DTN News: China TODAY February 12, 2010 ~ Trekking 1,000km In China For E-Mail

DTN News: China TODAY February 12, 2010 ~ Trekking 1,000km In China For E-Mail *Source: DTN News / By Damian Grammaticas BBC News, Xinjiang (NSI News Source Info) URUMQI, Xinjiang Region, China - February 12, 2010: It is minus 20C, and China's frigid far west Xinjiang province feels frozen, cut off. On the streets of the capital, Urumqi, people huddle around braziers to keep warm. The call to prayer rings out from the minaret of a mosque. Every few minutes in the middle of Urumqi another security patrol passes. Chinese policemen in smart blue uniforms march in line, brandishing their guns. Business people are having to travel 1,000km just to keep in touch with clients. For us who make a living on the internet, it's a fatal blow ~ Zhu Meng Xinjiang businessman Police vans drive by slowly with their blue and red warning lights flashing, officers in helmets and camouflage gear peering watchfully out. Sometimes it is trucks painted in military colours. At other times, men march past dressed in long green greatcoats and fur hats, clutching wooden clubs. China says it is fighting terrorism and separatism here and must be vigilant. The security is a constant presence. And for months now Xinjiang's people have had their communication with the outside world restricted. Internet blamed China clamped down after Xinjiang suffered serious unrest last summer. The spark was in southern China, where two ethnic Uighurs had been beaten to death by Han Chinese workers after trouble blew up at a factory. A few days later, after the news reached Xinjiang, came reprisals. Uighur mobs rioted, attacking Han Chinese, and Han Chinese retaliated. China says 200, mostly Han Chinese, were killed in Urumqi and the internet and mobile phones were used to foment the chaos. (Image/Photo: Urumqi was flooded with security forces after the violence) So to keep control in Xinjiang, China imposed severe restrictions on the flow of information in and out of this province. For much of the past seven months the internet was cut off. Mobile phone text messages were suspended. Urumqi's biggest internet cafe has 500 computer terminals. It had just been refurbished before the riots with new computers installed. Now it is almost empty. In one corner three people lie snoozing with their heads on the computer keyboards. The machines are turned off. Wang Xi, the cafe's manager, says his takings have fallen by two-thirds. His business is just about surviving, he says, but smaller internet cafes are closing. Even the online computer games that young Chinese love to play were blocked, so a few people sit playing PC games by themselves at a couple of terminals. "I hope they can switch the internet back on soon," says one. "I've been waiting for a long time to get online." Xinhua access More than 20 million people in Xinjiang have been affected by the curbs and most of them had nothing to do with the riots. In Urumqi's wholesale market, traders sit in the snow surrounded by sacks full of dates, nuts and dried fruits. People huddle around charcoal stoves trying to keep warm. Sifting through a sack of almonds are Ma Hui and her husband Zhu Meng. The couple make their living trading the fruit and nuts Xinjiang is famed for, selling them to people in other parts of China. But all their sales are online. So it has been almost impossible for them to keep their business going. At the computer in his office, Zhu Meng shows me how the authorities have recently been opening up access to a few internet sites. First he could see only the state-run news agency Xinhua and a couple of other websites. Last weekend curbs on about 25 more sites were lifted, but that is all. Then he showed me there was no e-mail, no instant messaging, no way of responding to his customers online. "It's okay for the government to control things," Zhu Meng says, "but when they control everything, even the search engines, it has a huge effect. "For us who make a living on the internet, it's a fatal blow." E-mail trek The only way to get around the internet block has been to travel 1,000 km (620 miles) across Xinjiang's deserts to reach a working internet connection outside the region. The couple are losing customers Starting seven months ago, Zhu Meng began making the long journey just to send e-mails to keep his business alive. The road follows the old trading artery, the Silk Road, past snow-capped peaks, across Xinjiang's empty expanses and through a barren moonscape of mountains and snow. Over the past seven months, others too have been following the same route by road, train and plane just to get online. By car, it takes 24 hours from Urumqi to reach the first working internet connection outside Xinjiang. It is just across the border in neighbouring Gansu province, in the dusty frontier town of Liuyuan. There is one main street, a shabby bus station and an internet cafe. When Ma Hui and Zhu Meng made the journey again and logged on last week, the cost of being cut off was clear. They found order after order cancelled. Angry customers who had placed orders but had not received goods were wanting their money back. "We've lost a lot," said Ma Hui, shocked, "but it's not just the money that's important. We've lost the trust of our customers." Out in the deserts here is the very end of China's Great Wall. The muddy brown clay bricks crumble into the dust. Keeping order has long been a Chinese priority. But today, with its curbs on the internet, China's critics say the country again risks walling itself off from the flow of commerce, ideas and progress. China's government says that is not the case. When asked why internet access in Xinjiang is still so limited, China's foreign ministry spokesman insisted: "The internet is open in China, and governed by our laws".

XINJIANG UNREST KEY STORIES ~ More death sentences in Xinjiang ~ Returned China Uighurs 'vanished' ~ Chinese syringe attackers jailed ~ China allows texting in Xinjiang ~ Many 'missing' after China riots

FEATURES AND ANALYSIS

~ China's tinderbox

~ Ethnic riots shatter government myth of social harmony ~ Xinjiang violence: Views from China ~ China seeks control through openness ~ Ethnic tensions taboo in China ~ Uighur resentment at Beijing's rule ~ Accounts of violence in Xinjiang ~ Regions and territories: Xinjiang ~ Q&A: China and the Uighurs

DTN News: Al-Qaida Threatens China With Jihad In Retaliation For Urumqi Riots

DTN News: Al-Qaida Threatens China With Jihad In Retaliation For Urumqi Riots *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) BEIJING, China - October 8, 2009: Al-Qaeda leader Abu Yahia al-Libi has called on Uighurs to launch a jihad against the Chinese authorities and has urged Muslims worldwide to support their co-religionists, a US monitoring group reported.

Chinese security personnel stand guard on a street corner at the centre of Urumqi in China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region September 7, 2009. China's troubled far-western city of Urumqi has spelt out potential punishments for spreading rumours after days of sometimes deadly unrest and panic about reported syringe attacks that fanned ethnic tensions.

"It is the duty of Muslims today to stand by the side of their wounded and wronged brothers in East Turkestan," Libi said in a video recording posted on an Islamist website, according to SITE Intelligence group. East Turkestan is the name used by Al-Qaeda for China's Muslim-majority region of Xinjiang. "Let our Muslim brothers in Turkestan know that there is no way for salvation and that there is no way to lift oppression and injustice but with truthful return to their faith and attachment to it as much as possible; to seriously prepare for jihad (holy war)," Libi said. Wearing a white-and-red checkered turban and a vest, Libi also called on Muslims to launch a media campaign to raise awareness of what is happening in China and about the "atheist Chinese colonisation." Libi said that the Turkic Muslim community is suffering from discrimination and pledged that the communist Chinese regime would face the same destiny as the former Soviet Union, which Islamist fighters had ferociously battled in Afghanistan. "As for the state of atheism and stubbornness, it is [doomed] to extinction," he said. "They will experience that which the Russian bear experienced in terms of disintegration and division." The Uighurs of Xinjiang province complain of cultural and religious discrimination practised against them by the Chinese state in the name of the fight against separatism. Chinese authorities have said that riots in the Xinjiang city of Urumqi by Muslim Uighurs on July 5 killed 184 people - most of whom were Han, China's dominant ethnic group - and injured more than 1,600. Uighur leaders accuse Chinese forces of opening fire on peaceful protests and say that Uighurs have been killed in subsequent mob attacks. In July, Al-Qaeda threatened for the first time to attack Chinese interests overseas in retaliation for the deaths of Muslims in Xinjiang, risk analysis consultancy Stirling Assynt reported at the time. The call, which came from the jihadist netork's North African arm, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), was swiftly rejected by exiled Uighur leaders. Rebiya Kadeer, the Washington-based head of the World Uighur Congress, said she opposed the use of violence in her campaign to bring greater rights for the ethnic group in Xinjiang. Uighurs generally practise a moderate brand of Islam influenced by Sufi mysticism and earlier shamanistic traditions.

A prominent Al-Qaida militant has threatened to attack China in retaliation for the July 5 riots in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.The clash between the Han Chinese and Uighur communities had left 197 dead and 1,700 injured.

The terror outfit has urged Uygurs in Xinjiang to "make serious preparations" for a "holy war" against the Chinese government and called on fellow Muslims for "support with all they can", the China Daily reports.

Abu Yahya al-Libi, in a video posted on an Islamist website called for "a true return to their (Uygurs) religion and serious preparation for jihad in the path of God the Almighty and to carry weapons."

It is not the first time that a terrorist group has threatened to attack Chinese targets after the July 5 riots.

Earlier in July, Al-Qaida's Algerian-based offshoot, Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), had issued a call for "reprisals".

AQIM had pledged to target the 50,000 Chinese workers in Algeria as well as Chinese projects and workers across northwest Africa.

DTN News: China TODAY September 5, 2009 ~ Five dead Amid Urumqi Protests / China Blames Muslim Separatists For Needle Attacks

DTN News: China TODAY September 5, 2009 ~ Five dead Amid Urumqi Protests / China Blames Muslim Separatists For Needle Attacks

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) URUMQI, China - September 5, 2009: Five people died in unrest this week in the far-west Chinese city of Urumqi, its deputy mayor said, after a third day of protests which were broken up by police using tear gas. Chinese security forces chase Han Chinese demonstrators at a road block during a protest at the center of Urumqi in China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region September 4, 2009. Tension flared in China's western city of Urumqi on Friday, when hundreds of Han Chinese tried to push past security barriers into an ethnic Uighur neighbourhood and shouted demands for better security. The confrontation came a day after many thousands of Han Chinese massed in the streets in Urumqi, regional capital of Xinjiang, protesting that they were the targets of mysterious attacks with syringes and that authorities had been too slow to punish Uighurs behind deadly riots on July 5. Han Chinese protesters massed in the capital of the Xinjiang region, angry at authorities they blamed for failing to control a spate of syringe attacks and being slow to bring to trial ethnic Uighurs charged with deadly rioting on July 5. The demonstrations are a rare direct challenge to the government by middle class urbanites, and could inflame ethnic resentments as Beijing prepares to showcase the nation's achievements on October 1, the 60th anniversary of Communist rule. Troops blocked protesters' access to neighbourhoods that are home to Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim people native to the energy-rich region. Faced with deteriorating support among the majority Han Chinese, Beijing dispatched public security minister Meng Jianzhu to Urumqi, where he urged officials to "restore social order as soon as possible". The unrest came two months after deadly ethnic riots swept the city, killing at least 197 people, most of them Han Chinese. The July 5 riots began after police stopped Uighurs demonstrating against the deaths of Uighur factory workers attacked by Han co-workers in southern China in late June. Among the five who died on Thursday, two were "innocent civilians", while police were still investigating the other deaths, Deputy Mayor Zhang Hong told a news conference. He did not specify the ethnic backgrounds of the dead nor how they died. On Thursday, thousands of Han Chinese demanded the resignation of the region's powerful Communist Party secretary, Wang Lequan, who has held the post for 14 years. Friday's evening television news showed Mr Wang grimly taking notes at a meeting held by public security minister Mr Meng. Mr Meng repeated government accusations that separatists, trying to stir up instability, were behind the syringe attacks. Chinese security forces block a road during a protest by Han Chinese at the centre of Urumqi in China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region September 4, 2009. Tension flared in China's western city of Urumqi on Friday, when hundreds of Han Chinese tried to push past security barriers into an ethnic Uighur neighbourhood and shouted demands for better security. The confrontation came a day after many thousands of Han Chinese massed in the streets in Urumqi, regional capital of Xinjiang, protesting that they were the targets of mysterious attacks with syringes and that authorities had been too slow to punish Uighurs behind deadly riots on July 5. "Maintaining stability is the central task of overriding importance in Xinjiang at the present time," he said. Twenty-one Uighurs had been detained for the syringe attacks, Mr Zhang said, adding that four have already been indicted. Most of the victims were Han Chinese, he added, but other ethnicities were also attacked.

DTN News: China TODAY September 4, 2009 ~ Fresh Protests In Restive Xinjiang Capital

DTN News: China TODAY September 4, 2009 ~ Fresh Protests In Restive Xinjiang Capital *Source: DTN News / AFP (NSI News Source Info) URUMQI, China - September 4, 2009: The Chinese city of Urumqi was under lockdown after tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets Thursday over mysterious syringe attacks in the capital of restive Xinjiang region. Chinese paramilitary police watch as Chinese gather on the streets of Urumqi in western China's Xinjiang province, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009. Chinese residents protested deteriorating public safety Thursday after reported syringe attacks in the city where ethnic rioting in July killed nearly 200 people. The streets were deserted apart from several hundred police officers, an AFP reporter said. Many were armed with riot shields and truncheons and some with guns in a forceful response aimed at staving off a second wave of bloodshed following that seen here in July, when nearly 200 people were killed. The police presence was heaviest in the southern half of the city, home to many of the city's Muslim ethnic Uighurs. About two hundred police with several dozen military trucks were camped out in the People's Square. All major roads and highways into Urumqi were closed to traffic and police had ordered residents to stay indoors. The state Xinhua news agency said "tens of thousands of people" had earlier gathered at several locations to protest a series of syringe attacks against members of various ethnic groups. Shops and markets were shuttered. Some Uighurs, who clashed with Han Chinese in July in the worst ethnic unrest to hit the country in decades, were among the protesters who crippled traffic in the city, Xinhua said. "There are about 10-20,000 people and many police in the street at every intersection," a Han woman who runs a local medical clinic told AFP, asking not to be named. "There are more than 100 police stationed every 400-500 metres," she said. "I heard there was a protest yesterday afternoon and I saw it myself today. They shouted, 'Protect our homeland.' Most of them are Han." "The reason for the protest was because people were stabbed by the needles," the woman at the clinic added. The Xinjiang-based Bingtuan Television said authorities had been receiving reports since August 20 of people being attacked with needles, putting the number of assaults at 476. Xinhua said 21 people, whose ethnicity was not disclosed, had been detained after attacking members of nine ethnic groups, including Han Chinese and Uighurs. Four have been arrested for criminal prosecution. No one had been infected or poisoned in the assaults, the agency said, but it remained unclear why attackers used syringes, or what these contained. Regional Communist Party chief Wang Lequan and Urumqi party boss Li Zhi both "called on the crowds, on two separate occasions, to stay calm and show restraint," Xinhua reported. Some witnesses said protesters had shouted slogans against Wang, demanding that he do something to put an end to the needle stabbings. Xinhua said the protests began late Thursday morning when more than 1,000 people gathered in a residential district of Urumqi, and a crowd congregated in another area when a man was caught after allegedly stabbing a child. The demonstration spread to major streets in the city, with some needle-stabbing attacks occurring during the protests. One attacker was caught and police stopped the crowd from beating the person, Xinhua reported. Chinese paramilitary police officers stand guard near the People's Square after they closed down the roads heading to the square in Urumqi, Xinjiang province, China, Friday, Sept. 4, 2009. More than 10,000 people, mostly from the Han Chinese majority, took to the streets Thursday, demanding increased security and punishment for those behind the July riots. Demonstrators said police beat some protesters, but there were no major clashes. "The Han have staged a march so the police imposed controls and ordered us to stay indoors," Halisha, a Uighur eye doctor, said by telephone. A receptionist at an Urumqi hotel said Internet access had been limited throughout the city. Local and regional government officials were not immediately available for comment. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said she had no knowledge of the incident but told reporters at a regular news briefing that China was "competent to safeguard social stability and national unity". Uighurs say the July 5 riots occurred after Urumqi police tried to forcibly break up a peaceful protest over a brawl involving factory workers in distant southern China that state media said left two Uighurs dead. China however has accused exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer, who lives in the United States, of orchestrating the unrest. During a visit to mainly Muslim Xinjiang late last month, President Hu Jintao described those behind the unrest as "separatists" who were "doomed to fail." Kadeer has denied any involvement in the violence. Dilxat Raxit, the Munich-based spokesman of Kadeer's World Uighur Congress, said witnesses had told him that about 10 Uighurs had been beaten and taken to hospital in the latest unrest. A female office worker in downtown Urumqi said the situation in the city had been "very chaotic and especially serious" in the past two days.

DTN News: China's President Hu Jintao Vows Xinjiang 'Separatists' Will Fail: Report

DTN News: China's President Hu Jintao Vows Xinjiang 'Separatists' Will Fail: Report *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) BEIJING, China - August 26, 2009: President Hu Jintao vowed on Tuesday that "separatist forces" which China blames for recent deadly unrest in its heavily Muslim Xinjiang region would fail, state media said. A Chinese police officer patrols in Urumqi, in northwest China's Xinjiang province on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009. China's President Hu Jintao has pledged new reforms to help accelerate economic growth in Xinjiang after the remote region was rocked by deadly ethnic rioting, saying that stability there matters to the whole country. "The separatist forces do not have popular support and are doomed to fail," Hu was quoted saying by state-run China Central Television (CCTV). CCTV said Hu's comments were made to Xinjiang officials in the regional capital Urumqi, the scene of bloody riots in July that left at least 197 people dead. They came amid an inspection tour of the region by Hu that also took him to four other smaller cities, the report said. The July 5 riots saw members of the mainly Muslim Uyghur minority clash with Han Chinese in the worst ethnic unrest to hit the country in decades. Uyghurs say the riots occurred after Urumqi police tried to forcibly break up a peaceful protest over a factory worker brawl in distant southern China between Uighurs and Han and which state media said left two Uyghurs dead. However, China blames the Urumqi unrest on what it calls separatist forces lead by exiled Uyghur activist Rebiya Kadeer, who is based in the United States. She has denied any involvement. CCTV broadcast images showing Hu in Xinjiang inspecting businesses, thanking security personnel for helping put down the unrest, and consoling victims. "(The separatist forces) destructive activities cannot shake the overall stability of Xinjiang's reform and development," Hu was quoted as saying. Xinjiang's government earlier Tuesday denied a report in the state media that more than 200 people would be put on trial this week over the July violence, which prompted a massive security crackdown across the region. On Monday, the state-run China Daily reported on its front page that the People's Intermediate Court in the regional capital Urumqi was preparing for the trials amid tight security. "At present, there is no scheduled date for the trial," Li Hua, an official at the Xinjiang government media office, told AFP on Tuesday. "I don't know how China Daily got that information, but it's not true. We will announce it to the media when there is a trial."

DTN News: China TODAY August 25, 2009 ~ 200 To Face Trial In China For Xinjiang Unrest

DTN News: China TODAY August 25, 2009 ~ 200 To Face Trial In China For Xinjiang Unrest

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) BEIJING, China - August 25, 2009: China will this week put more than 200 people on trial over last month's deadly ethnic unrest in Xinjiang, with security tight due to fears of fresh violence, state media said Monday. An ethnic minority Chinese resident walks past a checkpoint with heavily armed paramilitary police along a street of Urumqi, northwestern China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Monday, Aug. 24, 2009. More than 200 people are expected to go on trial this week for their involvement in sectarian riots last month that killed nearly 200 people in China's western region of Xinjiang. The trials will take place in the Intermediate People's Court in Urumqi, the capital of the mainly Muslim northwest region where violence in early July left at least 197 people dead, the China Daily reported, citing unnamed officials. The more than 200 defendants will face charges ranging from disrupting traffic to murder, the paper said, meaning that some of them could be given the death penalty. Authorities had previously announced only 83 formal arrests. Armed police have started around-the-clock patrols in the area near the courthouse, in a massive security build-up ahead of the hearings, the paper said. Local residents have voiced concerns that the trials will rekindle the same raw emotions among the city's different ethnic groups that fanned the deadly street clashes less than two months ago. "Many bereaved Han families will come to wait for the verdicts, and the authorities fear they may clash with any Uighur in their presence," Guo Mei, a saleswoman who works near the court, told the China Daily. The violence that broke out in Urumqi on July 5 pitted Han Chinese against Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking and predominantly Muslim people, in the worst ethnic unrest to hit the country in decades. The paper reported intense public interest in the trials, which will all be public, except from those dealing with "splitting the state". "I'd be very angry if those rioters receive light sentences or escape justice," said an unnamed worker. "They should be given harsh penalties for causing the loss of so many innocent lives." One Han shopkeeper told the China Daily that Han Chinese who "overreacted" when seeking out Uighurs in retaliatory mob violence following the initial riots "should be granted leniency by the judge". Both court officials and prosecutors declined to comment when contacted by AFP. A city government official surnamed Ma said he had "no information so far" about the trials. With doubts remaining over who was to blame for the violence, the future of ethnic relations in volatile Xinjiang hinges to a large extent on how the Chinese government handles the aftermath, observers said. "There is profound distrust on both sides in terms of Han Chinese and the Uighurs," Phelim Kine, an Asia researcher with New York-based Human Rights Watch, told AFP. "The Chinese government can make a huge advance in terms of bridging that divide, in terms of bringing the two sides together, by allowing an independent investigation that all sides can point to as impartial and objective." The paper did not say how many of the defendants were Uighurs. However, it reported that more than 170 Uighur and 20 Han lawyers had been assigned, suggesting that the bulk were members of the minority group. Prosecutors have prepared more than 3,300 items of physical evidence for the trial, including bricks and clubs stained with blood, 91 video clips and more than 2,150 photos, the paper said. Kine said HRW was concerned that the Urumqi trials "will follow the same abuses of international process that we saw in the trials of suspects detained following the unrest in Tibet in March 2008."

DTN News: Pakistan Supports China's Stance On Xinjiang Says Asif Ali Zardari

DTN News: Pakistan Supports China's Stance On Xinjiang Says Asif Ali Zardari *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) BEIJING, China - August 22, 2009: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has supported China's policies in its insurgency hit Xinjiang region. Zardari, who arrived here on Friday on a four day visit, said Islamabad endorses China's policies in the riot hit Xinjiang region, where nearly 200 people were killed in ethnic riots between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese residents. "We are glad that the situation in Urumqi has been brought under control. We believe that China's policy of social harmony and development is producing great results for all Chinese people," Zardari told media persons in Islamabad before leaving for Beijing. When asked about Pakistan's relationship with China, Zardari said Beijing is an all-weather and time-tested friend of Islamabad. "We greatly value our cherished friendship and have complete trust on all bilateral, regional and global issues," Xinhua news agency quoted Zardari, as saying. Zardari, who is on his fourth visit to China since assuming office in 2008, said he wanted to translate China's tremendous success in various fields in Pakistan to make it a better country. "The reason that I keep going to China is to learn and educate myself, then transfer what I can experience and see, and then translate that success to Pakistan and accordingly hope to do better for my nation," he said. Commenting on the Swat military offensive, Zardari claimed that extremists have been forced to retreat, but said operation against the militants would continue until the writ of the government is fully established in the region. "We expect the military operation to continue until the writ of the government has been fully restored. Democracy is always a format of dialogue. But nobody would be allowed to take the law into their hands and extremism would not be tolerated," he said. Zardari said peace and normalcy is slowly returning to Swat, Malakand and Buner with people starting to return to their home. "The process of development has been launched. Economic activity is picking up gradually," he said, adding: "The social and administrative infrastructure has been restored in troubled areas."

DTN News: China Blames Unrest On Foreign-Based Separatists

DTN News: China Blames Unrest On Foreign-Based Separatists *Source: DTN News / AFP (NSI News Source Info) GENEVA, Switzerland - August 8, 2009: Last year's unrest in Tibet and July's violence in Xinjiang were instigated by separatists abroad, China told a United Nations human rights hearing Friday. A Muslim man watches armed Chinese paramilitary policemen in riot gear walk past the Dong Kuruk Bridge mosque in the city of Urumqi in China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region July 17, 2009. Security remains heavy in ethnic Uighur neighbourhoods of Xinjiang regional capital Urumqi after riots on July 5 between the Muslim Uighur minority and majority Han Chinese wounded more than 1,600. The official Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday that 192 people were killed in the riots, and that around 1,000 people have been detained. "Facts have fully shown that the two incidents were premeditated and organised crimes of violence, directed and instigated by separatists abroad and carried out by separatists inside China," said Duan Jielong, who led a 30-strong Chinese delegation attending a UN examination on China's record on eliminating racial discrimination. Duan accused the "separatists" of "creating ethnic splits and hatred, undermining... harmonious development in ethnic minority areas and undermining national unity and territorial integrity." He told the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: "These violent crimes not only gravely violated Chinese law, but also gravely violated the purposes and principles of the Convention." The government had taken "prompt action according to law" to stop these acts and was supported by Chinese people of "all ethnic groups," said Duan. It had the "confidence and capacity to ... unite all ethnic groups," he added. During the hearing, some members of the UN committee sought more information on how China is dealing with the two minority populations in the wake of the unrest. Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos, who is the special rapporteur on the issue, called on China to detail measures on the treatment of those detained following the Tibet unrest. He also called on China to treat over 1,000 suspects held over the Xinjiang unrest according to "international human rights standards." Meanwhile, another member of the committee Dilip Lahiri noted that economic investments in the ethnic minority regions may have not benefited the minorities but instead had gone to the Han settlers in the regions. "The change in the demographic balance brought about by the Han settlers... and their securing the lion's share of government investments is one of the primary causes of unrest among China's ethnic minorities," he said. "Action by the government to address this trend is imperative," he added. Other committee members also asked about the teaching of ethnic minority languages in schools and issues surrounding religious freedom. The Chinese delegation is scheduled to reply to the questions when the hearing reconvenes Monday. Beijing has said that at least 197 people were killed and more than 1,600 injured in the July 5 unrest in the capital of Xinjiang, Urumqi, which pitted minority Uighurs against members of China's dominant Han ethnic group. Uighurs say the unrest was touched off when security forces responded violently to peaceful protests over a brawl at a factory in southern China that state media said had left two Uighur workers dead. The government meanwhile, has accused Uighurs, most of whom are Muslim, of going on a rampage against Han Chinese in Urumqi. The violence in Xinjiang came a year after riots in Tibet that broke out after monks led peaceful protests to mark a 1959 uprising. The unrest later spread across the Tibetan plateau. On Thursday, exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama told journalists in Geneva that China's policies towards its ethnic minorities had failed to foster trust over the last six decades and need to be reviewed. "After 60 years, their policies basically failed to ... bring trust," he said, and the time had come to carry out a "scientific review of the policies."

DTN News: Uighur Accuses China Of Inflaming Ethnic Tension

DTN News: Uighur Accuses China Of Inflaming Ethnic Tension

*Source: DTN News / AP (NSI News Source Info) MELBOURNE, Australia - August 5, 2009: China is inflaming ethnic tensions by deceiving its own people about last month's deadly riots in western Xinjiang province, an exiled Uighur activist whom Beijing blames for the unrest said Wednesday. Exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer speaks to a media round table in Melbourne, Australia, on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2009, after arriving in the country for the screening of a documentary about her life at the Melbourne International Film Festival. China has accused Kadeer of fomenting the recent ethnic unrest in Xinjiang's capital of Urumqi and had asked Australia to refuse her a visa. (AP Photo/David Crosling) Rebiya Kadeer, a U.S.-based activist who is in Australia for the screening of a documentary about her life, told reporters that Beijing should be held accountable for the violent crackdown. "The Chinese people should be very careful with the Chinese government's versions of the events and the ways and means the Chinese government employ ... to deceive, to some extent, the Chinese people, to create this kind of terrible relationship between two groups," Kadeer said. China says 197 people were killed and more than 1,700 injured during the July 5 clashes between the Muslim Uighur minority and members of China's dominant Han ethnic group. The rioting in Xinjiang province's capital of Urumqi was the worst ethnic violence in China in decades. Beijing blames Kadeer, 62, for instigating the unrest, a charge she denies. The violence broke out after police stopped an initially peaceful protest by Uighur youths. Uighurs then smashed windows, burned cars and attacked Han Chinese. Two days later, the Han took to the streets and staged retaliatory attacks. Kadeer accuses Chinese forces of opening fire on the protesters and then diverting attention from their actions by blaming the violence on an ethnic clash. She has called for an international investigation into the violence to determine how many people died and were arrested. Chinese state media said Tuesday that 83 people had been arrested on charges including murder and arson. Kadeer's attendance at the Melbourne International Film Festival is the source of some controversy, as China had requested that Australia deny her a visa and had asked the festival to drop her movie from the program. "The 10 Conditions of Love," by Australian filmmaker Jeff Daniels, will be screened on Saturday. Seven Chinese-language films were withdrawn from the festival in protest.

DTN News: China Cracks Down On Organized Terror Outfits In Xijiang

DTN News: China Cracks Down On Organized Terror Outfits In Xijiang

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) BEIJING, China - August 4, 2009: Police forces and state security agencies had prevented five organized terrorist attacks on civilians in China's far west Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China's anti-terrorism sources said Monday.

Armed Chinese paramilitary policemen in riot gear march out of their barracks before the start of Friday's Muslim prayers near the Dong Kuruk Bridge mosque in the city of Urumqi in China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region July 17, 2009. Security remains heavy in ethnic Uighur neighbourhoods of Xinjiang regional capital Urumqi after riots on July 5 between the Muslim Uighur minority and majority Han Chinese wounded more than 1,600. The official Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday that 192 people were killed in the riots, and that around 1,000 people have been detained.

Police forces and state security authorities had successively crushed five organized terrorist plots in Urumqi, Kashgar, Aksu and Ili in Xinjiang.

Separatist "East Turkestan" terrorists both at home and abroad had been plotting attacks gainst civilians since the July 5 riot that left 197 dead and more than 1,600 injured in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang.

The recent attempted attacks would have "damaged social stability and ethnic unity", the Xinhua news agency quoted the sources, as saying.

Anti-terrorism agencies had captured "a group of suspects involved in the terrorist activities" but the number of people arrested was not given.

Also confiscated were "guns, controlled knifes, explosives and materials advocating violence and terrorism." Further details were kept under wraps.

DTN News: China Urges Nationals In Turkey To Be Vigilant

DTN News: China Urges Nationals In Turkey To Be Vigilant *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) BEIJING, China - August 4, 2009: China's foreign ministry has urged its nationals in Turkey to take extra care, citing unspecified threats to their security. "Recently some people and groups have received threats against their security in Turkey," the foreign ministry said in a statement posted on its website over the weekend. China's foreign ministry statement urged Chinese in Turkey to pay constant attention to the conditions around them and try not to go out too much. "The foreign ministry's department of consular affairs urges Chinese nationals and groups in Turkey to strengthen security precautions and pay attention to how safe the situation is." China's relations with Turkey have been strained after unrest on July 5 in the northwest Chinese region of Xinjiang involving Turkic-speaking Muslim Uighurs that left at least 197 people dead. In reaction to the unrest, Turkey's Trade Minister Nihat Ergun last month called on consumers not to buy goods from China. Also in July, around 10,000 people attended a gathering in Istanbul organised by the Islamic Saadet party, angered by what they saw as Chinese mistreatment of the Uighurs. The foreign ministry statement urged Chinese in Turkey to pay constant attention to the conditions around them and try not to go out too much. "They should avoid crowds and sensitive areas to the greatest extent possible, and take necessary emergency precautions whether they stay at home or go out," it said. The statement did not describe the threats that have allegedly been levelled against Chinese in Turkey. A foreign ministry official contacted by AFP Monday declined immediate comment. China issued a security alert in mid-July to its citizens in Algeria after Al-Qaeda reportedly vowed to avenge the deaths of Muslims killed during the ethnic unrest.

DTN News: Chinese Police Detain 319 Linked To July Ethnic Rioting

DTN News: Chinese Police Detain 319 Linked To July Ethnic Rioting *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) BEIJING, China - August 3, 2009: Chinese police detained 319 people suspected of involvement in deadly ethnic rioting in northwestern Xinjiang region last month, after a "wanted" list of suspects spurred tip-offs, the official Xinhua news agency said Sunday. Security forces patrol the streets of Urumqi moments before Friday noon prayer, known as Jumu`ah to Muslims, Xinjiang province, China, 17 July 2009. The Public Security Bureau of the regional capital Urumqi made public July 30 a list of names and photos of 15 Uighurs it was seeking for their suspected role in the violence. "When the public security of Urumqi made an announcement... about those suspects who had been detained and those who were still on the 'wanted' list, it aroused the feelings of local residents and they had more initiative in exposing those suspects," Xinhua said. The report, which cited local security officials, didn't give a total for the number of people now being held in connection with the riots. Officials have previously said more than 1,500 had been detained. None has been publicly charged or released. In Xinjiang's worst ethnic violence in decades, Uighur rioters attacked majority Han Chinese in Urumqi on July 5 after taking to the streets to protest attacks on Uighur workers at a factory in south China in June that left two Uighurs dead. Hans in Urumqi sought revenge two days later. Officials said the violence left 197 dead, mostly Han Chinese.

DTN News: China Shows Military Might In Early July, During Ethnic Violence In Xinjiang Autonomous Region

DTN News: China Shows Military Might In Early July, During Ethnic Violence In Xinjiang Autonomous Region *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) TAIPEI, Taiwan - July 28, 2009: Chinese soldiers in riot gear stand and sit at the main city square in the centre of Urumqi in China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region July 9, 2009. Chinese President Hu Jintao, forced to abandon a G8 summit in Italy by ethnic violence in restive Xinjiang, said that maintaining social stability in the energy-rich region was the "most urgent task", state television reported on Thursday July 9. Armed Chinese paramilitary police in riot gear march along the main near Dong Kuruk Bridge mosque in the city of Urumqi in China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region July 15, 2009. Security remains heavy in ethnic Uighur neighbourhoods of Xinjiang regional capital Urumqi after riots between the Muslim Uighur minority and majority Han Chinese wounded more than 1,600. About 1,000 people have been detained. The official Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday 192 people were killed in the riots in Urumqui. The earlier figure was 184. Hu described Sunday's riots in the regional capital Urumqi, where 156 people were killed and 1,080 wounded when minority Muslim Uighurs attacked majority Han Chinese, as a "serious violent crime elaborately planned and organised by 'three forces' at home and abroad", an apparent reference to religious extremists, separatists and terrorists.

DTN News: China Says Police Killed 12 Protestors In Urumqi Riots

DTN News: China Says Police Killed 12 Protestors In Urumqi Riots

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) BEIJING, China - July 19, 2009: After weeks of clashes in China's violence-stricken northwestern region of Xinjiang, Chinese police forces admit to killing 12 rioters in the western city of Urumqi.

Police search drivers and their vehicles leaving the Uighur district in Urumqi on July 17, 2009 in northwest China's Xinjiang province. Security forces armed with semi-automatic weapons and batons were deployed in China's restive Urumqi city as worshippers descended on mosques for the main Muslim day of prayer.

Xinjiang governor Nur Bekri said on Sunday that police had exercised "the greatest restraint" as they sought to disperse protestors in the capital Urumqi. According to Bekri, security forces shot the "mobsters" after first firing several warning shots.

The official, however, stopped short of saying which ethnic group the "mobsters" belonged to. The Chinese governor said three of those killed died on the spot and nine others died after treatment failed.

Another Chinese official surnamed Wu from the Xinjiang regional government information office confirmed the report on Sunday but could not confirm whether those killed by the police were Uighurs or Han Chinese.

"Many police officers were injured and one was killed," Bekri added. Authorities charge Rebiya Kadeer, a prominent exiled Uighur activist, with fomenting the unrest. Kadeer, a US resident, has denied the charge.

A Uighur man walks past a squad of armed Chinese security personnel on patrol in the Uighur district of Urumqi on July 17, 2009 in northwest China's Xinjiang province. Security forces armed with semi-automatic weapons and batons were deployed in China's restive Urumqi city as worshippers descended on mosques for the main Muslim day of prayer.

The Uighurs were once the majority in Xinjiang but now make up only about half of the region's 20 million people due to Han migration.

The eight million Uighurs in Xinjiang accuse the Chinese government of discrimination and repression. The government, however, denies the charges.

The protests, which saw 197 people killed and more than 1,700 others injured, were sparked over the last month deaths of Uighur factory workers during a brawl in southern China.

DTN News: China ~ Xinjiang Unrest Continues And Raises Death Toll To 184

DTN News: China ~ Xinjiang Unrest Continues And Raises Death Toll To 184

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) URUMQI, China - July 11, 2009: China has raised the death toll from ethnic rioting in its far west to 184 and detailed for the first time the ethnicity of those killed, while tension lingered over the city at the center of the strife. Chinese paramilitary police patrol on a street in the Uighur district of Urumqi in China's Xinjiang region on July 11, 2009. Deadly unrest in China's Muslim-populated far northwest has highlighted deep tensions felt by dozens of ethnic groups across the vast nation that pose a growing problem for the government, analysts said. The official Xinhua news agency said on Saturday that 137 of those killed in the mayhem on July 5 in Urumqi, regional capital of Xinjiang, were Han Chinese, who form the majority of China's 1.3 billion population, including 111 men and 26 women. Forty-six were Uighurs, the largely Muslim people of Xinjiang who share cultural bonds with Central Asian peoples. All but one of them were men. Uighurs make up 46 percent of Xinjiang's 21.3 million people, according to government statistics. Xinhua said the other person killed in the attacks that erupted last weekend was a member of the Hui ethnic group, which is Muslim but culturally akin to Han Chinese. The brief report did not say whether the death toll included rioters who may have been killed by security forces. The reaction on Urumqi streets to the official death toll reflected the deepening ethnic divide in Xinjiang, with Uighurs expressing disbelief in the number. "That's the Han people's number. We have our own number," said Akumjia, a Uighur resident, as he eyed security forces who had cordoned off a street where there was an outburst of protest near a mosque and then arrests on Friday. A security forces helicopter buzzed overhead. "Maybe many, many more Uighurs died. The police were scared and lost control." Close to where he stood, what appeared to be a spray of bullet holes could be seen on the glass front of a Bank of China office. There were no bullets among the shards. The government has not said what kind of forces was used to suppress the bloody rioting. Many Uighur residents say they heard or saw gunfire. Chinese authorities had delayed releasing the ethnic breakdown of the dead, possibly out of concern it would further inflame the situation. Several Han Chinese residents said distrust toward Uighurs was likely to stay. "This [new number] at least shows that the victims weren't only Han people," said Zhao Hong, a Han resident who said she saw some of the bloodshed from her home window before hiding. "Uighurs also died ... But then they blame Han for being so angry about the killing and looting." "A TOUGH BATTLE TO PROTECT STABILITY" Beijing cannot afford to lose its grip on the vast territory that borders Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, has abundant oil reserves and is China's largest natural gas-producing region. Chinese security forces patrol the streets in Urumqi, China, Saturday, July 11, 2009. Thousands of Chinese troops have flooded into Urumqi to separate the feuding ethnic groups. China raised the death toll from riots in its Xinjiang region to 184, state media said Saturday, giving the first ethnic breakdown of the dead nearly a week after communal violence broke out in this far western city. Zhou Yongkang, the top domestic security official in China's ruling Communist Party, said the country now had to "vigorously prosecute this tough battle to protect stability in Xinjiang," the Xinjiang Daily reported on Saturday. Human Rights Watch said that the government had deployed some 20,000 troops in Urumqi since the riots of July 5, which broke out after security forces broke up a protest over the deaths of Uighur workers in far southern China. "The government has promised a thorough investigation into the violence but has so far presented a skewed and incomplete picture of the unrest," said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. "This raises serious doubts about its commitment to investigating all aspects of the violence rather than presenting a pre-determined version of the events." Urumqi is still tense, with thousands of troops and police deployed throughout the city. A brief demonstration broke out on Friday, the main Muslim day of prayer, after some mosques were opened briefly. On Saturday, anti-riot troops continued to keep a close watch on Uighur residents, and loudspeakers on vehicles blasted warnings that they should stay at home and accept the government's line on the unrest. The Uighur language is related to Turkish, and some Uighurs refer to their desert and forest homeland as "East Turkestan." On Friday, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan called the killings in Xinjiang a "genocide." In Washington, two members of the U.S. House of Representatives introduced a bipartisan resolution condemning the "violent repression" of the Uighur people by China. It was unclear how soon it would come to a vote in the House.