Engnews January 2014

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RFA BREAKING NEWS: Tibetan Father of Two Self-Immolates in Ngaba

by Rachel Vandenbrink

Tibetan Father of Two Self-Immolates in Ngaba December 4, 2013 — A Tibetan father of two self-immolated in protest against Chinese rule in a restive Tibetan prefecture in Sichuan province, triggering clashes and a security crackdown in the area, according to sources. Konchok Tseten, aged 30, torched himself late Tuesday at the Ngaba county's Meruma township center in the Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, shouting slogans against Beijing's rule in Tibet and calling for the return of Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, said the sources, speaking from inside Tibet. With his body engulfed in flames, Tseten managed to run for a distance along the main street before he collapsed, the sources said. Local residents clashed with police as they tried but failed to stop security forces from taking the severely injured Tseten away, they said. "While his body was on fire, he called for the long life of the Dalai Lama and appealed for the Dalai Lama's return to Tibet," a Tibetan with contacts in the area told RFA's Tibetan Service. "He also called for the reunion of Tibetans inside and outside Tibet." "Even after he collapsed on the ground, he was seen by local witnesses folding his hands together in prayer and uttering some words that were not audible," the Tibetan said. Eyewitnesses also said that local residents resisted police attempts to take away Tseten, who had suffered severe burns, resulting in a scuffle and the detention of several Tibetans. "The police arrived at the scene and tried to take him away as he was burning, but the local Tibetans who had gathered at the township resisted and tried to stop the police. This lasted for about one hour before the security forces took him away," another Tibetan said. Relatives detained Police detained Tseten's wife and several of his relatives, among others. "All the Tibetan stores and restaurants in Meruma town were ordered to be closed and many mobile phones were confiscated from the locals." Details of Tseten's condition were not immediately available amid a clampdown on information in Ngaba county following the self-immolation, the 124th since Tibetans launched burning protests in 2009 calling for Tibetan freedom and for the return to Tibet of the Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in 1959 following a failed national uprising against Chinese rule. Sporadic demonstrations challenging Beijing’s rule have continued in Tibetan-populated areas of China since widespread protests swept the region in 2008. Chinese authorities have tightened controls in a bid to check self-immolation protests, arresting and jailing Tibetans whom they accuse of being linked to the burnings. Some have been jailed for up to 15 years. The authorities have also attempted to pressure local Tibetans to sign an official order that forbids any kind of activities to support or sympathize with self-immolation protests, residents said. Reported by Lumbum Tashi and Lobe Socktsang for RFA's Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/burn-03042012113258.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org . To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at mahajanr(a)rfa.org .

10 years, 10 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: Uyghur Attack on Police Station Leaves Three Dead, Two Injured

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Uyghur Attack on Police Station Leaves Three Dead, Two Injured JANUARY 22, 2013— Chinese authorities have shot dead three Uyghurs who attacked a police station in northwestern China’s restive Xinjiang region, officials said Wednesday, calling it an act of “separatism.” The attack on the Yengieriq town police station in Aksu prefecture’s Awat county a week ago is the latest in a string of raids by Uyghurs who exile rights groups say could be retaliating against discrimination by Chinese authorities on the ethnic minority group. Xuan Xin, the police chief of nearby Dolan town, said that the attack by three young Uyghur men was being investigated by national security authorities. “I was not informed about the attackers’ intention, though I’m assuming that they wanted to express their discontent with our government,” he told RFA’s Uyghur Service. “Like many other previous incidents, this was also likely motivated by separatism,” he said of the Jan. 15 attack, which RFA had learned about following a tip off. The three Uyghur men had approached auxiliary guards at the police station complex and asked to meet with the station chief, according to Abdusalam Rozi, a policeman from Dolan. “The auxiliary policemen who were guarding the door did not let them in, saying that the chief was in a meeting,” he said. “During the ensuing argument, the guards realized the youths had something around their waists and demanded to search them. As they were about to be searched, the three young men took out sickles from inside their jackets and attacked the guards, injuring two of them.” Rozi said that during the melee “other police inside the building shot the Uygur youths to death.” Gao Hai, the vice chief of police in Dolan, said one of the auxiliary guards had been severely injured in the attack. “They are being treated at the county hospital. One is injured around the waist, while the other’s condition is more severe.” Gao said that the Uyghur youths were from the Qumeriq and Lenger villages of Yengieriq town, but said he did not know their names. In recent months, dozens of Uyghurs accused by the authorities of terrorism and separatism have been shot dead in lightning raids in Xinjiang, home to some 10 million mostly Muslim Uyghurs. On Dec. 30, Chinese authorities in Yarkand (in Chinese, Shache) county near the Silk Road city of Kashgar opened fire and killed eight Uyghurs who they said attacked a police station, calling them "terrorists" and "religious extremists." At least 91 people, including several policemen, have been killed in violence in Xinjiang since April, state media reported. Rights groups and experts say Beijing exaggerates the terrorism threat to take the heat off domestic policies that cause unrest or to justify the authorities' use of force against Uyghurs. Enver Molla, a police chief from nearby Tamtoghraq town, told RFA that since last week’s incident “security measures had been increased” in Yengieriq. But he said that the attack was a “matter of national security” and refused to provide details, referring inquiries to the provincial public security office. Respecting traditions The attack occurred on the same day of the arrest of outspoken Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti in Beijing which Uyghur rights groups say underscored the Chinese government's increasingly hardline stance on dissent surrounding Xinjiang. Tohti, who has been critical of official policy in Xinjiang, was detained on suspicion of "breaking the law," according to the Chinese government which had come under fire from the United States and the European Union for the action. Uyghur exile groups say Chinese authorities in Xinjiang have launched a New Year “strike hard” campaign targeting cell phones, computers, religious materials and other “cultural products” belonging to Uyghurs. Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the exile World Uyghur Congress (WUC) group, told RFA recently that the government had been “stepping up these raids, even to the point of armed police shooting Uyghurs who refuse to cooperate and offer some kind of resistance.” He warned that “any provocation could lead to further violence.” Meanwhile, the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s Xinjiang chief Zhang Chunxian called Wednesday for ethnic traditions in Xinjiang to be respected. Zhang said that the government must “treat issues of local tradition with respect and resolve issues of violence with rule of law and severe measures,” Reuters news agency reported, citing his comments in the official Xinjiang Daily. “[The government] must acknowledge the long-term, acute and complex nature of the anti-separatism and violent terrorism fight,” he said, adding that there was no contradiction between stability and development. Uyghurs say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination and oppressive religious controls under Beijing’s policies, blaming the problems partly on the influx of Han Chinese into the region. Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFA’s Uyghur Service. Translated by Mamatjan Juma. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/attack-01222014184920.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

10 years, 11 months

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Engnews January 2014