Engnews June 2017

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RFA Breaking News: Xinjiang Authorities Take Further Steps Towards Total Digital Surveillance

by Paul Eckert

Xinjiang Authorities Take Further Steps Towards Total Digital Surveillance June 29, 2017 - Chinese authorities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang are ordering residents to hand in all digital devices for “checking” at local police stations by Aug. 1, as part of an operation targeting “terrorist videos,” according to an announcement and official sources. "According to the requirements of stability maintenance measures, the Baoshan community district will be carrying out a specific anti-terrorist videos operation," a notice issued to residents of the regional capital Urumqi’s Baoshan district said. “Please would all residents and business owners of the district submit their personal ID cards, cell phones, external drives, portable hard drives, notebook computers and media storage cards and any similar devices to our district police post for registration and scanning by Aug. 1, 2017," the June 27 notice said. "Anyone who fails to submit the above devices and content by the stated time will be dealt with according to the relevant national law, should any problems arise," it said, calling on local people to respond "proactively" to the order. An employee who answered the phone at the Baoshan district committee offices confirmed to RFA that the order is genuine. "Handheld computers, smartphones, and storage devices [must be handed in]," she said. "We have a special system for scanning them, and this is happening across the whole city, not just here in our district." "These are orders from higher up." ‘Everyone must obey’ A Han Chinese officer at the Baoshan district police station also confirmed the directive, saying the directive was to “check and clean up illegal audio-video content.” “As long as you are a Chinese citizen, it is your obligation to cooperate with us, under the necessity of stability maintenance,” he said. “As soon as residents see the announcement, they should bring their smart phones, USB drives, [tablets] and notebook computers—these four types of devices—to the nearest police station for inspection.” According to the officer, authorities will install software that opens “everything” stored on the devices, including documents, archived items, and “anything unclean,” without providing details. He said that “every Chinese citizen has an obligation to participate” in the inspection, though he acknowledged that the order did not extend beyond Xinjiang, where he said the situation is “unlike any other part” of China in the aftermath of ethnic unrest in Urumqi, on July 5, 2009. If anyone fails to bring a device for inspection, “we will find them through their mobile phone,” the officer said. “Everyone must obey—if they don’t come, they will face legal consequences,” he added. The officer said that anyone born in Xinjiang must comply with the order, regardless of whether they are living in other parts of China, or even in one of “26 designated countries” abroad, without specifying which nations. “They must bring their devices for checkup as soon as they return,” he said. “This includes all Han Chinese and ethnic minorities. As long as you are from Xinjiang, you understand well what we’re doing here.” Increasing restrictions The new measures come after the regional government issued orders earlier this year for all vehicles to have compulsory GPS trackers and microchip license plates installed, enabling police to pinpoint the position of vehicles at all times. Beijing in December 2015 passed an anti-terrorism law banning anyone from disseminating images or information regarding “terrorist” activities, and authorizing anti-terrorist operations by security forces beyond China's borders. U.S. officials have said they fear the new law could be used to target peaceful dissent and religious activities among ethnic minorities in China, particularly among the Uyghur ethnic group. The ruling Chinese Communist Party blames some Uyghurs for a string of violent attacks and clashes in recent years. But critics say the government has exaggerated the threat from the Uyghurs, and that repressive domestic policies are responsible for violence that has left hundreds dead since 2009. Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the exile World Uyghur Congress group, said the monitoring program will likely result in even more arrests. "I think this will mean that the situation gets even more unpredictable," Raxit said. "They are now forcibly prying into Uyghurs' private belongings." Control and surveil Sophie Richardson, China director at New York-based Human Rights Watch, called the new measure an unprecedented strategy by Chinese authorities to control and surveil residents of Xinjiang, and questioned its legality. “There is no basis for that in Chinese law, absent some sort of credible suggestion that the communications are taking place with the view towards committing some kind of actual crime,” she said. “From our perspective it’s another counterproductive strategy. Instead of actually addressing the legitimate grievances of the Uyghur people in the region … authorities are compounding them by preventing people from discussing them freely.” An ethnic Kazakh resident of Urumqi told RFA that the authorities are increasingly stepping up pressure on his ethnic group too, however. "Since 2000, all the ethnic minority schools, including Uyghur and Kazakh schools, have been merged with Han Chinese schools," the Kazakh resident said. "That includes 2,000 Kazakh schools that have been merged with Chinese schools." "Ethnic minorities' right to their language and religious beliefs have been stripped away," he said. "We should continue to fight for justice, and say what needs to be said. We shouldn't allow them to suppress us." Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service and Ghulchehra Hoja for RFA’s Uyghur Service. Translated by Luisetta Mudie, Alim Seytoff and Mamatjan Juma. Written in English by Luisetta Mudie and Joshua Lipes. View this s tory online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/surveillance-06292017134132.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, 3 months

RFA Breaking News: Former Chongqing Party Chief Bo Xilai 'Under Treatment For Liver Cancer' Near Dalian

by Paul Eckert

Former Chongqing Party Chief Bo Xilai 'Under Treatment For Liver Cancer' Near Dalian June 27, 2017 - Jailed former Chongqing chief Bo Xilai has been released from prison, where he was serving a life prison term for corruption and abuse of power, after being granted medical parole following a diagnosis of liver cancer, RFA has learned. Once a former rising star in the ruling Chinese Communist Party, Bo Xilai was jailed for life for corruption and abuse of power in September 2013 , a month after his wife Gu Kailai was handed a suspended death sentence for the murder of a British businessman in the biggest political scandal to rock the party in decades. The former member of the 25-member Politburo has been transferred to a medical facility on Bangchui island near Dalian, the northeastern port city where he also once held the top party job, an overseas source close to the Bo family told RFA on Tuesday . The source, who asked to remain anonymous, said Bo had been diagnosed with liver cancer by doctors in Beijing's Qincheng Prison earlier this year. Unlike dissident Liu Xiaobo, whose liver cancer is now beyond treatment, Bo's cancer is still at a fairly early stage, the source said. RFA was unable to confirm the source's claims independently. The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not reply to RFA's request for a comment. Drawing a parallel with the recent transfer of jailed dissident Liu to a Liaoning hospital with inoperable, late-stage liver cancer, a Beijing-based academic said the standard of medical care offered to a former high-ranking official like Bo in China's Qincheng Prison would be second-to-none. "They all receive a certain standard of treatment in Qincheng, which is far, far better [than that available to Liu]," the academic said. "It is very good indeed, and the medical facilities are excellent." Bo's ouster from office on March 15 , 2012 came soon after an embarrassing Feb. 6 visit to the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu by his former police chief and right-hand man Wang Lijun. Bo's sudden departure also sparked online rumors of an alleged coup plot between him and former state security czar Zhou Yongkang, and references to "unofficial political activities" between the pair from the country's Supreme People's Court. Anhui-based former state prosecutor Shen Liangqing said there is no comparison between Liu's peaceful advocacy of democratic, constitutional government and Bo's activities while in Dalian and Chongqing. "Bo Xilai has committed very major crimes, including the purges of so many people during his 'revolutionary songs and anti-mafia' campaigns in Chongqing," Shen said. "He used absolutely cruel and horrific methods to do that." Bo's tenure in Chongqing saw reports of forced confessions and rights abuses during the campaigns, which won political plaudits at the time for Bo and his then police chief Wang Lijun. Li Zhuang, a whistle-blowing lawyer who worked on a high-profile anti-gang case in 2009, said that many of those convicted in Chongqing at the height of Bo's anti-mafia campaigns were targeted purely for their wealth. Bo was famed for his "strike black, sing red" campaigns during his tenure in the city as pensioners gathered daily to sing Mao Zedong era anthems. But Li said that behind the headline-catching arrests and the Cultural Revolution kitsch, Bo and Wang ran a terror campaign that, while it did net some bona fide criminal bosses, also targeted innocent businessmen with the aim of taking over their assets. Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. View this s tory online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/boxilai-cancer-06272017141729.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, 3 months

RFA Breaking News: China's 'Underground Railroad' Smuggles Blood For Illicit Gender-Testing in Hong Kong

by Paul Eckert

China's 'Underground Railroad' Smuggles Blood For Illicit Gender-Testing in Hong Kong June 22, 2017 - A complex network of companies, middlemen and clinics in mainland China and Hong Kong is carrying on a roaring trade in on-the-quiet prenatal testing to determine the gender of fetuses for Chinese couples, a practice that is banned on the mainland because of its association with sex-selective abortion, RFA has learned. According to government figures for last year, China is home to 34 million more men than women, reflecting the longer-term effects of selective abortion, abandoned baby girls, and the country's family planning restrictions. China's population stood at 1.38 billion at the end of last year, according to official statistics released last month, of whom 708 million are men and 674 million are women. In 2014, officials described the gender imbalance as the "most serious" problem, outlawing gender testing of unborn babies in a bid to make sex-selective abortions less common. But an employee surnamed Chan who answered the phone at a medical intermediary company in Hong Kong's Sheung Shui district confirmed that it supplies gender testing kits to mainland China which could enable parents-to-be to determine the sex of their unborn child. The company also helps mainland testing firms by importing blood samples to Hong Kong for testing, circumventing Chinese regulations that forbid such tests, she said. "I think it's the mainland Chinese intermediary that takes the money, if [the customer] can't come here [to Hong Kong]," Chan said. "All they have to do is go to the mainland middleman." "If they want an ultrasound, then they need to find a doctor over in mainland China who will do it for them, then bring it with them [to Hong Kong]," she said. An employee surnamed Huang, whose contact details were printed on a leaflet advertising the process and obtained by RFA from a Hong Kong-based intermediary company, said parents-to-be wanting gender testing often mail their own blood samples to Hong Kong, as formally importing the samples is also covered by the ban. "It works like this: you take the blood sample yourself and mail it to me, and then I will help you to get it into Hong Kong," Huang said, adding that many pregnant women don't dare to make the trip to Hong Kong for fear of being caught. "In the past three months, the border guards have been looking out for pregnant women," he said. "If you're not [obviously] pregnant, they'll let you through, but if you are, they turn you back [at the border]." 'Pretty big risk' Huang said his company arranges for the blood samples to be taken to the Sheung Shui company for testing, at a cost of 3,000 yuan each, including transportation costs, testing equipment and results. He said the middlemen run some risks in smuggling the blood samples across the border, however. "If you take blood across the border, you can wind up with a fine, so there's a pretty big risk attached," Huang said. "But we're used to it; it's not too bad." There are even more direct methods of getting around regulations banning gender-testing, however. RFA learned from a fairly large medical clinic in Shenzhen's Baoan district, across the internal immigration border with Hong Kong, that people wanting such tests are charged 100 yuan for the taking of the blood sample in clinical conditions. "If you want the blood test done over here, then it's 100 yuan per sample," an employee at the clinic said when visited by RFA. "We have a friend on the Hong Kong side who brings over test tubes for the samples to go in when we take the blood for [the customer]," the employee said. "Then, as soon as the sample is taken, he takes them back to Hong Kong on the subway." Hong Kong's Mass Transit Railway (MTR) subway system connects with the Shenzhen Metro at the border town of Lo Wu. The Hong Kong clinic also offers ultrasound scans of babies as early as seven weeks, the employee said, while the Shenzhen clinic can't offer them before four months. "We can carry out an ultrasound on this side of the border on the quiet at four months," the employee said. "But that's not as good as doing it at two months, if you then decide to abort, if it isn't developing normally, or if you don't want it, or if it is going to harm your health." PRC population controls While the Hong Kong clinic promises an accuracy rate of more than 98 percent, a Hong Kong gynecologist told RFA that there are considerable risks to ultrasound scans as early as seven weeks. She said first-trimester scans carry a greater risk of a miscarriage soon after the scan, and may result in errors when trying to determine the sex of the fetus. Hong Kong Democratic Party lawmaker James To, who is also a lawyer, said such practices are the result of long-running population controls in mainland China, alongside traditional preferences for male offspring in China. "I think that, regardless of the fact that they have relaxed the one-child policy now, there are still some traditional attitudes [in China], and some families might want to make sure they have at least one son," To told RFA. "They want to make sure they don't wind up with two daughters, which they would probably find unacceptable." "So they get a blood sample and send it to Hong Kong for testing, and if they don't like the result, they'll get an abortion," he said. "Of course, this is very far from ideal." He said part of the problem is caused by the ruling Chinese Communist Party's insistence on limiting the rights of its citizens to give birth, although the one-child policy has now become a two-child limit. U.S.-based women’s rights activist Reggie Littlejohn in February called for an end to China’s coercive population control regime, saying it makes sex-selective abortions more, not less, likely. "The Chinese government has been lauded by many for its supposed ‘loosening’ of its one-child policy, yet the coercive nature of the program remains, and it continues to result in the selective abortion of countless girls," Littlejohn, who heads the Women’s Rights Without Frontiers group, said. "It is a travesty that most women’s rights organizations remain silent in the face of this attack on women and girls." Littlejohn was commenting in February on a January article posted on the state-backed ECNS news service titled "In pursuit of boy babies, families send samples to HK for sex tests, abort girls," which had been removed when the link was tested by RFA on Thursday . "We predicted last year that the increasing availability of non-invasive pregnancy tests and the modified two-child policy would result in an increase, not a decrease, in sex-selective abortion," Littlejohn told the pro-life group National Right to Life. "In fact, with the two child policy, odds are increased that girls will be selectively aborted. Couples whose first child is a girl will often abort the second child if she is also a girl. Second daughters remain endangered," she said. Reported by Wo Miu and Wong Lok-to for RFA's Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. View this s tory online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/hongkong-blood-06222017141720.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, 3 months

RFA's Mekong Project Wins at New York Festivals

by Rohit Mahajan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 20, 2017 Contact: Rohit Mahajan 202 530 4976 <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org RFAs Mekong Project Wins at New York Festivals WASHINGTON Radio Free Asia <http://www.rfa.org/english/> (RFA) was a winner at last nights 2017 New York Festivals <http://www.newyorkfestivals.com/> International Radio Program Awards gala for its investigative web series on the impact of Chinas rapid development on the Mekong River. A River in Peril: The Mekong Under China <http://www.rfa.org/about/releases/river-in-peril-12062016131425.html> s Control won a silver award in the category of Best Online News Program. In addition, two other entries from RFA were listed as finalists. Chinas Mekong development and dams have a detrimental impact on the lives of millions downstream, said Libby Liu, President of RFA. RFA has documented this underreported story from the beginning and will continue to bring it to our audiences, who are directly affected. Dan Southerland and the team behind this project deserve credit and recognition for bringing this important and on-going issue to light. A River in Peril tells the story of Southeast Asias longest river, on which more than 60 million depend for their food, drinking water, and livelihoods. Including personal accounts from people of all walks of life from six countries in addition to analysis by some the worlds foremost authorities on the Mekong, the project follows on RFAs award-winning 2009 web series Traveling Down the Mekong <http://www.rfa.org/english/multimedia/MekongProject> , which chronicled the early phases of the waterways damming. RFA revisited many locations from its 2009 series in China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, interviewing people who have both witnessed and endured the drastic changes since then. RFAs founding executive editor Dan Southerland led the project as a follow-up to the 2009 project, which he also produced. RFAs finalist entries were submissions from its Korean and Khmer (Cambodian) language services. My Son, Im So Sorry! follows the stories of North Korean women refugees who left behind families and loved ones to escape life in the isolated dictatorship. These women continued to face hardships and abuse in China, where they live in hiding to avoid being sent back to North Korea. RFA Khmers Damming the Future reports on the human and environmental impact in Cambodia of the construction of the controversial Lower Sesan II dam. The awards ceremony took place in Manhattan. Other winners and finalists <http://www.newyorkfestivals.com/radio/> included NPR, BBC, KBS, ABC (Australia), and RTÉ IRELAND, in addition to RFA-sister networks Radio Sawa (MBN) and Radio Farda (RFE/RL). # # # 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. RFAs 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. Rohit Mahajan | Radio Free Asia | Director of Public Affairs and Digital Strategy <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org | O: 202.530.4976 | M: 202.489.8021

7 years, 3 months

RFA Breaking News: China Embeds Cadres in Uyghur Homes During Ramadan

by Paul Eckert

China Embeds Cadres in Uyghur Homes During Ramadan June 8, 2017 - Authorities in northwest China’s Xinjiang region are doubling down on a bid to prevent Muslim Uyghurs from fasting and praying during Islam’s holy month of Ramadan by embedding Chinese officials in their homes, according to official sources. While authorities in Xinjiang have typically forced restaurants to stay open and restricted access to mosques during Ramadan to discourage traditional observation of the holy month, officials in Hotan (in Chinese, Hetian) prefecture said the local government is taking more drastic steps this year and assigning ruling Chinese Communist Party cadres to each Uyghur family for monitoring purposes. They told RFA’s Uyghur Service that in addition to regular home searches, the Hotan government had launched a campaign called “Together in Five Things” a day ahead of this year’s May 26 to June 24 Ramadan period, during which Chinese officials will stay with each Uyghur household for up to 15 days to make sure residents neither fast nor pray. “Inspections are conducted during iftar [a meal eaten by Muslims after sunset during Ramadan] when houses with lights on are checked—that is how we carry out patrols and inspections,” a police officer in Hotan city told RFA, speaking on condition of anonymity. Designated cadres visit the home of each family every day, he added, and every ten cadres report to a higher level official. “Furthermore, we had a special arrangement … this year called the ‘Together in Five Things’ campaign, [through which cadres and Uyghur families] worked together, dined together, and stayed in the same home together,” the officer said, without specifying the other two “things” that rounded out the initiative. “It’s all about keeping close to the people. During this period, they [officials] will get to know the lives of the people, assist in their daily activities—such as farming—and propagate laws and regulations, party and government ethnic and religious policies, and so on,” he said. “They stay at farmers’ homes to inquire after their ideological views.” According to the officer, the campaign in Hotan city began on May 25 and lasted until June 3. A farmer in Hotan’s Qaraqash (Moyu) county, who also asked to remain unnamed, told RFA that cadres had also been embedded in his village since the day before Ramadan began. “We have cadres from different government organs, including from [the Xinjiang capital] Urumqi, and other places,” he said. “They will be here for [up to] 15 days and have been constantly telling us not to fast. It is impossible for us to fast or pray.” And an official in Hotan who asked that the name of his village be withheld said that the “Together in Five Things” campaign was also underway in his area, while speaking with RFA by telephone. “The cadres are staying in the farmers’ homes right now—one cadre in every home,” he said. “First, they will make sure there is no [unsanctioned] religious practice [in the home]. Second, they will observe [the families]. But I don’t know any other details.” Pledge for Ramadan Additionally, sources said, authorities are forcing Uyghur cadres, civil servants and government retirees who draw a pension to sign a document pledging that they will neither fast nor pray during Ramadan, ostensibly to set an example to other Uyghurs in the community. While such a pledge is common during Ramadan for government employees in Xinjiang, the sources said that this year, those who sign the document must also assume responsibility for ensuring that none of their friends or family members fast or pray either. “We all signed a letter of responsibility guaranteeing that we won’t fast,” an auxiliary police officer based in Hotan city told RFA, speaking anonymously. “Most of the content [in the letter] is the same as last year. However, this year we are required to monitor our families, our neighbors, and even the families that we are responsible for, and persuade them not to fast.” The auxiliary officer said he and his coworkers signed the pledge on June 2. A Uyghur graduate student based in the U.S., who also asked not to be named, told RFA that his father is a civil servant in Xinjiang and had instructed him not to fast after signing the pledge. “My grandfather is a very pious person who went to Mecca for Hajj [Muslim pilgrimage] and had always instructed us in religious teachings—it is our family tradition to pray, fast and celebrate Ramadan,” he said. “But this time, not only is my father not fasting, but he even asked my grandparents not to fast because he signed the letter of responsibility.” ‘Stability’ measures Ahead of Ramadan this year, sources told RFA that authorities in Xinjiang’s Aksu (Akesu) prefecture had ordered restaurants to stay open during the holy month as part of a “stability maintenance” measures, suggesting efforts to undermine the Muslim tradition of fasting. Separately, students in Hotan’s Qaraqash county were ordered to gather on Fridays to “collectively study, watch red [communist propaganda] films, and conduct sports activities” in a way to “enrich their social life during the summer vacation.” Fridays are customarily prayer days at mosques, while those who go without food between dawn and dusk during Ramadan rarely have the energy to take part in sports events, suggesting authorities may be trying to prevent the largely Muslim ethnic Uyghur inhabitants of Aksu and Hotan from observing the holy month according to Islamic tradition. Beijing has been cracking down on what it calls religious extremism in Xinjiang, with authorities conducting regular “strike hard” campaigns including police raids on Uyghur households, restrictions on Islamic practices, and curbs on the culture and language of the Uyghur people. 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 Gulchehra Hoja 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/cadres-06082017164658.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, 4 months

RFA Breaking News: China Extends Ban on ‘Extreme’ Uyghur Baby Names to Children Under 16

by Paul Eckert

China Extends Ban on ‘Extreme’ Uyghur Baby Names to Children Under 16 June 1, 2017 - Authorities in northwest China’s Xinjiang region have extended a recently introduced ban on “extreme” Islamic names for ethnic Uyghur babies to include anyone up to the age of 16, according to official sources and residents, and the order may soon include Uyghurs of all ages. According to a recent posting on WeChat by the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region’s Public Security Bureau, Order No. 4425 requires all Uyghur parents to change the names of children under 16 years of age, if they are among those listed in a region-wide ban uncovered by RFA’s Uyghur Service. In April, official sources told RFA that “overly religious names”—such as Islam, Quran, Mecca, Jihad, Imam, Saddam, Hajj, and Medina—were banned under the ruling Chinese Communist Party's “Naming Rules For Ethnic Minorities,” and that any babies registered with such names would be barred from the “hukou” household registration system that gives access to health care and education. A police officer in Hotan (in Chinese, Hetian) prefecture recently confirmed to RFA that his station in Hotan city’s Elchi district was ordered last month to complete name changes of Uyghurs aged 16 and younger by June 1, but said that due to technical issues the deadline may be extended to July 1. The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said “15 names cannot be used, including Arafat,” and that parents should bring both their own and their children’s household registration papers to the police station to make the change. “We are changing only the names of minors under 16,” he said. “The ones 16 and above have not been ordered to change yet, due to the difficulty of changing their ID cards and driver’s licenses, so we do not have any directive on changing their names.” According to the officer, students who have completed primary school must also change the names on their graduation certificates, meaning they must visit both their local police station and education department. He acknowledged that the name change process is difficult, as many parents have been the target of a crackdown on what Beijing calls religious extremism in Xinjiang, with authorities conducting regular “strike hard” campaigns including police raids on Uyghur households, restrictions on Islamic practices, and curbs on the culture and language of the Uyghur people. “Basically, the village cadres are assisting the minors to change their names, because some of their parents are either in jail or detention,” he said. The officer said that many Uyghur parents had given their children “extremist” names when Beijing’s policies in the region were “lenient,” but “at the moment, since they cannot use those names, they are simply changing them.” “The locals have no objections,” he added. An official from Hotan prefecture’s Qaraqash (Moyu) county government also told RFA his office had recently received an order to change banned names for Uyghur children. “There are around seven names and the order specified that the name change should be done for free,” said the official, who also asked to remain unnamed. “For example, they have to change names like Arafat. My colleague’s son’s name was Arafat and he was made to change it. He is a Xinjiang Medical University student.” The official did not specify the age of the young man. A teacher in Hotan city also confirmed the name ban, but said that none of the Uyghur students at her school had “radical” names. “There are some students named after their grandparents—such as Ayshem, Tohti and Mahmut—and most have more popular names—such as Ilnur and Dilnur—so we didn’t hear much about the name ban here,” she said. Judging names Sources in Hotan had previously detailed to RFA a list of banned names in 2015, but an employee who answered the phone at a police station in the regional capital Urumqi suggested in April that the ban had since been rolled out region-wide. The employee said at the time that names “with a strong religious flavor, such as Jihad” or those with “connotations of holy war or of splittism [Xinjiang independence]” were no longer allowed. Other rules on what constituted an “extremist” name seemed arbitrary, at best. Names of Islamic scholars could be regarded as “promoting terror and evil cults,” Yultuzay—a reference to the star and moon symbol of the Islamic faith—is “pagan,” and Mecca “would be a bit over-the-top,” the employee said, adding that he didn’t think Saddam would be acceptable either. “Just stick to the party line, and you'll be fine,” he told RFA. “[People with banned names] won't be able to get a household registration, so they will find out from the hukou office when the time comes.” A second source told RFA at the time that the safest names for Uyghurs are those that are considered more “mainstream” by the Chinese Communist Party, such as Memet. Invasion of privacy Dolkun Isa, general secretary of the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress exile group, strongly condemned the Chinese government for forcibly changing the names of Uyghur children under the age of 16. “This demonstrates how far and wide the Chinese government violates the fundamental human rights of the Uyghur people and invades the very privacy of their lives,” he told RFA. “Clearly, Uyghur parents are being stripped of the right to name their own children.” Isa noted that in every culture, baby names are carefully selected—often with the input of the extended family—and said Uyghur families should not be denied that right. “China should be ashamed of forcing Uyghur parents to change the names of their children under any circumstances,” he said. 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 Mihray Abdulin for RFA’s Uyghur Service. Translated by Mamatjan Juma. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. View this s tory online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/ban-06012017165249.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. 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Engnews June 2017