Engnews May 2017

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RFA Breaking News: Xinjiang Authorities Confiscate ‘Extremist’ Qurans From Uyghur Muslims

by Paul Eckert

Xinjiang Authorities Confiscate ‘Extremist’ Qurans From Uyghur Muslims May 25, 201 7 - Authorities in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region are confiscating all Qurans published more than five years ago due to “extremist content,” according to local officials, amid an ongoing campaign against “illegal” religious items owned by mostly Muslim ethnic Uyghur residents. Village chiefs from Barin township, in Kashgar (in Chinese, Kashi) prefecture’s Peyziwat (Jiashi) county, recently told RFA’s Uyghur Service that hundreds of the Islamic holy books printed before 2012 had been seized since authorities issued an order recalling them on Jan. 15. The Qurans were appropriated as part of the “Three Illegals and One Item” campaign underway in Xinjiang that bans “illegal” publicity materials, religious activities, and religious teaching, as well as items deemed by authorities to be tools of terrorism—including knives, flammable objects, remote-controlled toys, and objects sporting symbols related to Islam, they said. Emet Imin, the party secretary of Barin’s No. 1 village, told RFA that authorities had confiscated 500 books in the recent campaign sweep of households beginning in January, “most of which were Qurans published before 2012.” “They can keep Qurans that were published after August 2012, according to an order from the top, but they are not allowed to keep any other versions,” Imin said. “Other versions should be recalled entirely, even if they were published by the government.” Imin said that according to the order he received from his superiors, there were “problems” in the earlier version of the Quran related to “some signs of extremism.” “Therefore, we issued a notice on Jan. 15 urging residents to hand over older Qurans and warning them they would bear the consequences if banned versions were found in their homes,” he said. “As a result, most of them brought their Qurans to us. We gathered all [the books] at the village office and [earlier this month] we took them to the office of United Front Work Department,” he added, referring to a Communist Party agency responsible for handling relations with China’s non-party elite. Only materials signed off on by official religious organizations endorsed by the ruling Chinese Communist Party are considered legal to own and use for worship in China, and Imin did not explain how a state-sanctioned version of the Quran might have been deemed “extremist” by authorities. Imam Rishit, the party secretary of Barin’s No. 2 village, said that while the recall was only issued for Qurans published prior to 2012, residents of his village turned in every version of the Quran they owned, “most likely to [do whatever they can to] stay out of trouble.” “We collected 382 of them and they will be taken to the township government,” he said. “The type of work we are doing right now is meant to discourage residents from reading older versions of the Quran by warning them that they will be contaminated by extremist ideas. Therefore, the Uyghurs have been bringing their Qurans to us—even the ones they inherited from their grandparents.” Rishit said authorities in his village had also confiscated “plates and decorative items with the inscriptions ‘Muhammed’ and ‘Allah’ on them” during the sweep of homes since January. Anti-Islamic policies Overseas Uyghurs slammed the Quran ban as merely another bid by Chinese authorities to exert more control over the Xinjiang region by linking their ethnic group’s cultural traditions to terrorism and promoting more government-friendly versions. “The real objective of the Chinese government is to alienate Uyghur people from the true belief of Islam,” said Turghunjan Alawudin, Religious Commission chairman of the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress (WUC) exile group. “China is attempting to justify its wholesale repression of the Uyghur people by distorting the teachings of the Holy Quran, Hadith [the sayings of the Prophet Muhammed] and Islamic theology passed down to us by our forefathers.” Alawudin said that Beijing is working to ensure that the “accepted” version of the Quran legitimizes its “repressive policies” in Xinjiang and teaches the Uyghur people to “submit.” “In Islam, we must follow Allah and the teachings of Muhammed, but the Chinese government is distorting the Quran by adding passages about submission to authorities so that Uyghurs will acquiesce to its illegitimate and dictatorial rule over our homeland,” he said. “China’s goal is to use the new translated Quran to confuse the minds of believers and to serve its own political purposes.” Alawudin denounced any version of the Quran that had been translated from the original Arabic into the Uyghur language by “atheists or communists,” saying only “learned Islamic scholars and true believers” are worthy of translating the holy book. WUC spokesperson Dilxat Raxit echoed Alawudin’s concerns over what constitutes a legitimate version of the Quran. “Only independent Islamic researchers and highly-trained religious scholars—not the atheistic Chinese government—should have the authority to pronounce which version of the Quran is correct,” he said. “Instead of changing the Quran—the Holy Book of all Muslims—China should change its anti-Islamic policies against the Uyghur people disguised as anti-extremism.” China regularly conducts “strike hard” campaigns in Xinjiang, including police raids on Uyghur households, restrictions on Islamic practices, and curbs on the culture and language of the Uyghur people, including videos and other material. While China blames some Uyghurs for "terrorist" attacks, experts outside China say Beijing has exaggerated the threat from the Uyghurs and that repressive domestic policies are responsible for an upsurge in violence there that has left hundreds dead since 2009. Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFA’s Uyghur Service. Translated by Mamatjan Juma and Alim Seytoff. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. View this s tory online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/qurans-05252017142212.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 .

7 years, 7 months

RFA Breaking News: Tibetan Monk Sets Himself Ablaze in Qinghai in 150th Self-Immolation

by Paul Eckert

Tibetan Monk Sets Himself Ablaze in Qinghai in 150th Self-Immolation May 19, 2017 - A young Tibetan monk set himself on fire and died on Friday in northwestern China’s Qinghai province in an apparent challenge to Chinese rule in Tibetan areas, a Tibetan living in the area said. The protest brought to 150 the number of self-immolations by Tibetans living in China since the wave of fiery protests began in 2009. Jamyang Losal, aged about 22, set himself ablaze at around 5:00 a.m. on May 19 near the People’s Hospital in Kangtsa (in Chinese, Gangcha) county in Qinghai’s Tsojang (Haibei) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, a local source told RFA’s Tibetan Service. “He did not survive his protest,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity “Losal’s body was taken away by the police, and when his family members went to the police station to claim his remains, the police refused to comply with their request,” he said. “Losal was a monk belonging to Gyerteng monastery in Kangtsa’s Nangra town,” RFA’s source said, adding that about 20 monks now study at the monastery, which is located about 30 kilometers (18 miles) south of the Kangtsa county seat. Losal was a native of Dong Gya village in Kangtsa county’s Nangra township, the source said. Reported by Sangye Gyatso for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney. View this s tory online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/ablaze-05192017121758.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 .

7 years, 8 months

RFA Breaking News: Uyghurs Studying Abroad Ordered Back to Xinjiang Under Threat to Families

by Paul Eckert

Uyghurs Studying Abroad Ordered Back to Xinjiang Under Threat to Families May 9, 2017 - Uyghur students enrolled in schools outside China are being ordered by Chinese authorities to return to their home towns by May 20, with family members in some cases held hostage to force their return, sources in Xinjiang and in Egypt say. Launched at the end of January by authorities across the Xinjiang region, the campaign has frightened targeted students, some of whom have disappeared or been jailed after coming back, a Uyghur studying at Egypt’s Al-Azhar University told RFA’s Uyghur Service. “It seems that everyone who went home from Egypt has simply vanished,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We haven’t been able to contact any of them.” “A friend of mine has already returned because his parents, brother, and sister were detained,” RFA’s source said. “There is a dark cloud hanging over every Uyghur student’s head. All of them are very depressed. They are really scared now,” he said. Many of those ordered home have been jailed after arriving in Xinjiang, another Uyghur studying in Egypt said. Two sisters named Sumeyya and Subinur were detained by police after being called back to Xinjiang’s Hotan prefecture, the source said. “Within seven to eight days after their return, the older sister was sentenced to three years in jail, and the younger sister was sentenced to political reeducation,” he said. “There was another girl, Asma, also from Hotan,” he said. “She left two weeks after the other girls went back, and was detained at the airport when she arrived.” “We have all been notified to return by the deadline,” one married Uyghur studying at Al-Azhar said. “They are forcing us to do this by locking up the parents of each student to make them go back. My own father has been detained for the last two months,” he said. Some Uyghur students are now vowing to stay in Egypt until their school terms end, while others attempting to refuse their orders to return by fleeing into Turkey are being stopped at the Turkish border and denied entry, other sources said. Political views investigated Also speaking to RFA, police officers and officials of the ruling Chinese Communist Party in Kashgar prefecture’s Peyziwat county described the campaign as an effort to investigate the political views of the students ordered home. “From what I understand, the goal of this policy is to identify their political and ideological stance, and then educate them about our country’s laws and current developments,” a police officer in a village of Peyziwat’s Barin township said. “We have a directive from the top,” he added. Uyghurs ordered home to Barin include students now studying in Turkey, France, Australia, and the United States, party officials in three of Barin’s villages told RFA. “We have five students studying abroad, two Chinese and three non-Chinese,” the party secretary of one village said. “So far we have brought back two Uyghurs. One of them was studying in America, and the other one was in Turkey.” Another party secretary said that three residents of his village are now studying abroad. “One was in America and two were in Turkey. The one in America was brought to us by his father and returned after talking to us. One from Turkey is still here, and hadn’t gone back there.” One girl studying in Turkey has not yet returned home, though, the party secretary said. “Right now we are talking to her parents about this matter,” he said. “We are telling them she should come back within the next two weeks, otherwise things won’t be good for any of us.” A government official has been specially assigned to talk to parents about the new policy, he said. “He basically tells the students’ parents to advise their children so that they don’t go astray and don’t take part in any anti-China activities.” “We have two now studying abroad,” the party secretary of a third village said. “One is in France, and the other is in Australia, but neither of them have returned yet.” “We told them they must come back by the end of May,” he said. “We have orders to enforce this policy. The directive came from the Uyghur Autonomous Regional government,” he added. “We are now managing the return of Uyghur students studying abroad,” a police officer in Xinjiang’s Turpan city said, also speaking to RFA. “This work consists of several stages, but I can’t give you any of the details of this over the phone,” he said. Only Uyghurs targeted Underscoring the policy’s apparently exclusive focus on Uyghur students, a Hui Muslim from China’s Ningxia region now studying at Al-Azhar said he had received no notice to return. “We Hui students are not returning, but are staying,” he said. Bai Kecheng, chairman of the Chinese consulate-affiliated Chinese Students and Scholars Association in Egypt, meanwhile denied any knowledge of the orders to Uyghurs to return. “The consulate doesn’t know about this either,” he said. “[The orders] may have come from Xinjiang local authorities.” Meanwhile, Uyghur bakeries and restaurants near Egypt’s Al-Azhar are closing as their customers depart for home, sources said. “It has been at least a month now that our business has been slow,” one restaurant owner said. “Our food was consumed mostly by the Uyghur students, since the locals don’t really like it. Our business has suffered great losses due to the lack of students here,” he said. Reported by Shohret Hoshur, Gulchehra Hoja, and Eset Sulaiman for RFA’s Uyghur Service. Translated by Alim Seytoff and Mamatjan Juma. Written in English by Richard Finney. View this s tory online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/ordered-05092017155554.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 .

7 years, 8 months

RFA Breaking News: Tibetan Teenager Stages Self-Immolation Protest in Gansu

by Paul Eckert

.png Tibetan Teenager Stages Self-Immolation Protest in Gansu May 7, 2017 - A 16-year-old student in a Tibetan region of Gansu staged a self-immolation protest on May 2 against Chinese rule, RFA's Tibetan service has learned. A source inside Tibet said Chagdor Kyab from Bora Township, in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Amdo, set himself on fire near Bora monastery, a branch of Labrang Tashikyil monastery. The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Chagdor Kyab, a student from a farming family, shouted "Tibet wants freedom" and "Let His Holiness the Dalai Lama come back to Tibet" while he burned. While his body was on fire the teenager tried to run towards the Chinese government offices of Bora Township but he fell down before reaching the offices. Chinese police and military swiftly arrived at the scene and extinguished the flames and took away the body, the source told RFA. It was not clear on Saturday whether Chagdor Kyab was alive or dead. The source in Tibet identified his mother as Dolma Tso and his father as Zoepa, farmers from Dardo in Bora Township. Following the self-immolation, the local Chinese authorities imposed tight restrictions in the area which made it difficult to obtain further information. Since 2009 four Tibetans from Bora have self-immolated, and the May 2 protest brought to 149 the number of self-immolations by Tibetans living in China since the wave of fiery protests began in 2009. Of these, 125 are known to have died. Reported by Lumbum Tashi and edited and translated by Kalden Lodoe. Written in English by Paul Eckert. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/amdo-protest-05072017091020.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.

7 years, 8 months

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Engnews May 2017