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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, 6 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, 6 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, 6 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, 7 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. 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: 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

RSF's Index Stresses Threats to Journalists in Asia, Audiences' Need for Free Press

by Rohit Mahajan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 26, 2017 Contact: Rohit Mahajan 202 530 4976 <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org RSF's Index Stresses Threats against Journalists in Asia, Audiences' Need for Free Press Seven of RFA's nine services target countries and territories in bottom 10 percent WASHINGTON - The media environment in Radio Free Asia <http://www.rfa.org/english/> 's broadcast region further declined, according to Reporters Without Borders's 2017 Press Freedom Index <https://rsf.org/en/2017-world-press-freedom-index-tipping-point> . Radio Free Asia (RFA) President Libby Liu said the report's findings underscore the importance of RFA's mission in countries that censor and restrict access to independent, reliable news and information. Seven of RFA's nine language services operate in countries that were ranked in the bottom 10 percent of the survey, with North Korea ranked dead last, and China and Vietnam named the world's biggest jailers of bloggers and journalists. "In a year when RFA journalists and their sources have been subject to threats and intimidation, RSF's Index verifies what we have seen on the ground as conditions only worsen," Liu said. "With Vietnam arresting bloggers and citizen journalists, including an RFA videographer who remains in jail; Cambodian authorities targeting our Khmer Service as its reporters cover the coming elections; and Beijing aggressively cracking down on independent media in Hong Kong, RFA continues to witness an increased aggressive stance by governments seeking to silence independent voices. "These findings underscore the crucial need among RFA's audiences living under authoritarian rule for the honest, objective, and unbiased news that we work hard to provide." Of the 180 countries ranked, RSF's annual survey put North Korea last, China at 176, Vietnam at 175, and Laos at 170. Cambodia was ranked 132, dropping four places from last year, and Myanmar at 131. The report cited continued worsening trends in Asia. China now has more than 100 bloggers and journalists detained as President Xi Jinping has stepped up efforts to retain complete control over internal news coverage. Authorities in Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, and China actively police and punish social media users for posting and discussing "sensitive" topics. And news outlets in Cambodia, including RFA, face threats for publicizing the views of government critics, especially after the July 2016 assassination of well-known analyst Kem Ley - a frequent guest on RFA's programs. RSF also reported on media freedoms in Hong Kong (which slipped four places), once a bastion for free press, to continue to decline with Chinese mainlanders purchasing Hong Kong media companies and reporters' greater exposure to violence by "Chinese Communist Party henchmen." RFA <http://www.rfa.org/about/> provides accurate, fact-based news and information via short- and medium-wave radio, satellite transmissions and television, online through the websites of its nine language services, and social media such as Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/pages/Radio-Free-Asia/31744768821> and YouTube <https://www.youtube.com/user/RFAVideo> , among other widely used platforms in its countries of operation. RFA's language services are Mandarin, Cantonese, Tibetan, and Uyghur, in China; Burmese; Khmer (Cambodian); Vietnamese; Lao; and Korean. # # # 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. 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, 8 months

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