, 02 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=obama-to-meet-dalai-lama&ItemID=DI-2282010641745159344770 China's media gag orders in 2009. AFP/Peter Parks A woman looks at newspapers and magazines on one of Beijing's many newsstands, Dec. 3, 2008. HONG KONG—China’s powerful Central Propaganda Department issued at least 62 gag orders on state-controlled media in 2009, according to a new report on press freedom in the country. “From the beginning of 2009, many various orders were issued to restrict content and prevent free media reporting on a range of topics related to foreign affairs and matters of public interest such as health and safety,” the Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said. At least seven media gag orders were issued by the ruling Communist Party’s propaganda arm following deadly ethnic riots in the northwestern city of Urumqi in July, said the report, titled “China Clings to Control: Press Freedom in 2009.” Media directives were also issued limiting reporting on a corruption scandal involving Shenzhen Mayor Xu Zongheng, the elect]]> MON, 01 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=what-not-to-cover&ItemID=QA-2282010702345159603021 China's Anhui province on Feb.7, 2010. By Michael Lelyveld BOSTON—China’s coal industry made strides in improving safety last year, although its death toll remains the highest in the world, experts say. In 2009, coal fatalities and accidents both declined by double-digit rates while production rose, according to official reports. “The figures show that the number of fatalities has more than halved since 2005. At the same time, output has increased by about 20-30 percent, so there’s a dramatic fall in the death rate,” said Tim Wright, a China coal industry expert at Britain’s University of Sheffield. On Jan. 19, the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety (SACMS) said 2,631 miners died in accidents last year, down 18 percent from 2008, state media reported. China’s coal production also climbed over 12 percent to a record of nearly 3 billion tons, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) sa]]> MON, 01 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=coal-deaths-curbed&ItemID=LW-2282010877745159395746 MON, 01 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=rare-dolphins-at-risk&ItemID=IJ-2282010852745159997128 MON, 01 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=festivities-on-the-mekong&ItemID=NX-2282010370545159426946 MON, 01 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=fishing-the-river&ItemID=HB-2282010602645159998932 MON, 01 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=junta-frees-boy-soldier&ItemID=WI-228201046274515965842 human rights activist Feng Zhenghu. HONG KONG—A Chinese rights activist stranded in Tokyo’s airport for three months is giving up his protest and hopes to return home to Shanghai, apparently after receiving Chinese assurances that he will be allowed back into the country.Feng Zhenghu, a 55-year-old economist, has been questioned and detained on many occasions for his human rights activism. He said in an interview Monday that he plans to arrive in Shanghai before the Chinese New Year, Feb. 14.Chinese immigration authorities repeatedly refused to allow him back into the country, most recently bundling him onto a flight back to Tokyo in November—after which he simply refused to pass through immigration and camped for three months in the immigration area of Narita Airport.“I will leave the airport on this coming Wednesday,” Feng said, without giving details of his third visi]]> MON, 01 FEB 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=activist-will-go-home&ItemID=AF-2282010609145159980960 FRI, 29 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=vietnams-sexual-revolution&ItemID=YJ-228201095534515997042 China is both a star - and a source for concern. Is the country facing a bubble? playerFile = "http://www.rfa.org/english/FlashPlayer.swf"; fpFileURL = "http://a9.g.akamai.net/f/9/9391/6h/rfa.download.akamai.com/21309/ENG/china-economy.flv"; fpPreviewImageURL = "http://www.rfa.org/english/multimedia/chinese-economy-01282010123252.html/china-bank.jpg"; playerSize = "320x240"; videoScreenSize = "320x240"; fpButtonSize = "70x70"; cpInfoBtnPosition = "0x0"; AFP video Copyright © 1998-2010 Radio Free Asia. All rights reserved. © Radio Free Asia]]> THU, 28 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=concerns-about-a-potential-bubble&ItemID=SO-2282010759445159375068 China’s targeted the island with missiles. Today in Hong Kong, which]]> THU, 28 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=lawmakers-resign-call-for-suffrage&ItemID=NI-2282010363045159461753 WED, 27 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=sam-rainsy-jailed-in-absentia&ItemID=KU-228201033794515963137 WED, 27 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=forestry-bribes-increasing&ItemID=PK-2282010855645159492953 Tibetans detained for more than a month by Chinese security forces says she’s concerned over the fate of her sons, saying they cannot speak to their family and have yet to be formally charged. “My sons were not involved in political activities, nor have they ever shown any interest in such things,” the men’s 60-year-old mother said in an interview. “The accusations made against them are unfounded and false.” The detained men—Tsejor Gonpo, 43, and Choenga Tsering, 41—were picked up Dec. 7 by “a convoy of police vehicles” in Gartok town in Markham county, Chamdo prefecture, in the Tibet Autonomous Region, according to Tibetan sources. Officers of China’s  People’s Armed Police forced their way into a house where the brothers were eating breakfast  and demanded that the men accompany them for questioni]]> WED, 27 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=more-detentions-in-tibet&ItemID=WO-2282010172945159731428 China prompts a media blackout. Sent by Tongle villager Zhang Protesting villagers are dispersed by police in Pingle county, Guangzhou, Jan. 19, 2010. HONG KONG—Authorities in the southwestern Chinese region of Guangxi have sealed off a village and ordered a news blackout following violent clashes between local residents and police in a land dispute."The villagers put up some reports about what happened on the Internet, but they were taken down by the authorities very quickly," said a resident of Tongle township near the scenic tourist city of Guilin."Right now the authorities have totally sealed off the area. The villagers are using text messaging to exchange news," said Zhang, adding that he had been warned by other villagers that the police were still detaining people.Zhang said riot police fired tear gas and used electric shock batons on elderly protesters trying to prevent the takeover of their farmland for development."Things got very seri]]> TUE, 26 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=police-clash-with-protesters&ItemID=LX-2282010604945159504378 TUE, 26 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=dam-aims-to-power-region&ItemID=GU-2282010893945159850816 TUE, 26 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=north-koreans-get-h1n1&ItemID=LJ-2282010411845159280634 China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, official media reported Tuesday. The four defendants, whose names suggest they are ethnic minority Uyghurs, were charged with “extremely serious crimes,” according to the Xinjiang Daily, and their death sentences were expected to be carried out immediately. A fifth person was sentenced to death, but given a two-year reprieve, the official Xinhua News Agency reported on its Web site. Such reprieves for death sentences in China are often commuted to life imprisonment. Eight others were handed a range of jail terms including life in prison. At least 26 death sentences have been handed down to defendants in connection with July 5 clashes in the Xin]]> TUE, 26 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=more-death-sentences-for-riots&ItemID=YB-2282010472445159538885 China's economy soars, its grip on information tightens. This feature will examine the censorship enforced on China's massive online community for the past ten years. Copyright © 1998-2010 Radio Free Asia. All rights reserved. © Radio Free Asia]]> TUE, 26 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=online-censorship-in-china&ItemID=NI-2282010332545159605794 China's energy consumption is growing at faster rates, despite claims on efficiency and the environment. AFP View of a coal mine plant in Huaibei, east China's Anhui province on Dec.21, 2009. BOSTON—China's energy use appears to be accelerating, even as the government claims it is making environmental gains.In 2009, China's power consumption rose 6.4 percent to a record 3.6 trillion kilowatt-hours, the official Xinhua news agency reported, citing the State Electricity Regulatory Commission.The growth rate outpaced the 5.2-percent increase in 2008, reported a year ago.Oil imports surged some 14 percent to over 4 million barrels per day last year, China's General Administration of Customs reported. In 2008, imports rose 9.6 percent from a year before.The figures underscore the rapid growth of China's energy consumption, while the government focuses on improving energy and carbon "intensity."The intensity indexes measure only energy and emissions per unit of GDP rather than total volumes,]]> MON, 25 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=energy-use-still-growing&ItemID=KU-2282010307445159207177 human rights Watch alleges grave abuses and says drug detention centers should be closed. AFP A Cambodian boy sniffs glue from a plastic bag on the streets of Phnom Penh, May 3, 2004. BANGKOK—People detained in Cambodia’s drug treatment centers are subject to violence, sexual abuse, and forced labor, but international aid workers are reluctant to speak out, human rights Watch charged in a new report released Monday. Detention centers mandated to “rehabilitate” drug users subject them instead to electric shocks, beatings with electrical wire, forced labor, and harsh military drills, New York-based human rights Watch said in a 93-page report titled “Skin on the Cable.” “Individuals in these centers are not being treated or rehabilitated, they are being illegally detained and often tortured,” said Joseph Amon, director of the Health and human rights division at human rights Watch. “These centers do not need to be revamped or modified. They need to be shut down.” Amon said international ai]]> MON, 25 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=cambodias-drug-treatment-slammed&ItemID=WU-2282010996645159950730 China have turned to a popular microblogging service to vent their growing frustration with online censorship. Users of Twitter in China launched the new campaign on Jan. 24 criticizing Beijing’s sophisticated system of blocks and filters known collectively as the "Great Firewall," or GFW. Twitter users initiated the campaign with the use of the symbol #GFW when expressing views on Internet censorship. Twitter users often employ a "hash tag" symbol before a term inside their postings to make searches by topic easier to conduct. China-based Twitter user Feng Yan said he could no longer contain his anger over China’s Internet censorship. “The Great Firewall censors everything, including Facebook and Twitter. We’ve had it. Enough is enough. We are mad as hell,” Feng said. “That’s why Sunday afternoon we decided to start the online flas]]> MON, 25 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=netizens-take-aim&ItemID=DC-2282010885845159895245 Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama's special envoys for talks Lodi Gyari (R) and Kelsang Gyaltsen, July 5, 2008. DHARAMSALA—Envoys from the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, have arrived in China for a ninth round of talks with Chinese officials, exiled Tibetan sources said. The meetings are scheduled to be held in Beijing, according to a statement by the India-based Tibetan government-in-exile. The Tibetan delegation will include the Dalai Lama's special envoy in Washington Lodi Gyari, senior envoy of the Dalai Lama Kelsang Gyaltsen, and International Campaign for Tibet director Bhuchung Tsering. Tenzin Phuntsok Atisha and Jigme Pasang, both members of the Tibetan Task Force on Negotiations, will accompany the delegation, the statement said. An eighth round of talks between China and envoys from the Tibetan government-in-exile ended in 2008 with no concrete agreement. Chinese officials rejected written pr]]> MON, 25 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=china-tibet-talks-restart&ItemID=XY-228201061345159687969 FRI, 22 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=downstream-dangers&ItemID=RS-1242010759262835699684 China detain suspects in the latest in a string of violent attacks on ethnic Uyghurs. Photo provided by a listener. Kaynam Jappar, one of several Uyghurs recently attacked, shown in a Jan. 6, 2005 photo. HONG KONG—Authorities in the central Chinese province of Hubei have detained at least one man in connection with the beating to death of two ethnic minority Uyghurs during an apparent shoplifting attempt. "We are dealing with [the case] here. [The suspects] have been detained," an employee who answered the phone at government offices in Hubei's Wuxue city said. "There will certainly be [charges brought]. This is a judicial procedure," the employee said. "It will take one or two days to complete." The case comes less than two weeks after the stabbing death of a Uyghur waiter, Tursun, in the southern city of Shenzhen, and amid simmering tensions following deadly ethnic riots in the western region of Xinjiang last July. Beijing has blamed exiled Uyghur dissident Rebiya Kade]]> FRI, 22 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=men-held-over-uyghur-deaths&ItemID=CZ-124201077162835928539 FRI, 22 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=river-life-in-laos&ItemID=HO-1242010594862835358356 China over censorship and cyber-attacks sparks huge public controversy in China, the results of a new survey reveal a huge majority of Chinese city-dwellers want greater Web freedom. Two-thirds of the Chinese public, or 66 percent of respondents, said that they “should have the right to read whatever is on the Internet” when asked in January 2008 by WorldPublicOpinion.org, which published an updated version of the poll last week. Only 21 percent said they agreed with the statement that "the government should have the right to prevent people from having access to some things on the Internet," the pollster said, ahead of a speech by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in which she was expected to call for global Internet freedom. According ]]> THU, 21 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=chinese-want-web-freedom&ItemID=PM-1242010169962835557815 human rights abuses before the U.S. Congress is being followed by police, according to his wife. Jiang Tianyong, who also spoke while in the United States on Charter '08, a controversial political document calling for widespread reforms and curbs on the power of the ruling Communist Party, had moved apartments recently to avoid police, his wife said. "There is a young man always hovering around our office," Jin Bianling said. "Yesterday I found out that he was actually sent by police to monitor our activities." Jin said the man had denied following her, but later admitted to her husband that he was "doing his duty." "On the street, the man even tried to stop Jiang Tianyong from leaving by blocking the way of a cab Jiang had called,"]]> WED, 20 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=charter-08-lawyer-followed&ItemID=RR-1242010944862835958236 human rights lawyer Le Cong Dinh, 41, received five years in prison. All could have faced the death penalty for subversion. They were convicted under Article 79 of Vietnam’s criminal code, or “carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration.” The trial in Vietnam's rainy commercial hub lasted about eight hours. The convictions and sentences took longer to read before the court than the recess during which they were written, Reuters reported. Dinh an]]> WED, 20 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=dissidents-get-stiff-sentences&ItemID=OD-1242010919762835559619 Xinjiang is part of a growing trend of attacks, exiles say. AFP Rebiya Kadeer in Melbourne, Australia, Aug. 5, 2009. WASHINGTON—The stabbing of an ethnic minority Uyghur waiter in the southern city of Shenzhen earlier this month was only the latest in a string of civilian attacks on members of the mostly Muslim, Turkic-speaking community in China, according to exiled Uyghur dissident Rebiya Kadeer."We condemn such civilian attacks which are being carried out alongside the Chinese government's continuing crackdown on Uyghurs," Kadeer said."We call on the Chinese government and the Chinese people to learn a lesson from what has happened."Kadeer cited three attacks on Uyghurs in recent months, including the death in detention of Shohret Tursun, a native of Ili prefecture, the unexplained death of musician Mirzat Alim, and the beating and subsequent hospitalization of Urumqi-based photographer Kaynam Jappar."The stabbing of Tursun in Shenz]]> TUE, 19 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=uyghur-killing-not-isolated&ItemID=HN-1242010780462835616908 China's income inequality is growing along with its economy, experts warn. AFP A homeless man sleeps outside a restaurant in Beijing, Nov. 20, 2007. BOSTON—China's growing gap between rich and poor poses serious challenges for the government and the economy, analysts say.On Dec. 21, researchers of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) presented their annual "blue book" report, finding that income inequality between urban and rural residents widened further last year, official media reported.Income distribution has become "increasingly unfair," said Li Peilin, director of the CASS Institute of Sociology, according to the Straits Times.While incomes in China's cities rose by an estimated 10 percent last year, disposable incomes in the countryside grew by about 6 percent, said Li.State media reports have noted that farmers' incomes have risen by at least 6 percent for six years in a row. But other figures suggest huge disparities.In Beijing, for example, per capita GDP is reported]]> TUE, 19 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=growing-gap-threatens-stability&ItemID=PL-1242010355562835816366 TUE, 19 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=asia-aids-haiti&ItemID=YB-1242010302062835530524 China flocked to a traditional Beijing house in a quiet alleyway in the capital at the weekend in hope of paying respects at the home of reformer Zhao Ziyang on the fifth anniversary of the ousted premier's death. "We haven't had time to count up the names in the guest book yet, but we guess that around 200 people came," Zhao's daughter Wang Yannan said. "They were coming here as an act of remembrance." Zhao, a former general secretary of the ruling Communist Party, fell from power at the height of the student-led pro-democracy movement in the early summer of 1989. While Zhao's death went unnoticed by many in China, a number of ordinary people with grievances against the government converged on the ancestral hall of the house in Fuqiang Alley. Zhao spent nearly two decades under house arrest there before his dea]]> TUE, 19 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=chinese-remember-zhao-ziyang&ItemID=OC-1242010105462835818170 China's Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) told reporters the agency is currently drafting new rules that would allow individuals to register ".cn" domain names with their own identity. "It's a trend that individuals register their own domain names," Qi was quoted as saying by the English-language China Daily newspaper. "We are now working to check whether individual registrars' information is true, complete and accurate, and based on this we can quicken our speed in drawing up the regulation on individual domain name registration." CNNIC's ban on individuals registering domain names, announced last month, drew angry responses from netiz]]> TUE, 19 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=china-mulls-looser-web-rules&ItemID=OW-1242010137662835189196 China, over comments he made about the recent sentencing of well-known dissident Liu Xiaobo, sources familiar with the case said. Liu, who played a leading role in drafting Charter 08—an online document calling for political reform in China—was sentenced by a Beijing court on Dec. 25 to 11 years in prison on charges of “incitement to subversion of state power.” He has since appealed that sentence. In an interview early this month with Hong Kong’s Asia Weekly magazine, Du blasted Liu’s sentencing, calling the verdict against him “stupid and shameful.” Contacted by a reporter, Du declined to comment, saying only, “Sorry, I cannot take the interview.” “It is not convenient” to discuss the case, he added. The Central Party School of the Communist Party of China is the ]]> TUE, 19 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=cadre-questioned-on-remarks&ItemID=WU-1242010712662835388654 China office in Beijing, Jan. 13, 2010. HONG KONG <!- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:SimSun; panose-1:2 1 6 0 3 1 1 1 1 1; mso-font-alt:??; mso-font-charset:134; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 135135232 16 0 262145 0;} @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1107304683 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:"@SimSun"; panose-1:2 1 6 0 3 1 1 1 1 1; mso-font-charset:134; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 135135232 16 0 262145 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.]]> FRI, 15 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=netizens-react-over-google&ItemID=LE-1242010144762835161604 China-based search results at the Capitol Building in Washington, Jan. 14, 2010. HONG KONG—Internet giant Google’s decision to stop cooperating with Chinese government censorship requirements was welcomed by overseas activists and U.S. politicians, as an industry report claimed to have verified that cyber-attacks on the Gmail accounts of Chinese activists were indeed the work of Beijing. “With its remarkable statement…that it is ‘no longer willing to continue censoring’ results on its Chinese search engine, Google sent a thrill of encouragement through the hearts of millions of Chinese human rights activists and political and religious dissidents,” U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican, said. Smith and other lawmakers called on Congress to pass the Global Online Freedom Act, which would prevent U.S. information technology (IT) fi]]> FRI, 15 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=google-wins-praise&ItemID=BG-1242010948062835449250 FRI, 15 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=dams-threaten-falls-fisheries&ItemID=TQ-1242010808862835506539 China and that it's reconsidering its services in that country has smacked the world like a thunderclap: Why the drastic move? How will China respond? Will other companies with interests in China, such as Microsoft and Yahoo, follow suit? What does it mean for the future of cyberspace?Some may be puzzled. How does Google's decision to end censored search services in China relate to the attacks on its infrastructure, the theft of intellectual property and access to private e-mail accounts? Well, there are connections. Censorship, surveillance and information warfare are part of an emerging storm in cyberspace in which countries, corporations and individuals are vying for control.China sees cyberspace as a strategic domain to further its ambitions as a superpower, and as an environment ]]> FRI, 15 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=google-china-and-a-wake-up-call&ItemID=BX-1242010698062835451054 THU, 14 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=hmong-resettlement-still-possible&ItemID=KN-1242010644462835165211 WED, 13 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=permits-for-burmese-migrant-workers&ItemID=IP-124201030526283521538 WED, 13 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=eu-upholds-flight-ban&ItemID=BZ-124201016596283578827 Tibetan Buddhist talks about why he left China—despite winning approval from Beijing. AFP Karmapa Orgyen Trinley Dorje looks on during teachings given by the Dalai Lama, Jan. 5, 2010. BODHGAYA, India—One of Tibetan Buddhism’s most senior figures says he fled Tibet 10 years ago in part because he feared political manipulation by Chinese authorities. Speaking in an interview while leading a large prayer gathering in Bodhgaya, India—the historical site of the Buddha’s enlightenment—the Karmapa Lama said life inside China might have been “endurable” if his activities had been limited to religious functions. “But it was possible that the Chinese government would have assigned me political duties as I became older,” he said. “If I were to have to become involved in any negative action or [been required to represent] a point of view opposed to His Holiness the Dalai Lama or the religious and political well-being of Tibet, this would have been difficult,” he said. Tibet’s exiled leader, ]]> WED, 13 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=lama-feared-chinas-control&ItemID=NB-124201054076283582134 WED, 13 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=un-wants-access-to-hmong&ItemID=CL-1242010972762835855082 China's logo is displayed on a wall at the company's office in Shanghai, Jan. 13, 2010. HONG KONG—Google's announcement this week that it will quit filtering its Web-based searches in China and may leave the country altogether may affect the operations of other foreign firms in China, sources said. “Google has posed a tremendous challenge to the Chinese government,” Internet research expert Isaac Mao said on Twitter. “This may turn into an international case study on how the Chinese government deals with the independent operations of an international company.” In a surprise announcement, Google said Tuesday it would quit blocking politically sensitive information searches—a requirement set by China’s government—after what it called “a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China.” The cyber-attack appeared to be aimed at]]> WED, 13 JAN 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/radiofreeasia/Read.asp?RadioFreeAsia=googles-china-operations-in-doubt&ItemID=MS-124201029066283583938