Engnews July 2019

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BREAKING NEWS: Large-Scale Demolition Begins at Sichuan's Yachen Gar

by Richard Finney

NOTE: Corrects sign-off to U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) Large-Scale Demolition Begins at Sichuan’s Yachen Gar Tibetan Buddhist Center July 27, 2019 - Authorities in western China’s Sichuan province have begun a campaign of large-scale demolition at the Yachen Gar Tibetan Buddhist center, with Chinese work crews tearing down over a hundred dwellings of nuns evicted from the complex in recent weeks, Tibetan sources say. The destruction follows the forced removal beginning in May of over 7,000 residents of the sprawling center in Palyul (in Chinese, Baidu) county, which once housed around 10,000 monks and nuns devoted to scriptural study and meditation. Demolition of the nuns’ dwellings began on July 19 and moved ahead quickly, with at least 100 structures now torn down, a Tibetan living in the area told RFA’s Tibetan Service on Friday. “The heavy machinery rolled out at Yachen Gar includes excavators, bulldozers, and dump trucks,” RFA’s source said, adding, “For now, it is only the nuns’ dwellings that are being targeted, but soon after this it will be the houses of the monks.” On July 20, dump trucks hauled the wreckage of the structures already destroyed to a vacant area called Nyithang Yultso and piled it there to be burned, the source said. “After each day’s work, the men and machines are now moved to rest for the night in a fenced enclosure on the outskirts of Yachen Gar close to a military camp,” he said. Senior monks and administrators at Yachen Gar have written over 40 petitions so far to Chinese authorities “at all levels,” appealing for a halt to the removals and destruction, but their requests have been rejected, the source said. “When they go to the relevant Chinese offices and departments to appeal, the Chinese officials reprimand them by pointing their fingers in their faces, and have even slapped them,” he said. “Those in charge at Yachen Gar have endured all of this silently in the hope that their petitions will be heard, but in vain.” Many of those expelled from Yachen Gar are now being held in detention and subjected to political re-education and beatings, sources told RFA in earlier reports. Chinese officials have meanwhile been stationed at the center to “maintain a tight watch” over those who remain and to check on all outside visitors, while travel to and from the center is strictly monitored and restricted, sources say. An unfolding strategy Restrictions on Yachen Gar and the better-known Larung Gar complex in Sichuan’s Serthar (Seda) county are part of “an unfolding political strategy” aimed at controlling the influence and growth of these important centers for Tibetan Buddhist study and practice, a Tibetan advocacy group said in a March 2017 report. “[Both centers] have drawn thousands of Chinese practitioners to study Buddhist ethics and receive spiritual teaching since their establishment, and have bridged Tibetan and Chinese communities,” the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet said. During 2017 and 2018, at least 4,820 Tibetan and Han Chinese monks and nuns were removed from Larung Gar, with over 7,000 dwellings and other structures torn down beginning in 2001, according to sources in the region. Reported by Kunsang Tenzin for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Tanslated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney. View this story online at: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/demolition-07272019091153.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 U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) 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 .

5 years, 1 month

BREAKING NEWS: Large-Scale Demolition Begins at Sichuan's Yachen Gar

by Richard Finney

Large-Scale Demolition Begins at Sichuan’s Yachen Gar Tibetan Buddhist Center July 27, 2019- Authorities in western China’s Sichuan province have begun a campaign of large-scale demolition at the Yachen Gar Tibetan Buddhist center, with Chinese work crews tearing down over a hundred dwellings of nuns evicted from the complex in recent weeks, Tibetan sources say. The destruction follows the forced removal beginning in May of over 7,000 residents of the sprawling center in Palyul (in Chinese, Baidu) county, which once housed around 10,000 monks and nuns devoted to scriptural study and meditation. Demolition of the nuns’ dwellings began on July 19 and moved ahead quickly, with at least 100 structures now torn down, a Tibetan living in the area told RFA’s Tibetan Service on Friday. “The heavy machinery rolled out at Yachen Gar includes excavators, bulldozers, and dump trucks,” RFA’s source said, adding, “For now, it is only the nuns’ dwellings that are being targeted, but soon after this it will be the houses of the monks.” On July 20, dump trucks hauled the wreckage of the structures already destroyed to a vacant area called Nyithang Yultso and piled it there to be burned, the source said. “After each day’s work, the men and machines are now moved to rest for the night in a fenced enclosure on the outskirts of Yachen Gar close to a military camp,” he said. Senior monks and administrators at Yachen Gar have written over 40 petitions so far to Chinese authorities “at all levels,” appealing for a halt to the removals and destruction, but their requests have been rejected, the source said. “When they go to the relevant Chinese offices and departments to appeal, the Chinese officials reprimand them by pointing their fingers in their faces, and have even slapped them,” he said. “Those in charge at Yachen Gar have endured all of this silently in the hope that their petitions will be heard, but in vain.” Many of those expelled from Yachen Gar are now being held in detention and subjected to political re-education and beatings, sources told RFA in earlier reports. Chinese officials have meanwhile been stationed at the center to “maintain a tight watch” over those who remain and to check on all outside visitors, while travel to and from the center is strictly monitored and restricted, sources say. An unfolding strategy Restrictions on Yachen Gar and the better-known Larung Gar complex in Sichuan’s Serthar (Seda) county are part of “an unfolding political strategy” aimed at controlling the influence and growth of these important centers for Tibetan Buddhist study and practice, a Tibetan advocacy group said in a March 2017 report. “[Both centers] have drawn thousands of Chinese practitioners to study Buddhist ethics and receive spiritual teaching since their establishment, and have bridged Tibetan and Chinese communities,” the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet said. During 2017 and 2018, at least 4,820 Tibetan and Han Chinese monks and nuns were removed from Larung Gar, with over 7,000 dwellings and other structures torn down beginning in 2001, according to sources in the region. Reported by Kunsang Tenzin for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Tanslated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney. View this story online at: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/demolition-07272019091153.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 .

5 years, 1 month

BREAKING NEWS: Large-Scale Demolition Begins at Sichuan's Yachen Gar

by Richard Finney

Large-Scale Demolition Begins at Sichuan’s Yachen Gar Tibetan Buddhist Center July 29, 2019--Authorities in western China’s Sichuan province have begun a campaign of large-scale demolition at the Yachen Gar Tibetan Buddhist center, with Chinese work crews tearing down over a hundred dwellings of nuns evicted from the complex in recent weeks, Tibetan sources say. The destruction follows the forced removal beginning in May of over 7,000 residents of the sprawling center in Palyul (in Chinese, Baidu) county, which once housed around 10,000 monks and nuns devoted to scriptural study and meditation. Demolition of the nuns’ dwellings began on July 19 and moved ahead quickly, with at least 100 structures now torn down, a Tibetan living in the area told RFA’s Tibetan Service on Friday. “The heavy machinery rolled out at Yachen Gar includes excavators, bulldozers, and dump trucks,” RFA’s source said, adding, “For now, it is only the nuns’ dwellings that are being targeted, but soon after this it will be the houses of the monks.” On July 20, dump trucks hauled the wreckage of the structures already destroyed to a vacant area called Nyithang Yultso and piled it there to be burned, the source said. “After each day’s work, the men and machines are now moved to rest for the night in a fenced enclosure on the outskirts of Yachen Gar close to a military camp,” he said. Senior monks and administrators at Yachen Gar have written over 40 petitions so far to Chinese authorities “at all levels,” appealing for a halt to the removals and destruction, but their requests have been rejected, the source said. “When they go to the relevant Chinese offices and departments to appeal, the Chinese officials reprimand them by pointing their fingers in their faces, and have even slapped them,” he said. “Those in charge at Yachen Gar have endured all of this silently in the hope that their petitions will be heard, but in vain.” Many of those expelled from Yachen Gar are now being held in detention and subjected to political re-education and beatings, sources told RFA in earlier reports. Chinese officials have meanwhile been stationed at the center to “maintain a tight watch” over those who remain and to check on all outside visitors, while travel to and from the center is strictly monitored and restricted, sources say. An unfolding strategy Restrictions on Yachen Gar and the better-known Larung Gar complex in Sichuan’s Serthar (Seda) county are part of “an unfolding political strategy” aimed at controlling the influence and growth of these important centers for Tibetan Buddhist study and practice, a Tibetan advocacy group said in a March 2017 report. “[Both centers] have drawn thousands of Chinese practitioners to study Buddhist ethics and receive spiritual teaching since their establishment, and have bridged Tibetan and Chinese communities,” the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet said. During 2017 and 2018, at least 4,820 Tibetan and Han Chinese monks and nuns were removed from Larung Gar, with over 7,000 dwellings and other structures torn down beginning in 2001, according to sources in the region. Reported by Kunsang Tenzin for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Tanslated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney. View this story online at: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/demolition-07272019091153.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 .

5 years, 1 month

RFA Breaking News: China’s Policy of Mass Detentions in Xinjiang ‘Has Nothing to do With Terrorism’: US Anti-Terror Czar

by Paul Eckert

China’s Policy of Mass Detentions in Xinjiang ‘Has Nothing to do With Terrorism’: US Anti-Terror Czar July 11, 2019 - The mass incarceration of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) “has nothing to do with terrorism,” and is part of a war Beijing is waging on religion, according to Washington’s counter-terrorism czar. In an interview with RFA’s Uyghur Service, Ambassador Nathan Sales, the U.S. State Department’s Coordinator for Counter-terrorism, dismissed China’s claims that its vast network of internment camps in the region—where authorities are believed to have held up to 1.5 million people since April 2017—is part of a vocational training program that is saving those influenced by religious extremism. “In addition to the people who are in custody and these forced labor camps there are millions more who are subjected to political re-indoctrination in daytime facilities,” he said. “The scope of this campaign is so vast and so untargeted that it simply has nothing to do with terrorism. Instead, what's going on is the Chinese Communist Party is waging war on religion. It is trying to stamp out the ethnic, linguistic, cultural and religious identities of the people that it’s been targeting.” Sales also rejected statements from Beijing recently reiterated at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva by XUAR vice governor Erkin Tuniyaz that internment camps in the region had allowed detainees to “gain access to modern knowledge and enhance their employability.” “You don't need to send people who have jobs to vocational training centers,” he said. “Again, the scope of the detentions and the scope of the measures that have been applied to people outside the camps is simply so vast and overwhelming that it belies any claim that this is counter-terrorism or a targeted job training program. It’s repression, plain and simple.” Regardless, he added, counter-terrorism cannot be used as a pretext for advancing what he called “a domestic agenda political or religious or ethnic repression,” and said the U.S. is “deeply concerned” by the Chinese government’s “misuse” of the issue to achieve its goals in the XUAR. Sales stressed that the mass detentions and restrictions on religion in the region are only part of a larger attack by Beijing on an entire culture. Specifically, he highlighted reports of children of detainees being placed in state-run orphanages, where they are taught only Chinese, regularly have their names changed, and are “effectively being separated from the cultural and linguistic heritage … from which they come,” as an example of how authorities hope to force Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the XUAR to assimilate into Han Chinese culture. Holding China accountable While the U.S. Congress debates three pieces of legislation aimed at holding China accountable for its actions in the region, Sales vowed that Washington will continue to bring public pressure against Beijing to convey its view that “this is not counter-terrorism, but repression.” “Rest assured, this issue has the attention of the highest levels of our government, and we’re going to continue to focus on it,” he said. He also urged governments representing Muslim-majority nations to “speak out for members of their religion who are being targeted because of their religion” and to call on the Communist Party to “stop this war on faith.” And he advised Beijing that it is not too late to reverse its policies in the region, and honor the fundamental rights and freedoms of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities guaranteed by China’s constitution and regional ethnic autonomy laws. “Stop. Close the camps. Release the prisoners. Dismantle the surveillance state that keeps track of people outside the camps,” Sales said. “Return the children to their families so that they can be brought into the culture and religious traditions that they hold dear,” he added. “Every nation has the right and the responsibility to defend itself into defend its citizens from actual terrorism. That's not what's going on here. This is an ugly campaign of religious and ethnic repression.” Following the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York in September 2001, the U.S. captured nearly two dozen Uyghurs in Afghanistan, sent them to its military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and accused them of ties to al Qaeda and the Taliban Muslim insurgency groups as part of a Uyghur group called the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM). On Sept. 3, 2003, the U.S. placed ETIM on the Treasury Department’s list of terrorist organizations, but by the end of the year determined that the Guantanamo detainees were not security risks and eventually allowed all of them to be resettled to third countries, where they were not at risk of persecution by the Chinese government. In 2009, a federal judge ruled that the U.S. government had failed to present sufficient evidence that ETIM was linked to either Al Qaeda or the Taliban, and while the group remains on the Treasury Department’s terror list, there is little to suggest that it has made significant inroads in China, nor that what limited amount of Uyghur radicalization exists in the country presents a significant security risk. Asked about current thinking on the ETIM designation, Sales declined to comment. “What I can tell you is that today the United States is deeply concerned about the misuse of counter-terrorism by the Communist Party of China to initiate and sustain a years-long campaign against the Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities,” he said. Controversial visit RFA’s interview with Sales comes weeks after Vladimir Voronkov, the United Nations’ under-secretary general for counter-terrorism, traveled to the XUAR on an official visit, drawing condemnation from Washington, which said the trip risks lending credence to China’s claims that detentions in the region are related to a counter-terrorism issue, rather than a violation of human rights. The U.S.—which stopped attending the Human Rights Council last year after alleging that the forum is biased against Israel—recently called Tuniyaz’s appearance at the session “an embarrassment” to the U.N. for providing “a representative of one of the world’s worst human rights abusers a platform for propaganda.” Last month, after China’s ambassador to the U.N. invited its human rights czar Michelle Bachelet to visit the XUAR to “see for herself” what he called “education training centers” in the region, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) told RFA that she would not accept unless given access to the camps on her own terms. If Bachelet accepts a trip to the XUAR, she would become the highest level U.N. official to visit the region. Reported by Mamatjan Juma for RFA’s Uyghur Service. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. View this story online at: [ https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/czar-07112019155502.html | https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/czar-07112019155502.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.

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Engnews July 2019