Title: China internal dissent worsens
Description: Tibet, Xinjiang, etc.
Description: Tibet, Xinjiang, etc.
Wushu - December 10, 2005 07:15 AM (GMT)
link to article: http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/...t.ap/index.html
Witnesses: Chinese village sealed
Report: Officials offer money to coverup shooting deaths
Saturday, December 10, 2005 Posted: 0417 GMT (1217 HKT)
BEIJING, China (AP) -- Officials are offering the residents of a besieged Chinese village cash payments to cover up the alleged killing of as many as 20 protesters by authorities earlier this week, a Hong Kong newspaper said Saturday.
Meanwhile, villagers in the community of Dongzhou in the southern province of Guangdong said armed police were continuing to hold them at bay, four days after authorities allegedly opened fire on thousands of demonstrators protesting the amount of compensation being offered for land to be used in the construction of a wind power plant.
Also, a city worker in nearby Shanwei offered the first official comment on the incident, denying there had been fatalities.
The worker, who refused to give his name, ascribed the problem in the area to drug trafficking.
"Some drug traffickers were arrested by local police in Dongzhou," he said. "Their relatives went to the police authorities, asking for the release of those drug traffickers. They stirred up troubles there."
On Saturday the Hong Kong-based English-language South China Morning Post quoted villagers as saying authorities were trying to conceal Dongzhou fatalities by offering families money to give up bodies of the dead.
"They offered us a sum but said we would have to give up the body," an unidentified relative of one slain villager, 31-year-old Wei Jin, was quoted as saying. "We are not going to agree."
Police were carrying photos of villagers and trying to find people linked to the protest, the newspaper said, citing villagers.
Inside the village a tense standoff prevailed, villagers said, with authorities refusing to allow residents to leave the area.
"Many police are surrounding the village today," said one woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. "We are not permitted to leave the village."
On Friday villagers described scenes of chaos during protests on Tuesday over compensation being offered for land being requisitioned for a wind power plant.
They said police fired into a crowd of several thousand people, killing a handful, mostly men. Accounts of the death toll ranged from two and 10, with many missing.
Hong Kong's Apple Daily newspaper on Saturday raised the death toll to nearly 20, citing villagers. There was no explanation for the wide ranging figures.
Also Saturday, another Hong Kong newspaper, Ming Pao Daily News, reported that Guangdong Communist Party Secretary Zhang Dejiang, a member of China's policymaking Politburo, had visited Dongzhou.
State media have made no mention of the incident and except for the Sanwei official, both provincial and local governments have repeatedly refused to comment. This is typical in China, where the ruling Communist Party controls the media and lower-level authorities are leery of releasing information without permission from the central government.
All the villagers contacted in Dongzhou said they were nervous and scared and most did not want to be identified for fear of retribution. One man said the situation was still "tumultuous."
A 14-year-old girl said a local official visited the village on Friday and called the shootings "a misunderstanding."
"He said (he) hoped it wouldn't become a big issue," the girl said over the telephone. "This is not a misunderstanding. I am afraid. I haven't been to school in days."
She added, "Come save us."
Another villager said there were at least 10 deaths.
"The riot police are gathered outside our village. We've been surrounded," she said, sobbing. "Most of the police are armed. We dare not to go out of our home."
One woman said an additional 20 people were wounded.
"They gathered because their land was taken away and they were not given compensation," she said. "The police thought they wanted to make trouble and started shooting."
She said there were "several hundred police with guns in the roads outside the village on Friday. "I'm afraid of dying. People have already died."
The number of protests in China's vast, poverty-stricken countryside has risen in recent months as anger comes to a head over corruption, land seizures and a yawning wealth gap that experts say now threatens social stability. The government says about 70,000 such conflicts occurred last year, although many more are believed to go unreported.
Clashes have grown more violent, with injuries on both sides and damage done to property as protesters vent their frustration in face of indifferent or bullying authorities.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Witnesses: Chinese village sealed
Report: Officials offer money to coverup shooting deaths
Saturday, December 10, 2005 Posted: 0417 GMT (1217 HKT)
BEIJING, China (AP) -- Officials are offering the residents of a besieged Chinese village cash payments to cover up the alleged killing of as many as 20 protesters by authorities earlier this week, a Hong Kong newspaper said Saturday.
Meanwhile, villagers in the community of Dongzhou in the southern province of Guangdong said armed police were continuing to hold them at bay, four days after authorities allegedly opened fire on thousands of demonstrators protesting the amount of compensation being offered for land to be used in the construction of a wind power plant.
Also, a city worker in nearby Shanwei offered the first official comment on the incident, denying there had been fatalities.
The worker, who refused to give his name, ascribed the problem in the area to drug trafficking.
"Some drug traffickers were arrested by local police in Dongzhou," he said. "Their relatives went to the police authorities, asking for the release of those drug traffickers. They stirred up troubles there."
On Saturday the Hong Kong-based English-language South China Morning Post quoted villagers as saying authorities were trying to conceal Dongzhou fatalities by offering families money to give up bodies of the dead.
"They offered us a sum but said we would have to give up the body," an unidentified relative of one slain villager, 31-year-old Wei Jin, was quoted as saying. "We are not going to agree."
Police were carrying photos of villagers and trying to find people linked to the protest, the newspaper said, citing villagers.
Inside the village a tense standoff prevailed, villagers said, with authorities refusing to allow residents to leave the area.
"Many police are surrounding the village today," said one woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. "We are not permitted to leave the village."
On Friday villagers described scenes of chaos during protests on Tuesday over compensation being offered for land being requisitioned for a wind power plant.
They said police fired into a crowd of several thousand people, killing a handful, mostly men. Accounts of the death toll ranged from two and 10, with many missing.
Hong Kong's Apple Daily newspaper on Saturday raised the death toll to nearly 20, citing villagers. There was no explanation for the wide ranging figures.
Also Saturday, another Hong Kong newspaper, Ming Pao Daily News, reported that Guangdong Communist Party Secretary Zhang Dejiang, a member of China's policymaking Politburo, had visited Dongzhou.
State media have made no mention of the incident and except for the Sanwei official, both provincial and local governments have repeatedly refused to comment. This is typical in China, where the ruling Communist Party controls the media and lower-level authorities are leery of releasing information without permission from the central government.
All the villagers contacted in Dongzhou said they were nervous and scared and most did not want to be identified for fear of retribution. One man said the situation was still "tumultuous."
A 14-year-old girl said a local official visited the village on Friday and called the shootings "a misunderstanding."
"He said (he) hoped it wouldn't become a big issue," the girl said over the telephone. "This is not a misunderstanding. I am afraid. I haven't been to school in days."
She added, "Come save us."
Another villager said there were at least 10 deaths.
"The riot police are gathered outside our village. We've been surrounded," she said, sobbing. "Most of the police are armed. We dare not to go out of our home."
One woman said an additional 20 people were wounded.
"They gathered because their land was taken away and they were not given compensation," she said. "The police thought they wanted to make trouble and started shooting."
She said there were "several hundred police with guns in the roads outside the village on Friday. "I'm afraid of dying. People have already died."
The number of protests in China's vast, poverty-stricken countryside has risen in recent months as anger comes to a head over corruption, land seizures and a yawning wealth gap that experts say now threatens social stability. The government says about 70,000 such conflicts occurred last year, although many more are believed to go unreported.
Clashes have grown more violent, with injuries on both sides and damage done to property as protesters vent their frustration in face of indifferent or bullying authorities.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
MSantor - March 15, 2008 10:27 PM (GMT)
Chinese security forces swarm all over Tibet in the biggest crackdown on dissent in recent years! At least 30 rioters were killed so far! This is very distressing and is another attrocity in the making! :wow:
The relative quickness with which the PRC govt. came down on the protests only further proves that the CCP is very much paranoid about losing stability and will crack down on any threats to it.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=4456111
The relative quickness with which the PRC govt. came down on the protests only further proves that the CCP is very much paranoid about losing stability and will crack down on any threats to it.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=4456111
| QUOTE |
| Exile Group Says 30 Killed in Tibet Tibetan Exile Group Says at Least 30 Killed in Chinese Crackdown on Riots By AUDRA ANG The Associated Press BEIJING China ordered tourists out of Tibet's capital Saturday while troops on foot and in armored vehicles patrolled the streets and confined government workers to their offices, a day after riots that a Tibetan exile group said left at least 30 protesters dead. The demonstrations against Chinese rule of Tibet are the largest and most violent in the region in nearly two decades. They have spread to other areas of China as well as neighboring Nepal and India. In the western province of Gansu, police fired tear gas Saturday to disperse Buddhist monks and others staging a second day of protests in sympathy with anti-Chinese demonstrations in Lhasa, local residents said. The protests led by Buddhist monks began Monday in Tibet on the anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. They turned violent on Friday when demonstrators burned cars and shops. Witnesses said they heard gunshots on Friday and more shooting on Saturday night. The eruption of violence comes just two weeks before China's Olympic celebrations kick off with the start of the torch relay, which passes through Tibet. China is gambling that its crackdown will not bring an international outcry over human rights violations that could lead to boycotts of the Olympics. Beijing's hosting of the Olympics in August has already brought scrutiny of China's human rights record and its pollution problems. But so far, the international community has reacted to the crackdown in Tibet only by calling for Chinese restraint without any threats of an Olympic boycott or other sanctions. China's official Xinhua News Agency reported at least 10 were killed Friday when demonstrators rampaged in Lhasa, setting fire to shops and cars. "The victims are all innocent civilians, and they have been burnt to death," Xinhua quoted an official with the regional government as saying. The Dalai Lama's exiled Tibetan government in India said it had confirmed Chinese authorities killed at least 30 Tibetan protesters but added the toll could be as high as 100. There was no confirmation of the death toll from Chinese officials and the numbers could not be independently verified. China maintains rigid control over Tibet, foreigners need special travel permits to get there and journalists rarely get access except under highly controlled circumstances. Streets in Lhasa were mostly empty Saturday as a curfew remained in place, witnesses said. China's governor in Tibet vowed to punish the rioters, while law enforcement authorities urged protesters to turn themselves in by Tuesday or face unspecified punishment Tourists reached by phone or those who arrived Saturday in Nepal described soldiers standing in lines sealing off streets where there was rioting on Friday. Armored vehicles and trucks ferrying soldiers were seen on the streets. "There are military blockades blocking off whole portions of the city, and the entire city is basically closed down," said a 23-year-old Western student who arrived in Lhasa on Saturday. "All the restaurants are closed, all the hotels are closed." Plooij Frans, a Dutch tourist who left the capital Saturday morning by plane and arrived in the Nepali capital of Katmandu, said he saw about 140 trucks of soldiers drive into the city within 24 hours. "They came down on Tibetan people really hard," said Frans, who said his group could not return to their hotel Friday and had to stay near the airport. "Every corner there were tanks. It would have been impossible to hold any protest today." Government workers in Lhasa said Chinese authorities have been prevented from leaving their buildings. "We've been here since yesterday. No one has been allowed to leave or come in," said a woman who works for Lhasa's Work Safety Bureau, located near the Potala Palace, the former residence of the Dalai Lama. "Armored vehicles have been driving past," she said. "Men wearing camouflage uniforms and holding batons are patrolling the streets. Tourists were told to stay in their hotels and make plans to leave, but government staff were required to work. Some shops were closed, said a woman who answered the telephone at the Lhasa Hotel. "There's no conflict today. The streets look pretty quiet," said the woman who refused to give her name for fear of retribution. Xinhua reported Saturday that Lhasa was calm, with little traffic on the roads. "Burned cars, motorcycles and bicycles remained scattered on the main streets, and the air is tinged with smoke," the report said. In the western Chinese province of Gansu, several hundred monks marched out of historic Labrang monastery and into the town of Xiahe in the morning, gathering hundreds of other Tibetans with them as they went, residents said. The crowd attacked government buildings, smashing windows in the county police headquarters, before police fired tear gas to put an end to the protest, residents said. A London-based Tibetan activist group, Free Tibet Campaign, said 20 people were arrested, citing unidentified sources in Xiahe. "Many windows in shops and houses were smashed," said an employee at a hotel, who did not want either his or the hotel's name used for fear of retaliation. He said he did not see any Tibetans arrested or injured but said some police were hurt. Pockets of dissent were also springing up outside China. In Australia, media reported that police used batons and pepper spray to quell a demonstration outside the Chinese consulate in Sydney. The Australian Associated Press reported that dozens of demonstrators were at the scene and five were arrested. Dozens of protesters in India launched a new march just days after more than 100 Tibetan exiles were arrested by authorities during a similar rally. And in Katmandu, police broke up a protest by Tibetans and arrested 20. Associated Press writers Anita Chang in Beijing, Ashwini Bhatia in Dehra, India, and Binaj Gurubacharya in Katmandu, Nepal, contributed to this story. On the Net: International Campaign for Tibet: http://www.savetibet.org Chinese official news agency: http://www.xinhuanet.com Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures |
markniraq - March 15, 2008 11:10 PM (GMT)
I think this is worth watching as the events unfold.
MSantor - March 18, 2008 07:28 PM (GMT)
Interestingly, the current PLA General in charge of the General Logistics Department of the PLA- General Liao Xilong (ΑΞΞύΑϊ)- was the commanding general of the PLA forces that crushed a rebellion in 1989 in Tibet, that is similar in some ways to the current violence in Tibet. Coincidentally, soon after the rebellion, he befriended Hu Jintao- the current PRC President- and who was then the local CCP party secretary/party chief for Tibet's provincial government. Not surprisingly, Liao is not only the commander of the GLD, but also a member of the current Central Military Commission.
Liao has risen through the PLA's ranks quite proficiently and even commanded a PLA regiment during the 1979 Chinese invasion of Vietnam; that "regiment captured the border village of Phong To", for which he received a commendation from the CMC (54, Flanagan).
Liao is thus an example of the fine balance that PLA Officers must make between professional soldiering and towing the party line.
Perhaps Hu and Liao are giving their proteges "hands-on" experience in Tibet for succeeding them?
Sources: Flanagan, Stephen J. and Marti, Michael E., et al eds. The People's Liberation Army and China in Transition Washington DC: National Defense University Press, 2003 (.)
http://www.chinavitae.com/biography/Liao_Xilong%7C489
Liao has risen through the PLA's ranks quite proficiently and even commanded a PLA regiment during the 1979 Chinese invasion of Vietnam; that "regiment captured the border village of Phong To", for which he received a commendation from the CMC (54, Flanagan).
Liao is thus an example of the fine balance that PLA Officers must make between professional soldiering and towing the party line.
Perhaps Hu and Liao are giving their proteges "hands-on" experience in Tibet for succeeding them?
Sources: Flanagan, Stephen J. and Marti, Michael E., et al eds. The People's Liberation Army and China in Transition Washington DC: National Defense University Press, 2003 (.)
http://www.chinavitae.com/biography/Liao_Xilong%7C489
Fmr TOPP Awardee 82'PNP - March 18, 2008 10:03 PM (GMT)
Freedom is so elusive because it is under guard by tyranny.
MSantor - March 20, 2008 04:14 AM (GMT)
Here are actual photos that leaked from Tibet:
epigone - March 20, 2008 04:23 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE (MSantor @ Mar 19 2008, 03:28 AM) |
| Interestingly, the current PLA General in charge of the General Logistics Department of the PLA- General Liao Xilong (ΑΞΞύΑϊ)- was the commanding general of the PLA forces that crushed a rebellion in 1989 in Tibet, that is similar in some ways to the current violence in Tibet. Coincidentally, soon after the rebellion, he befriended Hu Jintao- the current PRC President- and who was then the local CCP party secretary/party chief for Tibet's provincial government. Not surprisingly, Liao is not only the commander of the GLD, but also a member of the current Central Military Commission. Liao has risen through the PLA's ranks quite proficiently and even commanded a PLA regiment during the 1979 Chinese invasion of Vietnam; that "regiment captured the border village of Phong To", for which he received a commendation from the CMC (54, Flanagan). Liao is thus an example of the fine balance that PLA Officers must make between professional soldiering and towing the party line. Perhaps Hu and Liao are giving their proteges "hands-on" experience in Tibet for succeeding them? Sources: Flanagan, Stephen J. and Marti, Michael E., et al eds. The People's Liberation Army and China in Transition Washington DC: National Defense University Press, 2003 (.) http://www.chinavitae.com/biography/Liao_Xilong%7C489 |
You forgot Qiao Shi who is head of foreign and domestic intelligence. He wields great influence and power in China. He has the innate ability to fix any problem China has and will have. He was able to unify all them in their in-fightings and preside over and resolve all quarrels among Party members, Central committees, directors, etc.
MSantor - March 30, 2008 09:09 PM (GMT)
I assume these were the PAP/ People's Armed Police members who impersonated monks and who attacked PLA/PAP troops at another "violent demonstration" to justify the CCP crackdown on Tibetans?
Those PAP (People's Armed Police) troops are missing their covers/their version of US Army garrison caps! UNSAT on inspection! UNSAT! UNSAT! :lollol:
Those PAP (People's Armed Police) troops are missing their covers/their version of US Army garrison caps! UNSAT on inspection! UNSAT! UNSAT! :lollol:
MSantor - June 20, 2008 01:40 AM (GMT)
Speaking of Uighurs and Xinjiang Province, this brings up an interesting dilemma of how the US government will deal with the Uighurs in its GITMO facility:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/04/congress....s.ap/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/04/congress....s.ap/index.html
| QUOTE |
| Release Chinese from Gitmo, U.S. lawmakers urge Story Highlights House members say Chinese government, U.S. military interrogated men Ethnic Uighurs should receive apologies and compensation, lawmakers say They were swept up in post-September 11 search for terrorists U.S. opposes releasing them except to another country WASHINGTON (AP) -- Lawmakers chastised the Bush administration on Wednesday for allowing the Chinese government to interrogate Chinese Muslim detainees at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and demanded that they be freed in the United States. The two lawmakers, Reps. Bill Delahunt, D-Massachusetts, and Dana Rohrabacher, R-California, said the Uighurs -- members of a Chinese ethnic group -- should be compensated and apologized to for any abuse they may have suffered while held in the detention center at U.S. naval base in Cuba. Uighurs fled their homeland in western China and settled in Afghanistan and Pakistan, only to be swept up in the U.S.-led dragnet for terrorists after the September 11 attacks. A federal judge has called their imprisonment unlawful, but the Bush administration opposes releasing them unless they can go to a country other than the United States. At a House Foreign Affairs hearing on interrogation methods at Guantanamo, Delahunt asked Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine to confirm that Chinese officials were let into the prison. "We were informed that the Chinese government sent people to interview and interrogate the Uighurs," Fine said. Additionally, Fine said, FBI officials reported that U.S. military personnel woke Uighurs every 15 minutes in a sleep-depravation interrogation tactic known as "the frequent flyer program" before the Chinese interrogators arrived. "Did they draw the conclusion that this was, that we had American military personnel collaborating, doing this to, if you will, soften up the Uighurs for examination by Chinese communist agents?" Delahunt asked. Fine answered: "They reported this was the technique that was used, what they call the frequent flyer program, to put the Uighurs in a position to be interrogated by the Chinese government." Rohrabacher called the military's involvement "ridiculous." He said the Uighurs should be freed in the U.S. "And we will call on the government to do so forthwith," Rohrabacher said. "And if it indeed looks like they've been unjustly treated that we offer some compensation as well as an apology." Both lawmakers agreed to push the Bush administration to release the Uighurs in the U.S., although Delahunt predicted that Rohrabacher, a Republican, "will have more access to the powers that be than I will." White House spokesman Tony Fratto declined to comment on the issue, and a spokesman for the State Department did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Under U.S. law, the Uighur men cannot be sent back to China because they are likely to face persecution and torture. The administration has been seeking refuge for them in other nations, and five were sent to Albania in 2006. As of two months ago, 17 Uighurs remained at Guantanamo, awaiting countries to take them. In March, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the U.S. has "no desire to be the world's jailer, and we look forward to the day Guantanamo is shut down. And part of that solution is working with other countries to take people back under the right circumstances." A report by the human rights group Center for Constitutional Rights indicates that officials from at least 17 countries have been allowed to interrogate their citizens being held at Guantanamo. The report accuses interrogators from six nations -- China, Uzbekistan, Libya, Jordan, Tajikistan and Tunisia -- of abusing Guantanamo detainees with the consent of U.S. officials. The group has for the past seven years sought access to U.S. courts for detainees at Guantanamo. |
It also makes me wonder how many Hui Ren could be there in GITMO as well; they should not be confused for Uighurs and are ethnically Han Chinese. And why was the US government allowing those Chinese officials- most certainly Ministry of State Security or Guo An Bu agents- into that facility to interrogate them?
spearhead - June 23, 2008 11:40 PM (GMT)
my goodness.... epigone ayou have so much similarities........ ur interests alone are almost identical.... :armyLol:
MSantor - June 24, 2008 02:14 AM (GMT)
| QUOTE (spearhead @ Jun 24 2008, 07:40 AM) |
| my goodness.... epigone ayou have so much similarities........ ur interests alone are almost identical.... :armyLol: |
Spearhead,
Epigone and my interests? SIMILAR? That's rich!!! HAHAHAHA...of course not!!!! He is so right-wing it is not even funny!!!! And I don't like driving a forklift like he does. He is just a harmless old nut who just wants some attention. :banana: Anyways, now... :btt:
MSantor - August 4, 2008 06:40 PM (GMT)
Moving on to other news, there has been a return to violence in China's predominantly Muslim province of Xinjiang in Western China; it is not surprising that Xinhua or CCTV would report this attack, since the CCP would probably want to paint the Uighur seperatists to the world as more terrorists in this current GWOT, especially with only days before the Olympics.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...l_gam_mostemail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...l_gam_mostemail
| QUOTE |
| CHARLES HUTZLER ASSOCIATED PRESS August 4, 2008 at 1:42 AM EDT BEIJING Attackers rammed a dump truck into a patrol station in China's restive Central Asian border province Monday morning, tossing grenades in a raid that killed 16 officers and wounded more than a dozen others, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. The attack in Xinjiang province was in an area where local Muslims have waged a sporadic rebellion against Chinese rule. It came just four days before the start of the Beijing Olympics an event that at least one radical Muslim group has vowed to attack.The brief Xinhua account said the attackers drove the dump truck to get inside the paramilitary police compound in the Kashgar area and then exploded two grenades. A state television report gave a different version, saying the police were attacked while marching in front of a hotel while conducting morning drills. Besides the 16 dead, another 16 armed policemen were wounded, the reports said. Two of the attackers were arrested, Xinhua reported. It called the attackers "rioters" but did not further identify them. Local government officials declined comment Monday. An officer in the district police department said an investigation was launched. The exact location of the attack could not immediately be determined. Kashgar, or Kashi in Chinese, is the name of an oasis town that was once a stop on the Silk Road caravan routes and is also the name of the surrounding region that abuts Pakistan, Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan. A local Turkic Muslim people, the Uighurs, have chafed under Chinese rule, fully imposed after the communists took power nearly 60 years ago. Occasionally violent attacks in the 1990s brought an intense response from Beijing, which has stationed crack paramilitary units in the area and clamped down on unregistered mosques and religious schools that officials said were inciting militant action. Chinese defence and police commanders have warned that radical Uighurs fighting for what they call an independent East Turkistan in western China pose the single greatest threat to the Olympics. In recent months police claimed to have foiled a plot to explode a Chinese passenger plane and plans by terrorist cells to kidnap athletes, journalists and others involved in the Olympics. One militant group, the Turkistan Islamic Party, pledged in a video that surfaced on the Internet last month to "target the most critical points related to the Olympics." The group is believed to be based across the border in Pakistan, with some of its core members having received training from al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban, according to terrorism experts. Terrorism experts and Chinese authorities, however, have said that with more than 100,000 soldiers and police guarding Beijing and other Olympic co-host cities, terrorists were more likely to attack less-protected areas. |
MSantor - December 17, 2008 10:20 PM (GMT)
And the dissent within the PRC grows.No wonder that the CCP is so obsessed with internal stability in order to ensure continued economic prosperity as the chief gurantor/justification of its llegitimacy.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28273651/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28273651/
| QUOTE |
| China's middle class vents anger Actions have caught a government fearful of labor movements off guard By Ariana Eunjung Cha The Washington Post updated 12:01 a.m. PT, Wed., Dec. 17, 2008 CHONGQING, China - When 9,000 of Shin Guoqing's fellow taxi drivers went on strike early last month, he felt he had to join them. Soaring inflation had undermined what his $300-a-month income could buy for his family, and Shin said he was frustrated that the government had done nothing to help. "After running around the whole day, you have only a few renminbi for it," he said, referring to China's currency. "You don't feel good about your life." For two days, the drivers held this Sichuan province metropolis of 31 million people under siege, blocking roads and smashing cars. The Communist Party quickly stopped the violence by promising to address the drivers' demands for easier access to fuel and better working conditions. From the far western industrial county of Yongdeng to the southern resort city of Sanya and the commercial center of Guangzhou, members of China's upwardly mobile working class taxi drivers, teachers, factory workers and even auxiliary police officers have mounted protests since the Chongqing strike, refusing to work until their demands were met. China's government has long feared the rise of labor movements, banning unauthorized unions and arresting those who speak out for workers' rights. The strikes, driven in part by China's economic downturn, have caught officials off guard. Protests come to the cities Rural protests, often led by impoverished farmers angry over land seizures that leave them unable to feed their families, have occurred sporadically over the past decade. But richer, more educated Chinese are behind the recent strikes, which have disrupted life in China's cities. The success achieved by the drivers in Chongqing has inspired work stoppages elsewhere. Urban workers say they are worried about being unable to pay for their children's college education, missing payments on car loans, and not having enough money left each month to dine out with friends or go on vacation. In the past 30 years of economic liberalization, younger Chinese have come to see these things not as a luxury of modern life but as a right. In the central province of Hunan on Dec. 2, more than 100 auxiliary police officers seized control of a Communist Party office in Leiyang county and demanded that the government reinstate a bonus it had taken away after the Olympics. According to the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy, the group smashed chairs and did not allow anyone to enter or leave the building for three hours. Tan Caiyu, a municipal official, said in an interview that the government is considering raising the auxiliary officers' salaries as a result. That same week, more than 1,000 teachers in neighboring Longhui county went on strike over unpaid allowances. The teachers accused the local government of misappropriating 400 million yuan, or about $60 million, over the past 10 years. In other places, such as the inland province of Shaanxi and in northeastern Liaoning province, teachers protested because they said they deserved to be paid as much as other government employees with the same experience. Taxi drivers feel the pinch In Gansu province's Yongdeng county, taxi drivers said their income had fallen because of the rising number of illegal taxis that the government had allowed to proliferate. Chen Yongshun, 44, who like many other taxi drivers across the country fell into his job when his state-owned factory closed, said that he has a child who will go to college next year and that he needs to make sure he will be able to afford the tuition. "The government is for the people. If they can't do a good job, then they should be apologetic to ordinary citizens," said Chen, who participated in a Nov. 10 strike with about 160 others. Huang Shuzhong, a driver in Sanya, said he and his colleagues had been upset for months because the taxi companies refused to lower their management fees despite falling demand for transportation. Huang said that taxi drivers had brought their concerns to government officials and the companies several times earlier in the year but that nothing had come of it. Some of the braver taxi drivers began talking about a strike in the fall, but everyone had been afraid to act, he said. "After hearing about Chongqing, everything changed. We felt we could do it, too," Huang said. In Chongqing, leaflets urging the taxi drivers to go on strike appeared overnight in the first two days of November at places where they congregate. They were taped on the walls at the place where they change the white fabric seat covers each night and scattered on the ground at gas stations. "Rise up!" one leaflet urged. "Let us all unite and strike together!" In concise and eloquent prose, it listed four complaints it was difficult to get gasoline, the management fee they pay to taxi companies was too high, there were too many illegal "black" taxis taking away their work, and the meter was charging too little for waiting time. The leaflet also specified a date: Nov. 3. Drivers shared plans for the strike by text message and word of mouth. Taxi driver Liu Mingsheng said the purpose of the strike "spoke to my heart." "With my salary, I can have an ordinary life. I can buy books, toys and have medical treatment when I need it. But I can no longer have money to pay the bills and to go to dinner and drinks with friends," said Liu, 38, who used to work as a chauffeur for a state-owned company. Drivers said the strike appeared highly organized although none would admit to knowing who set it up. Blockades were erected at parking lots and places were taxis line up. The few drivers who dared to work that day were roughly pulled out of their cars, and their vehicles were damaged. Chongqing's Communist Party secretary, Bo Xilai, China's former commerce minister, responded by convening a meeting to discuss terms for ending the strike. No leaders emerged to take credit for organizing the protest, so the taxi companies selected their own representatives. The meeting was broadcast live by the local TV station and even the official state news agency's online portal, Xinhuanet.com. Sitting next to Bo was Tang Zhirong, who represented female taxi drivers in the city. Tang, 38, who has a college degree in accounting, said she has no regrets about the strike because the outcome was so positive. "Before, we really didn't have any way to make complaints, and without the strike the government wouldn't have given in," Tang said in an interview. Crackdown Even as government officials publicly praised the taxi drivers for their candor, they were hunting for organizers and trying to detect connections between Chongqing and other protests across the country. Shin said that he had saved a copy of the leaflet in his car, without thinking about it, and that the police had found it. A few days after the strike, he said, officers brought him in for questioning and demanded he tell them who had written the leaflet. Shin, 40, said he told them he had found the leaflet on the ground and had no idea who was behind it. Shin's story is typical. He worked at a state-owned heating company until it shut down 17 years ago and has been a taxi driver since. He says that he and his wife, who works at a gas station, make "enough, just enough," but that these days, they are working more hours often more than 10 each day for the same pay they got for working eight hours in the past. Drivers in Chongqing said they were discussing a possible second strike although no new leaflets have appeared. One of the things that the Communist Party promised after the protest was to work with the taxi companies to set up a pension and health-insurance system. The details, however, are still pending and some drivers are worried that it won't happen. These days, said Shin, who was impressed by Bo's leadership in ending the strike, "I trust the government . . . but I don't yet trust the taxi companies." Researchers Crissie Ding and Wu Meng in Shanghai contributed to this report. © 2008 The Washington Post Company |
Factory workers overturn a police car during a protest outside Kaida toy factory in Dongguan, China. November 26 , 2008 (REUTERS)
MSantor - July 2, 2009 05:31 AM (GMT)
Meanwhile... in Hong Kong...
Another challenge to "one country two systems"? Tung-Chee Wah's successors must be worried.
NOTE: For those unaware, Hong Kong, though it has returned to China's rule, is a Special Administrative Region under the "One Country, Two systems" agreement whereby the Beijing government promised London that they would allow all the democratic freedoms which existed in Hong Kong during British rule to continue to exist for the next 50 years until 2047.
Another challenge to "one country two systems"? Tung-Chee Wah's successors must be worried.
NOTE: For those unaware, Hong Kong, though it has returned to China's rule, is a Special Administrative Region under the "One Country, Two systems" agreement whereby the Beijing government promised London that they would allow all the democratic freedoms which existed in Hong Kong during British rule to continue to exist for the next 50 years until 2047.
| QUOTE |
| Agence France-Presse - 7/1/2009 11:59 AM GMT Tens of thousands march for democracy in Hong Kong Tens of thousands of people took to the sweltering streets of Hong Kong on Wednesday for an annual pro-democracy march, as the city marked the 12th anniversary of its return to China. The huge crowd, estimated by organisers at 76,000, snaked through the city to demand the early introduction of universal suffrage and also to express frustration at the government on a whole gamut of issues, including its response to the economic slowdown. Despite temperatures nudging 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit), many protesters gathered at the city's Victoria Park more than an hour before the march, sporting umbrellas to protect them from the scorching sun. Dennis Chan, a 28-year-old salesman, who joined the march for the third time, said: "We want to let the government know that this is not our government." The protesters sang the anthem "We Are Ready" and held banners to demand universal suffrage for the city's chief executive and legislature in 2012. Beijing has said that universal suffrage would not come before 2017 at the earliest. Organisers were hoping for a turnout that would shock the government in a similar way to the 2003 march, which saw 500,000 people take to the streets. "The issues this year mirror those in 2003," Lee Cheuk-yan, a march organiser and leading trade unionist, told AFP. "People are frustrated with a government which is unable to lead them through economic hardship and political crisis, although not to a point where they want the chief executive Donald Tsang to step down." The 2003 march was galvanised by an economic downturn, the unpopular then-chief executive Tung Chee-hwa and controversy over the introduction of a proposed national security bill. The show of people power saw the security legislation shelved and was a key factor in Tung's decision to resign the following year. Opposition to the government, which is mainly driven by pro-democratic political parties, has grown in recent months as the latest global economic crisis has hit the financial and export hub hard. The city fell into recession in the third quarter of 2008 and the government expects the economy to contract 5.5-6.5 percent in 2009. Democracy supporters were further buoyed by the record turnout of 150,000 at the candlelight vigil last month to mark the 20th anniversary of the bloody crackdown on protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Among the crowd were also migrant workers who demanded to be included in new minimum wage legislation, one of the many concerns among the marchers. The protest coincided with celebrations for the 12th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, after the former British colony was returned to China in 1997. A separate, smaller pro-Beijing parade took place early Wednesday, with marchers waving China's national flag and traditional Chinese dragon dances. Chief executive Tsang officiated at a flag-raising ceremony and government reception Wednesday morning and said he was confident Hong Kong would sail through the financial crisis and other challenges with the support of China. "With perseverance and determination, and most importantly with the all-out support of our country, I am sure we will again prove our resilience and mettle," he said at the reception. A separate march also took place by disgruntled investors who had lost money through complex financial products called "mini-bonds", whose value collapsed when the bank that backed them, US investment house Lehman Brothers, went bust last September. Amid the serious politics, there were some lighter moments. A 40-strong "Complaints Choir" took advantage of Hong Kong's freedom -- the city has a different legal system from mainland China including the right to protest -- to perform a five-minute moan about various aspects of life from taxes to bad bosses. |
MSantor - July 6, 2009 07:30 AM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| By WILLIAM FOREMAN, Associated Press Writer William Foreman, Associated Press Writer 35 mins ago URUMQI, China Violence in the capital of China's volatile Xinjiang region killed 140 people and injured 828, an official said Monday, following rioting by members of a Muslim ethnic group and a police crackdown on their demonstrations. The official toll makes the unrest the deadliest single incident of unrest in Xinjiang in recent decades. The violence in Urumqi apparently happened after a peaceful protest Sunday of about 1,000 to 3,000 people spun out of control, with rioters overturning barricades, attacking vehicles and houses, and clashing with police. Uigher exile groups said the violence started only after police began violently cracking down on the peaceful protest. Wu Nong, director of the news office of the Xinjiang provincial government, said more than 260 vehicles were attacked or set on fire and 203 houses were damaged. He said 140 people were killed and 828 injured in the violence. The official Xinhua News Agency also said 140 people died and that the death toll "was still climbing." Tensions between Uighurs and the majority Han Chinese are never far from the surface in Xinjiang, China's vast Central Asian buffer province, where militant Uighurs have waged sporadic, violent separatist campaign. The overwhelming majority of Urumqi's 2.3 million people are Han Chinese. State television aired footage that showed protesters attacking and kicking people on the ground. Other people sat dazed with blood pouring down their faces. Mobile phone service provided by at least one company was cut Monday to stop people from organizing further action in Xinjiang. The protest started Sunday with demonstrators demanding a probe into a fight between Uighurs and Han Chinese workers at a southern China factory last month. Accounts differed over what happened next in Urumqi, but the violence seemed to have started when a crowd of protesters who started out peaceful refused to disperse. Uigher exile groups said the violence started when Chinese security forces cracked down on the peaceful protest. "We are extremely saddened by the heavy-handed use of force by the Chinese security forces against the peaceful demonstrators," said Alim Seytoff, vice president of the Washington-based Uyghur American Association. "We ask the international community to condemn China's killing of innocent Uihgurs. This is a very dark day in the history of the Uighur people," he said. The association, led by a former businesswoman now living in America, Rebiya Kadeer, estimated that 1,000 to 3,000 people took part in the protest. |
saver111 - July 6, 2009 10:40 AM (GMT)
An Armoured Personal Carrier patrols the main square of Urumqi in Xinjiang province July 6, 2009. At least 140 people have been killed in rioting in the capital of China's northwestern region of Xinjiang, the worst case of ethnic violence in the Muslim area in years. REUTERS/Nir Elias (CHINA CONFLICT POLITICS IMAGES OF THE DAY)
Chinese paramilitary police march by a square closed following riots in Urumqi, western China's Xinjiang province, Monday, July 6, 2009. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Chinese paramilitary police rest inside an armored vehicle at the entrance to a Uighur district which has been closed following riots in Urumqi, western China's Xinjiang province, Monday, July 6, 2009. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Chinese paramilitary police stand guard outside a market which was closed following riots in Urumqi, western China's Xinjiang province, Monday, July 6, 2009.
(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
A CCTV grab shows a crowd of men pushing over a police car on a street in Urumqi, the capital of China's Autonomous Region of Xinjiang on July 5. China said at least 140 people were killed in rioting by Muslim Uighurs in its restive Xinjiang region in the deadliest ethnic unrest reported in the country for decades.
(AFP/CCTV)
A CCTV grab shows a crowd clashing with security forces on a street in Urumqi, the capital of China's Autonomous Region of Xinjiang, on July 5. China said at least 140 people were killed in rioting by Muslim Uighurs in its restive Xinjiang region in the deadliest ethnic unrest reported in the country for decades.
(AFP/CCTV)
MSantor - July 7, 2009 05:39 AM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| Fresh protest erupts in China's Xinjiang region William Foreman, Associated Press Writer 38 mins ago URUMQI, China Ethnic Uighurs scuffled with armed police Tuesday in a fresh protest in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang, where at least 156 people have been killed and more than 1,400 people arrested in the worst ethnic violence there in decades. Most of the group of about 200 Uighurs were women protesting the arrests of their husbands in the massive crackdown on members of the Muslim minority by Chinese authorities since the violence was sparked Sunday in the Xinjiang provincial capital. The incident played out in front of reporters who were being taken around Urumqi to see the aftermath of Sunday's riots, when hundreds of vehicles and shops were attacked. The women, wearing ornate flowered headscarves, blocked a road. Some screamed that their husbands and children had been arrested. Riot police were at one end of the road and paramilitary police were at the other. One woman said her husband was taken away and she would rather die than live without him. As they marched down the street, paramilitary police in green camouflage fatigues with sticks marched toward them and pushed the crowd back. A woman fell. The brief scuffle ended when the police retreated. Police in black uniforms with assault rifles and tear gas guns took up positions on the other side of the crowd. The women, however, stayed in the street, pumping their fists in the air and wailing. Meanwhile, police tried to weed the men out of the crowd, herding them down a side street. Two boys ran out of a side alley, and a policeman barked at them, "Go home" and grabbed one around the neck, pushing him. The 90-minute protest ended when the women walked back into a market area without any resistance. (...) Mobile phone service and the social networking site Twitter have been blocked, and Internet links also were cut or slowed down. A nonviolent protest by 200 people Monday was broken up in a second city, Kashgar, and the official Xinhua News Agency said police had evidence that demonstrators were trying to organize more unrest in Kashgar, Yili and Aksu. It said police had raided several groups plotting unrest in Dawan township in Urumqi, as well as at a former race course that is home to a transient population. (...) Many Uighurs (pronounced WEE-gers) haven't been wooed by the rapid economic development. Some want independence, while others feel they're being marginalized in their homeland. The Han China's ethnic majority have been flooding into Xinjiang as the region becomes more developed. The government often says the Uighurs should be grateful for the roads, railways, schools, hospitals and oil fields it has been building in Xinjiang, a region known for scorching deserts and snowy mountain ranges. A similar situation exists in Tibet, where a violent protest last year left many Tibetan communities living under clamped-down security ever since. (...) Uighurs frequently compare their persecution to that imposed on Tibet, but say their cause is not as well known because they lack a Dalai Lama to publicize their cause. (...) |
saver111 - July 7, 2009 10:35 AM (GMT)
A woman on a crutch argues with a Chinese soldier in front of an armoured personnel carrier and soldiers wearing riot gear as a crowd of angry locals confront security forces on a street in the city of Urumqi in China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region July 7, 2009. Hundreds of Uighur protesters clashed with riot police in the capital of China's Muslim region of Xinjiang on Tuesday, two days after ethnic unrest left 156 dead and more than 800 injured. REUTERS/David Gray (CHINA CONFLICT MILITARY POLITICS RELIGION)
Chinese riot police get into position as Uighur protesters gather during a demonstration in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region July 7, 2009. Uighur protesters clashed with Chinese riot police in the capital of China's Muslim region of Xinjiang on Tuesday, two days after ethnic violence broke out leaving 156 people dead and more than 800 injured. REUTERS/Nir Elias (CHINA CONFLICT)
Armed Chinese policemen march towards a group of local women during a confrontation along a street in the city of Urumqi, in China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region July 7, 2009. Hundreds of Uighurs protesting against the arrest of relatives clashed with police in the capital of China's Muslim region of Xinjiang on Tuesday two days after ethnic unrest left 156 dead and 1,080 wounded.
REUTERS/David Gray (CHINA CONFLICT MILITARY POLITICS)
A local woman on a crutch shouts at Chinese armoured personal carriers and soldiers wearing riot gear as a crowd of angry locals confront security forces on a street in the city of Urumqi in China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region July 7, 2009. China said a riot that shook the capital of the western Xinjiang region on Sunday killed 140 people and the government called the ethnic unrest a plot against its power, signalling a security crackdown. REUTERS/David Gray (CHINA CONFLICT MILITARY POLITICS)
A Chinese police officer holds his gun near a demonstration by Uighur residents in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region July 7, 2009. Uighur protesters clashed with Chinese riot police in the capital of China's Muslim region of Xinjiang on Tuesday, two days after ethnic violence broke out leaving 156 people dead and more than 800 injured. REUTERS/ Nir Elias (CHINA CONFLICT POLITICS)
REUTERS/David Gray (CHINA CONFLICT MILITARY POLITICS RELIGION)
Chinese soldiers wearing riot gear run towards a crowd of angry locals during a confrontation on a street in the city of Urumqi in China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region July 7, 2009. Hundreds of Uighur protesters clashed with riot police in the capital of China's Muslim region of Xinjiang on Tuesday, two days after ethnic unrest left 156 dead and more than 800 injured. REUTERS/David Gray (CHINA CONFLICT MILITARY POLITICS RELIGION)
MSantor - July 8, 2009 03:06 AM (GMT)
Apparently the riots and unrest in Xinjiang seem serious enough to force PRC Pres. Hu to go home early.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/090708/..._china_xinjiang
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/090708/..._china_xinjiang
| QUOTE |
| China's Hu skips G8 to deal with Xinjiang riots 1 hour, 41 minutes ago By Chris Buckley URUMQI, China (Reuters) - Chinese President Hu Jintao abandoned plans to attend a G8 summit in Italy on Wednesday, returning home early to deal with ethnic violence that has left at least 156 dead in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on its website that Hu had left for China "due to the situation" in energy-rich Xinjiang, which borders central Asia, where 1,080 were people have been injured and 1,434 arrested in unrest between Han Chinese and Muslim Uighurs since Sunday. State Councillor Dai Bingguo will attend the G8 summit in Hu's place, the ministry added. The summit was due to open in the central Italian city of L'Aquila later on Wednesday and Hu had been scheduled to join the talks on Thursday. He arrived in Italy on Sunday and had visited Florence on Tuesday. Urumqi, Xinjiang's regional capital, woke up on Wednesday after an overnight curfew that authorities imposed after thousands of Han Chinese stormed through its streets demanding redress and sometimes extracting bloody vengeance for Sunday's violence. The city was quiet, except for soldiers shouting in unison as they went about their morning exercises. Squads of anti-riot police blocked off main streets, while armored personnel carriers cruised back and forth. Late on Tuesday, mobs of Han Chinese wielding clubs, metal bars, cleavers and axes had melted away, but many said Sunday's killings had left a lasting stain of anger. Li Yufang, a Han who owns a clothes store in Urumqi, said he was still outraged by what had happened over the weekend, and wanted to protest again, although he admitted it was unlikely amid the heavy presence of troops. "I couldn't sleep last night I was so angry," he said, clutching a club and what appeared to be a carving knife wrapped in a black plastic bag. "Uighurs are spoiled like pandas. When they steal, rob, rape or kill, they can get away with it. If we Han did the same thing, we'd be executed," Li added, as a friend standing next to him nodded in agreement. ETHNIC TENSIONS On the other side of Urumqi's now tensely divided neighborhoods, Uighurs protested on Tuesday, defying rows of anti-riot police and telling reporters that their husbands, brothers and sons had been taken away in indiscriminate arrests. Xinjiang has long been a tightly controlled hotbed of ethnic tensions, fostered by an economic gap between many Uighurs and Han Chinese, government controls on religion and culture and an influx of Han migrants who now are the majority in most key cities, including Urumqi. But controlling the torrid anger on both sides of the region's ethnic divide will now make controlling Xinjiang, with its gas reserves and trade and energy ties to central Asia, all the more testing for the ruling Communist Party. The government has sought to bridge that divide by blaming the Sunday killings on exiled Uighurs seeking independence for their homeland, especially Rebiya Kadeer, a businesswoman and activist now living in exile in the United States. Kadeer, writing in the Asian Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, condemned the violence on both sides, and again denied being the cause of the unrest. "Years of Chinese repression of Uighurs topped by a confirmation that Chinese officials have no interest in observing the rule of law when Uighurs are concerned is the cause of the current Uighur discontent," she wrote. The Communist Party boss of Xinjiang, Wang Lequan, sought to press forward that effort in a speech broadcast on regional TV and handed out as a leaflet to Urumqi residents late on Tuesday. "This was a massive conspiracy by hostile forces at home and abroad, and their goal was precisely to sabotage ethnic unity and provoke ethnic antagonism," said Wang. "Point the spear toward hostile forces at home and abroad, toward the criminals who took part in attacking, smashing and looting, and by no means point it toward our own ethnic brothers," he said, referring to Uighurs. Uighurs, a Turkic people who are largely Muslim and share linguistic and cultural bonds with Central Asia, make up almost half of Xinjiang's 20 million people. The population of Urumqi, which lies around 3,300 km (2,000 miles) west of Beijing, is mostly Han. (Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Shanghai and Benjamin Kang Lim in Beijing; Editing by David Fox) |
MSantor - July 8, 2009 06:50 PM (GMT)
Gee I wonder where this PRC official learned this suggested course of action...oh riiight. Iran's crackpot Mullahs.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090708/ap_on_...s_china_protest
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090708/ap_on_...s_china_protest
| QUOTE |
| Chinese troops flood streets after riots By WILLIAM FOREMAN, Associated Press Writer William Foreman, Associated Press Writer 13 mins ago URUMQI, China Thousands of Chinese troops flooded into this city Wednesday to separate feuding ethnic groups after three days of communal violence left 156 people dead, and a senior Communist Party official vowed to execute those guilty of murder in the rioting in western China. Long convoys of armored cars and green troop trucks with riot police rumbled through Urumqi, a city of 2.3 million people. Other security forces carrying automatic rifles with bayonets formed cordons to defend Muslim neighborhoods from marauding groups of vigilantes with sticks. Military helicopters buzzed over Xinjiang's regional capital, dropping pamphlets urging people to stay in their homes and stop fighting. Special police from other provinces were called in to patrol the city. The crisis was so severe that President Hu Jintao cut short a trip to Italy, where he was to participate in a Group of Eight summit. It was an embarrassing move for a leader who wants to show that China has a harmonious society as it prepares to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Communist rule. The heightened security came amid the worst spasm of ethnic violence in decades in Xinjiang a sprawling, oil-rich territory that borders Pakistan, Afghanistan and other Central Asian countries. The region is home to the Uighur ethnic minority, who rioted Sunday and attacked the Han Chinese the nation's biggest ethnic group after holding a protest that was ended by police. Officials have said 156 people were killed as the Turkic-speaking Uighurs ran amok in the city, beating and stabbing the Han Chinese. The Uighurs allege that trigger-happy security forces gunned down many of the protesters, and officials have yet to give an ethnic breakdown of those killed. Li Zhi, the highest-ranking Communist Party official in Urumqi, told reporters that some of the rioters were university students who were misled and didn't understand what they were doing. They would be treated leniently, he said, as long as they weren't involved in serious acts of violence and vandalism. But Li added: "To those who committed crimes with cruel means, we will execute them." He also repeated allegations that the riot was whipped up by U.S.-exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer and her overseas supporters. "They're afraid to see our economic prosperity. They're afraid to see our ethnic unity and the people living a stable, prosperous life," he said. Kadeer has denied masterminding the violence, and many Uighurs laughed off the notion that they were puppets of groups abroad. "Not even a 3-year-old would believe that Rebiya stirred this up. It's ridiculous," said a shopkeeper who only identified himself as Ahmet. Like other Uighurs, he declined to give his full name because he feared the police would detain him. Ahmet was quick to rattle off a long list of grievances commonly mentioned by Uighurs. He accused the Han Chinese of discrimination and alleged that government policies were forcing them to abandon their culture, language and Islamic faith. "After all this rioting, I'm still filled with hatred. I'm not afraid of the Han Chinese," Ahmet said. His neighborhood in southern Urumqi was targeted by mobs of Han Chinese who roamed the capital Tuesday seeking revenge. Ahmet's friends had video shot by mobile phones and cameras that showed the stick-wielding Han men beating Uighurs. He pointed to blood stains on a white concrete apartment wall, where he said a Uighur was severely stabbed. A Uighur college student who called herself Parizat added, "The men were carrying a Chinese flag. I never thought something like this would happen. We're all Chinese citizens." The Uighurs accused paramilitary police of allowing the Han Chinese to attack their neighbors. But in the video, the troops appeared to be trying to block or restrain the mobs. On Wednesday, the government warned residents against carrying weapons on the street, and most people generally complied. But there were groups of Han Chinese who tried to find soft spots in police cordons and rush into Uighur neighborhoods. One such failed attempt sent a wave of terror and panic through the biggest Uighur neighborhood, Er Dao Qiao. When someone yelled, "The Han are coming!" children scampered indoors and women ran shrieking through a backstreet market with carts of watermelons, shops selling cold soft drinks and smoky grills with sizzling lamb kebabs. Within seconds, the men armed themselves with spears stashed behind doors and under market stands. The weapons were long poles with knives and meat cleavers tied to the ends. Piles of rocks were placed across the street for ammunition. One Uighur graduate student who called himself Memet greeted a foreign reporter in English by saying, "Welcome to the jungle!" "I think the Uighur people lately are kind of happy. You can see it in their eyes, a bit of happiness. We've spoken up. People know we exist now," he said. The ethnic hatred in Xinjiang appears to run so deep that many Uighurs won't express sorrow for the Han Chinese who were attacked Sunday. One of them was Dong Yuanyuan, 24, a newlywed who said she was on a bus with her husband getting ready to leave on their honeymoon. She said Uighur attackers dragged them off the bus and beat them until they were unconscious. Her husband was still missing, said the woman, who had abrasions on her face, arms and knees. "My aunts have been going to all the hospitals to search for him. He must still be unconscious," she told reporters who joined a government tour at the People's Hospital. Another victim was Ma Weihong, who said she was walking home from a park with her 10-year-old son when the riot started. The boy suffered minor injuries, but the mother had a broken arm and wrist, missing teeth and head wounds. "The stores all closed up and we tried to run for home," she said. "That is when they caught us. We couldn't get away." |
MSantor - July 11, 2009 04:27 AM (GMT)
So why isn't Iran screaming bloody murder over their fellow Muslims in Xinjiang like they normally do for Palestine? Oh rigght. They got better relations with China. :armyroleyes:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090711/ap_on_...s_china_protest
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090711/ap_on_...s_china_protest
| QUOTE |
| By WILLIAM FOREMAN and GILLIAN WONG, Associated Press Writers William Foreman And Gillian Wong, Associated Press Writers 20 mins ago URUMQI, China China raised the death toll from riots in its Xinjiang region to 184, state media said Saturday, giving an ethnic breakdown of the dead for the first time after communal violence broke out in this far western city. The official Xinhua News Agency said 137 of the victims belonged to the dominant Han ethnic group. The rest included 45 men and one woman who were Uighurs, and one man of the Hui Muslim ethnic group, the report said, citing the information office of the regional government. The previous death toll was 156. Xinhua gave no details on the newly reported deaths, including whether any were from Tuesday, when Han men seeking revenge for the original Uighur-led protest that turned violent marched through the streets with clubs and cleavers, trying to push past police guarding minority neighborhoods. Nearly a week after the rioting began, paramilitary police carrying automatic weapons and riot shields blocked some roads leading to the largely Muslim Uighur district of the city Saturday, and groups of 30 marched along the road chanting slogans encouraging ethnic unity. Some shops were still closed, and a police van blared public announcements in the Uighur language urging residents to oppose activist Rebiya Kadeer, a 62-year-old Uighur businesswoman who lives in exile in the U.S., whom China says instigated the riots. She has denied it. Protests continued Friday after a petite Muslim woman began complaining that the public washrooms were closed at a crowded mosque the most important day of the week for Islamic worship. Muslims perform required ablutions, or washing, before prayer. When a group gathered around her on the sidewalk, Madina Ahtam then railed against communist rule in Xinjiang. The 26-year-old businesswoman eventually led the crowd of mostly men in a fist-pumping street march that was quickly blocked by riot police, some with automatic rifles pointed at the protesters. Women have been on the front line in Urumqi partly because more than 1,400 men in the Muslim Uighur minority have been rounded up by police since ethnic rioting broke out July 5. As the communist government launches a sweeping security crackdown, the women have faced down troops, led protests and risked arrest by speaking out against police tactics they believe are excessive. The violence came as the Uighurs were protesting the June 25 deaths of Uighur factory workers in a brawl in southern China. The crowd then scattered throughout Urumqi, attacking Han Chinese, burning cars and smashing windows. Many Uighurs who are still free live in fear of being arrested for any act of dissent. Thousands of Chinese troops have flooded into Urumqi to separate the feuding ethnic groups, and a senior Communist Party official vowed to execute those guilty of murder in the rioting. A report in the Urumqi Evening News on Friday said police had caught 190 suspects in four raids the day before. In many Uighur neighborhoods during the crisis in Urumqi, the women did much of the talking with reporters as the men gathered in small groups on street corners and in back alleys, speaking quietly among themselves. "I can't speak freely. The police could come any minute and haul me away," said a Uighur man who would only identify himself as Alim. But on Friday, some men challenged officials when they showed up for prayers at Urumqi's popular White Mosque and found the gate closed. Officials had earlier said the mosque would be closed for public safety reasons as security forces tried to pacify the capital. The mosque was eventually opened when the crowd swelled and there was a threat of unrest, police said. Most Muslim Uighurs practice a moderate form of Sunni Islam or follow the mystical Sufism tradition. The women often work and lead an active social life outside the home. Many wear brightly colored head scarves but the custom is not strongly enforced. Young Uighur women often wear jeans, formfitting tops and dresses. As the faithful streamed into the White Mosque, Ahtam arrived holding a lilac umbrella and told foreign reporters in broken English, "Toilet no open. No water." She led reporters to an area where the faithful are supposed to cleanse themselves before prayers and said with tears running down her cheeks, "Washing room not open. Everybody no wash." After the prayers, she continued speaking on the sidewalk and attracted about 40 people who applauded when she criticized the government. "Every Uighur people are afraid. Do you understand? We are afraid. Chinese people are very happy. Why?" said Ahtam. The government believes the Uighurs should be grateful for Xinjiang's rapid economic development, which has brought new schools, highways, airports, railways, natural gas fields and oil wells in the sprawling, rugged Central Asian region, three times the size of Texas. But many of the Turkic-speaking Uighurs, with a population of 9 million in Xinjiang, accuse the dominant Han ethnic group of discriminating against them and saving all the best jobs for themselves. Many also say the Communist Party is repressive and tries to snuff out their Islamic faith, language and culture. As Ahtam's crowd became more agitated, about 20 riot police with clubs marched toward the group. The Uighurs pumped their fists in the air and walked down the street with Ahtam leading the pack. About 200 more riot police arrived and cut off the group, with some of the security forces kneeling down and pointing their automatic rifles at the marchers. Foreign reporters were led to a side alley, out of view of the protesters, who were forced to squat on the sidewalk along a row of shuttered shops. Hours later, calls to Ahtam's cell phone went unanswered and it was unknown what happened to her. ___ Associated Press writer Charles Babington contributed to this report from L'Aquila, Italy. |
MSantor - July 13, 2009 02:54 PM (GMT)
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| Police kill 2 Uighur men, wound 3rd in west China By GILLIAN WONG, Associated Press Writer Gillian Wong, Associated Press Writer 55 mins ago URUMQI, China Police shot dead two Uighur men and wounded a third Monday on the streets of Urumqi, where tens of thousands of troops are stationed to restore calm a week after deadly ethnic riots raged in the western Chinese city. Police said the three men attacked them when they tried to pull them off a fourth Uighur, whom they had attacked with knives and rods. A government official in Urumqi who described the attack would give only his surname, Fan. Beijing has poured troops into Xinjiang over the past few days, imposing tight control on Urumqi and surrounding areas to impose order after ethnic violence that left more than 180 people dead and 1,680 wounded last week. Though many members of the Uighur minority have accused security forces of using heavy-handed tactics in the wake of the riots, Monday's shooting was the first time officials have said police opened fire. "The police fired into the air as a warning, but that did not stop the attack. The police then shot them according to law," Fan said. He said the wounded man was taken to a hospital. His condition was not known. Photos taken at the time show one policeman raising his rifle to strike a man. The man lay on the ground with blood on his right leg. Police formed a ring around him, pointing their guns up at surrounding buildings. The shootings played out in front of frightened residents near one of the city's main Uighur neighborhoods. One witness, Zhang Ming, a construction worker at a nearby building site, said he saw three men with knives come out of a mosque and attack a group of paramilitary police standing in a cluster along the road. Riot police then chased them, beat them and fired shots, he said. It was not immediately clear why Zhang's account differed from the police description. There were no Uighurs in the area who were willing to talk to reporters about the shooting. A few hours later a large splotch of blood smudged the street. Squads of helmeted riot police took up positions on the road, which was closed to traffic. In a sign of the sensitivities surrounding the unrest, the Bureau for Legal Affairs of Beijing has warned lawyers away from cases involving the Xinjiang violence, saying it is important to protect the country's unity. While it did not expressly ban lawyers from taking on cases, the notice urged caution while answering inquiries about legal advice and representation. Earlier Monday, security vehicles previously deployed on People's Square were no longer there but helmeted riot police remained in the area. Small groups of paramilitary police with riot shields stood guard on street corners and helicopters flew over the city. The violence began when Uighurs (pronounced WEE-gers) who were protesting the deaths of Uighur factory workers in a brawl in southern China clashed with police in Urumqi (pronounced uh-ROOM-chi). Crowds scattered throughout the city, attacking ethnic Han Chinese and burning cars. Government officials have yet to make public key details about what happened next, including how much force police used to restore order. In the following days, vigilante mobs of majority Han Chinese ran through the city with bricks, clubs and cleavers seeking revenge. The government has said 137 Han Chinese and 46 Uighurs died, with one minority Hui Muslim also killed. Uighurs say they believe many more from their ethnic group died in the government crackdown. The death toll in China's worst ethnic violence in decades could rise as 74 of the more than 900 people still in hospitals have life-threatening wounds, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Xinhua said police manned checkpoints and searched buses for any suspects involved in the violence, and people were ordered to carry identification for police checks when traveling in Urumqi. It quoted the Urumqi Public Security Bureau as saying anyone without proper identification would be taken away to be interrogated. The Uighurs, who number 9 million in Xinjiang, have complained about an influx of Han Chinese and government restrictions on their Muslim religion. They accuse the Han of discrimination and the Communist Party of trying to erase their language and culture. |
MSantor - July 27, 2009 08:33 PM (GMT)
And here's another update regarding the Uighurs:
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| Agence France-Presse - 7/27/2009 7:44 AM GMT Uighur premiere a sell-out in Australia The premiere of a documentary about a Uighur activist that Chinese officials tried to have pulled from Australia's biggest film festival was a sell-out success, organisers said Monday. The Melbourne International Film Festival called in security guards for Sunday night's premiere of "Ten Conditions of Love" fearing trouble amid Chinese anger over the film about exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer. Festival director Richard Moore has accused Chinese officials of trying to bully him into pulling the documentary, while Chinese directors have withdrawn their films in protest and hackers have attacked the festival website. Event spokeswoman Louise Heseltine said the website remained partially disabled Monday because of the cyber-attacks, in which hackers replaced information with the Chinese flag and left anti-Kadeer slogans. But she said the screening at a city centre cinema was peaceful and the audience response was positive. "No one came to protest or demonstrate against it," she said, adding that efforts to stop the film had only enhanced its profile. China accuses Kadeer, the US-based head of the World Uighur Congress, of masterminding violent unrest in China's northwestern Xinjiang region on July 5 that left more than 190 people dead. She denies the charges. Foreign ministry officials in Beijing have said they oppose countries providing Kadeer with a platform "to engage in anti-China separatist activities". The Australian film-maker behind the documentary, Jeff Daniels, said he was surprised at the strength of the campaign against his film. "I understood that the Chinese government certainly didn't want the film to be screened but I never thought people would put that much pressure on the festival," he told Sky News. Daniels, who will host Kadeer when the film next screens in Melbourne on August 8, said he was pleased Sunday's premiere was peaceful. "I know emotions are running high at the moment. It's a very dark time for the Uighurs in China and there are a lot of angry people from China on both sides, he said. "So I'm very happy that it went peacefully, as a documentary should, and people were able to see different sides of the story." The Uighurs, a Muslim ethnic minority group who mainly live in western Xinjiang province, complain of political and religious repression under Chinese rule. |
MSantor - July 29, 2009 03:47 PM (GMT)
Yet another update:
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| Agence France-Presse - 7/29/2009 11:28 AM GMT Uighur leader says 10,000 'disappeared' in China The exiled leader of China's Uighurs said Wednesday nearly 10,000 of her people were detained or killed this month in ethnic unrest and appealed for the United Nations to investigate their fate. Rebiya Kadeer, the US-based head of the World Uighur Congress, also said she was "perplexed" at the muted US response to the violence as she spoke during a visit to Japan that has drawn angry protests from Beijing. Citing local sources and speaking through an interpreter, she said almost 10,000 people "disappeared" in one night on July 5 when authorities cracked down on the unrest in the mainly Muslim region of Xinjiang. "Where did those people go?" she said. "If they died, where did they go?" Kadeer, 62, said Chinese police opened machine-gun fire at Uighur people after dark once the electricity was turned off, and that the following morning large numbers of Uighur men had gone missing. (...) |
MSantor - August 9, 2009 05:55 PM (GMT)
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| China says plane diverted to Afghanistan by threat Gillian Wong, Associated Press Writer 16 mins ago BEIJING A plane scheduled to land in China's western region of Xinjiang that was rocked by ethnic riots last month was diverted to southern Afghanistan by a bomb threat, state media said Sunday. Xinhua News Agency did not identify the airline or the type of plane, but said the airport in the Xinjiang capital of Urumqi had been told to not to allow the plane to land. Urumqi was the scene of the worst ethnic violence in China in decades when deadly rioting killed 197 people and injured more than 1,700, according to official count. Xinhua had earlier reported that the plane had been hijacked, but said it had landed in Kandahar, Afghanistan, after a bomb threat. A Xinjiang regional government duty officer, who refused to give his name, said he had not received any information about the incident, while calls to the region's public security bureau rang unanswered. Calls to the Urumqi airport's information counter also rang unanswered. The government has said that Urumqi has slowly been returning to normal since the rioting erupted on July 5 after police stopped a protest by ethnic Uighur residents. The Uighurs went on a rampage, smashing windows, burning cars and beating Han Chinese the nation's dominant ethnic group. Two days later, the Han took to the streets and attacked Uighurs. The government said the violence was the work of terrorists, separatists and foreign forces as part of a plot to carve up China. In early August, an Internet message purportedly from the leader of an Islamic group fighting Chinese rule in a western province urged Muslims worldwide to attack Chinese interests in retaliation for what it called the oppression of minority Uighurs. |
MSantor - August 31, 2009 03:43 AM (GMT)
And the Dalai Lama visits Taiwan, further irking Beijing:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/090831/..._taiwan_dalai_5
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/090831/..._taiwan_dalai_5
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| China again decries Dalai Lama visit to Taiwan 2 hours, 33 minutes ago KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (Reuters) -China denounced the Dalai Lama's trip to Taiwan, saying the visit by a man Beijing brands a separatist could have a "negative influence" on relations, Chinese state media said on Monday. The Tibetan spiritual leader arrived late on Sunday in Taiwan, a self-ruled island claimed by China, to comfort victims of the island's worst typhoon in 50 years which struck this month, triggering floods that killed about 570 people. "I'm very, very strict, (the trip is of a) non-political nature," the Dalai Lama told reporters on arrival from India, appearing to try to reassure Beijing. Organizers had originally planned to host a news conference for the Dalai Lama on Monday, but that was cancelled, with the 1988 Nobel peace prize winner starting his day visiting flood-ravaged villages. As with a denunciation it issued when the visit was announced last week, China focused its criticism on the opposition Democratic Progressive Party. By not blaming Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou or the ruling Nationalist Party (KMT), Beijing may have indicated that it does not wish to escalate the issue which brings together China's two most sensitive territorial issues -- Tibet and Taiwan. China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since 1949, when Mao Zedong's forces won the Chinese civil war and Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists fled to the island. Beijing has vowed to bring Taiwan under its rule, by force if necessary. The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule. "The Democratic Progressive Party has ulterior motives to instigate the Dalai Lama's visit to Taiwan, who has long been engaged in separatist activities," a spokesman for China's State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency. "We resolutely oppose this and our position is firm and clear," the spokesman said. "The Dalai Lama's visit to Taiwan is bound to have a negative influence on the relations between the mainland and Taiwan." China, which is considered unlikely to retaliate by choking off growing economic ties between the long-time political rivals, has always opposed the Dalai Lama's trips abroad and blames him for stirring up riots in Tibetan regions ahead of the Beijing Olympics last year. Beijing calls the Dalai Lama a reactionary who seeks to split off nearly a quarter of the land mass of the People's Republic of China. It has been using its diplomatic clout to try to block the pro-Tibetan message. The Dalai Lama denies the charge and says he seeks greater rights, including religious freedom, and autonomy for Tibetans. (Reporting by Ralph Jennings and Simon Rabinovitch in Beijing; Writing by Lee Chyen Yee and Nick Macfie) |
MSantor - October 15, 2009 03:15 PM (GMT)
China again demonstrates that any political dissent and disorder will not be tolerated:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091015/ap_on_...s_china_protest
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091015/ap_on_...s_china_protest
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| BEIJING China sentenced three more people to death Thursday for murders committed during riots in the far western Xinjiang region in July, bringing to nine the number of people facing execution for the unrest. Nearly 200 people were killed when Muslim Uighurs and members of China's dominant Han ethnicity turned on one another in the streets of the regional capital, Urumqi. First, Uighurs assaulted random people in the overwhelmingly Han city. Days later, Han vigilantes retaliated in Uighur neighborhoods. It was the country's worst communal violence in decades. The official Xinhua News Agency said three new defendants were sentenced to death by the Urumqi Intermediate People's Court and three others were sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve a penalty usually commuted to life in prison. The condemned men were all Uighur except for one Han Chinese man who was convicted of beating a Uighur man to death with a steel bar during the revenge attacks, Xinhua said. The Uighurs sentenced to death were convicted of murder for the beating deaths of two people on July 5. One of those given a two-year reprieve was found guilty of a beating death and the other an arson attack on an auto dealership that destroyed 40 cars and resulted in heavy financial losses. In all, 14 people were sentenced Thursday, including three who received life sentences for attacking people, setting fires and destroying private property. Of those, five were jailed for between five to 18 years for arson or assault, Xinhua said. A spokeswoman for the Xinjiang regional government, Hou Hanmin, said all those given jail terms were Uighur except for one. The report did not say what pleas the defendants entered or if they would appeal. Dilxat Raxit, a Uighur rights activist and spokesman for the Germany-based World Uyghur Congress, condemned the rulings. He said local sources in Xinjiang told him the defendants were not allowed to pick their own lawyers and spent just 10 minutes with the lawyers before the trial began. "China does not have an independent justice system," he said in an e-mailed statement. "Judgments like these for the July 5 cases are mostly political and symbolic in nature. They are done for show and reported as lofty propaganda in order to serve a political purpose." On Monday, six Uighur defendants were sentenced to death by the same court. Those sentences were the first to be handed down in the trials of scores of suspects arrested during and after the riots. The violence flared on July 5 after a protest by Uighur youths demanding an investigation into a deadly brawl between Han and Uighur workers at a toy factory hundreds of miles (kilometers) away in southern China. The government has blamed the rioting on overseas-based groups agitating for more Uighur rights in Xinjiang. Beijing has presented no direct evidence, and overseas Uighur activists have denied supporting violence. Swift punishment of those arrested over the rioting was among the demands of Han protesters who swarmed Urumqi's streets early last month calling for the firing of Xinjiang's powerful Communist Party boss Wang Lequan. Five people died in those protests under circumstances that remain unclear. |
MSantor - October 27, 2009 06:21 PM (GMT)
More executions, this time for some involved in Tibet riots last year:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/091027/...s_china_tibet_1
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/091027/...s_china_tibet_1
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| Two people have been executed in China for their involvement in deadly riots in Tibet last year, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, the first officially confirmed to have been carried out. The International Campaign for Tibet, which campaigns for self-rule for the restive mountain region in far-west China, said on Monday that Lobsang Gyaltsen and Loyak were executed for arson-related crimes committed in Lhasa, the regional capital, in March last year. Tibetans sometimes use just one name. Tibetan protests led by Buddhist monks against Chinese rule on March 14 last year gave way to torrid violence, with rioters torching shops and turning on residents, especially Han Chinese, who many Tibetans see as intruders threatening their culture. At least 19 people died in the unrest, which sparked waves of protests across Tibetan areas. Tibetan exile groups say more than 200 people died in the subsequent crackdown. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu did not give any details about the executions but said they were linked to the violence, which Beijing blamed on the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader. The Dalai Lama had denied responsibility. "The procedural rights of the defendants were fully ensured," Ma told a regular news conference. "The two criminals who were executed had strictly conducted first and second trials and the Supreme People's Court examined and ratified the sentences." Some exiled Tibetan groups have said that another two Tibetans were executed over the unrest that rippled out from Lhasa to other ethnic Tibetan regions. Last week, 500 Tibetans, mostly Buddhist monks and nuns, marched with candles through Dharamsala in north India, where the Tibetan government-in-exile is based, denouncing what they said were executions of four Tibetans for the protests last year. (Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Ben Blanchard) |
MSantor - November 8, 2009 02:32 PM (GMT)
The Dalai Lama up to his "mischief"? :devilwink:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091108/ap_on_...ndia_dalai_lama
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091108/ap_on_...ndia_dalai_lama
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| The Dalai Lama brushed off Chinese protests and traveled Sunday to a remote Himalayan town near the Tibetan border to lead five days of prayers and teaching sessions for Buddhist pilgrims. Thousands of poor villagers braved freezing temperatures and icy winds for a rare chance to glimpse the Tibetan spiritual leader. Monks clanged cymbals and sounded traditional Tibetan horns to greet the Dalai Lama as he arrived at the Tawang monastery from a nearby helipad. The Dalai Lama smiled and chatted with the gathered crowds. One monk shaded him with a giant yellow silk umbrella, while scores of others bowed before him as he walked into a hall to lead a prayer session. (...) |