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RFA BREAKING NEWS: Three Police Officers Among Eight Killed in New Xinjiang Violence

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Three Police Officers Among Eight Killed in New Xinjiang Violence OCT. 13, 2014 – Two ethnic minority Uyghurs went on a stabbing spree in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region last week, killing three police officers and three government officials before they were gunned down by the authorities in the latest violence to hit the troubled region, according to local officials. Abdurehim Tuniyaz, 25, and Ablikim Abdurehim, 26, staged the killings in Hotan prefecture’s Guma (in Chinese, Pishan) county on Friday in what could have been a revenge attack over the death in police custody of one of their brothers, one source said. The two, who were on a motorcycle, began their stabbing rampage by killing two police officers on patrol in Guma township before taking the life of a government official near the area, the local officials said. They then traveled to nearby Kokterek township, where they killed two government officials and a police officer. The duo were on their way back to their home in Guma township on Sunday when they were surrounded by police and shot dead at a checkpoint, Turmemet Abdurehim and Abbas Khan, two village chiefs in the Kokterek township, told RFA’s Uyghur Service. Only two of the dead were identified by the officials—one of them a woman police officer, Peridem Kuresh, and the other a male police officer, Ablkim Mehsut. Both were Muslim Uyghurs while the third unidentified police officer was believed to be a majority Han Chinese, according to the officials. The slaying came amid an anti-terror campaign launched in Xinjiang following deadly attacks blamed by Beijing on Uyghur separatists and Islamist insurgents seeking to establish an independent state. Rights groups accuse the Chinese authorities of heavy-handed rule in Xinjiang, including violent police raids on Uyghur households, restrictions on Islamic practices, and curbs on the culture and language of the Uyghur people. 'Outstanding officer' Kuresh was attached to the Kokterek police station and had been on patrol duty when she was stabbed to death, Khan said. “She was a very strict and an outstanding officer and had received awards a couple of times for her good work,” he said. The village chiefs said the motive of the attacks was unclear but a business owner in Guma township believed revenge by the two Uyghur youths could have been a reason. Tuniyaz’s brother was detained during the Ramadan Muslim fasting month in July and had died in police custody. “People are saying that it could have been a revenge attack for his brother who died in jail,” the business owner said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “I believe so.” A teacher in Guma township, also speaking on condition of anonymity, speculated that the authorities would classify the new attacks as the work of “separatists.” “They were decent guys. When I last met them two years ago, they did not demonstrate any political leanings,” he said. Death sentences Meanwhile, a court in Xinjiang’s Kashgar prefecture has sentenced to death 12 people, all believed to be Uyghurs, blamed for deadly attacks in July, state media reported Monday. The official Xinhua News Agency said the court sentenced another 15 people to death with a two-year reprieve while nine others received life sentences. Another 20 people received terms of four to 20 years. The sentences were linked to July 28 violence in Kashgar’s Yarkand (in Chinese, Shache) county in which police shot dead dozens of knife and axe-wielding Uyghurs who went on a rampage, apparently angry over restrictions during the Ramadan holiday and the cold-blooded killing of a family of five. It was one of the worst clashes in Xinjiang since bloody riots in the regional capital Urumqi in 2009 between Uyghurs and Han Chinese that left almost 200 people dead. Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFA’s Uyghur Service. Translated by Mamatjan Juma. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/violence-10132014172244.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

10 years, 3 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: China Imposes Harsh New Restrictions in Restive Tibet County

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

China Imposes Harsh New Restrictions in Restive Tibet County OCT. 7, 2014 – Chinese authorities have launched a campaign to tighten restrictions on monastic life in a restive county in Tibet, ordering the destruction of recently built religious structures and demanding that younger monks be expelled from the monasteries and sent back to their family homes, according to sources. The “rectification and cleansing” campaign in Driru (in Chinese, Biru) county in the Nagchu (Naqu) prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region was launched on Sept. 20 and will continue through Oct. 20, a local source told RFA’s Tibetan Service. Tibetans in Driru, a county considered “politically unstable” by Beijing, have long resisted forced displays of loyalty to Beijing, which has imposed tight restrictions in the area, including a clampdown on communications. Detailed instructions for Beijing's new campaign are contained in a 30-page document that is being distributed door-to-door by government workers in all the monasteries and villages in Driru,” the RFA source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “All new stupas, mounds of mani stones [stones displaying carved mantras], and shrines built after 2010 have been declared illegal and must be destroyed by a specified deadline,” the source said, adding that the monasteries or villages that originally set the structures up must be the ones to take them down. “If they do not comply, the government will do it for them,” he said. “It has also been ordered that retreat facilities built after Nov. 1, 2011, including houses for individual retreatants, must be torn down,” he said. 'Underage' monks expelled Monks aged 12 and younger may no longer be enrolled in Driru-area monasteries, and those now present must return to their family homes by Oct. 20 or be expelled, with monastic leaders held criminally responsible if any remain beyond that date, the source said. “Families who refuse to take their children back may be detained for six months, or even sent to jail for terms of from one to three years,” he said. “If the lamas or khenpos in the monasteries hold back any of the underage monks, they will be punished and expelled themselves.” Driru is one of three neighboring counties in Tibet’s eastern Nagchu prefecture from which Chinese authorities fear political unrest may spread unchecked to other parts of the region. About 1,000 Driru-area Tibetans have been detained since authorities launched a crackdown in September 2013 when Beijing began a campaign to force Tibetans to fly the Chinese national flag from their homes, sources say. The campaign intensified in early October 2013 when villagers refused to fly the flags, throwing them instead into a river and prompting a deadly security crackdown in which Chinese police fired into unarmed crowds. “Now, monks and nuns who defy instructions to fly the Chinese flag from their houses or to prominently display photos of Chinese leaders will be expelled from the monastic community,” RFA’s source said. “They are also forbidden from keeping photos of the Dalai Lama, and if these are found in their possession they will be ‘re-educated’ and deprived of the state benefits provided for monks and nuns by Chinese policy.” Members of the public found with photos of the exiled spiritual leader must attend a six-month “refresher course” on Chinese law and will be banned for two years from collecting cordyceps sinensis, a valuable fungus harvested and sold for its purported medicinal properties, he added. Reported by Kunsang Tenzin for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/harsh-10072014165921.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

10 years, 3 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: US Senators Call For De-Escalation of Hong Kong Political Standoff

by Param

US Senators Call For De-Escalation of Hong Kong Political Standoff OCT. 5, 2014 – Two key U.S. senators called Sunday for a "de-escalation" of the one week standoff between the authorities in Hong Kong and pro-democracy protesters, saying "good faith" negotiations were key to breaking the stalemate over election reforms for the former British colony. The call came as a Monday government deadline loomed for demonstrators to clear Hong Kong's streets with the semiautonomous Chinese territory's Beijing-backed Chief Executive C.Y. Leung claiming the mass protests occupying key areas risked "serious consequences" for public safety. The protesters have demanded the right for the residents of Hong Kong to nominate who can run as the territory's next leader in 2017 elections while Beijing insists that only candidates it has screened will be able to participate in the polls. "As democratically elected members of the United States Senate, we strongly support the Hong Kong people's aspiration for universal suffrage and full democracy," U.S. Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy and Republican Senator Roger Wicker said in a statement. "We urge all parties to follow the path of restraint, de-escalation, and good faith dialogue in pursuit of that goal," said Leahy, the President pro tempore of the Senate, and Wicker, the Republican Deputy Whip. Leahy, the most senior senator who is the third in the presidential line of succession, and Wicker also condemned the "violent attacks" against peaceful demonstrators in Hong Kong. Two of Hong Kong's busiest shopping districts plunged into chaos on Friday as angry opponents clashed with protesters, tearing down their tents and barricades, amid allegations by pro-democracy crowds that triad criminal gangs backed by Beijing had been brought in stir up trouble. On Saturday, fresh clashes occurred in Mong Kok, a densely packed working-class district of shops and apartments, with complaints of sexual assaults and attacks on journalists in the crowds. 'Dismayed' '"We are dismayed that Hong Kong authorities have not taken necessary steps to protect peaceful protesters from these cowardly attacks by individuals who seek to deny their right of peaceful assembly," the senators said. "The people of Hong Kong must be applauded and supported for their remarkable courage and determination in extraordinarily challenging circumstances." The senators said the "Umbrella Movement" has shown the world the inspirational power of free expression in defense of the fundamental right to choose one's leaders. Protesters had used umbrellas to deflect pepper spray and tear gas fired by police last Sunday when the government moved to disperse the crowd. Reports on Sunday said student protesters occupying the area outside Hong Kong's government headquarters have agreed to remove some barricades that have blocked the building's entrance during the weeklong pro-democracy protests, the Associated Press reported. Television footage from the scene showed a protest representative shaking hands with a police officer. It was not immediately clear whether all the students had decided to withdraw from the scene, AP said. The move appeared to be part of a strategy to regroup in another part of town. Reported by RFA's Mandarin and Cantonese Services. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/senators-10052014065307.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

10 years, 3 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: Tibetan Man Self-Immolates In Front of Police Station in Qinghai

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Tibetan Man Self-Immolates In Front of Police Station in Qinghai OCT. 4, 2014 – A Tibetan man has burned himself in front of a police station in protest against Chinese rule in Qinghai province, sources said Saturday, in the second Tibetan self-immolation in less than a month. Kunchok, 42, set himself on fire beside a police station in Gade (in Chinese, Gande) county in the Golog (Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture on Sept. 16 but Tibetans nearby managed to douse the flames and rushed him to a nearby hospital, the sources said. Information of his burning in Tsang Khor town emerged only on Saturday, apparently due to communication clampdowns usually imposed by Chinese authorities following self-immolation protests, they said. Kunchok, whose son is a monk and daughter a nun in a local monastery, "self-immolated in protest against Chinese policy in Tibet," a Tibetan with contacts in Gade county told RFA's Tibetan Service. "He did it for the interest of the Tibetans." "He's now in great pain," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "While he's being treated, he often breaks down in tears over his failure to die in the self-immolation. He regrets not accomplishing what he planned to do." The source said Kunchok's chances of survival are "slim." Secret treatment Another source, also with contacts in the area, said Tibetans who saw Kunchok on fire immediately went to put out the flames and rushed him to an undisclosed hospital in the provincial capital Xining, "where he is being treated secretly." "We cannot reveal other details since the relatives fear that those who helped him could land in trouble with the authorities," the source said. "The family members also fear that Kunchok could be taken away by the authorities if he survives," the source said. "If he does not survive, the authorities would also not return the body to the family.” A third source said Chinese authorities have beefed up security, installing security cameras at vantage points in Gade county, following the self-immolation. "It is very difficult to give you more details since we are constantly being watched with cameras installed at different places, including the front and rear of the monasteries in this area," the source said. Kunchok's burning protest brought the total number of Tibetan self-immolations in China to 133 since the fiery protests began in 2009 challenging Chinese rule in Tibetan areas and calling for the return from exile of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. Student victim The last reported self-immolation burning protest was on Sept. 17 — one day after Kunchok's self-immolation — when a 22-year-old Tibetan student burned himself to death in front of a police station in Gansu province in protest against Chinese rule. Lhamo Tashi set himself on fire and shouted slogans in front of the Kanlho (in Chinese, Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture's police station in Tsoe (Hezuo) county before succumbing to his burns on the spot, sources had told RFA on Sept. 21. Chinese authorities have tightened controls in a bid to check self-immolation protests, arresting and jailing Tibetans linked to the burnings. Some have been jailed for up to 15 years. Reported by Kunsang Tenzin for RFA's Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/burning-10042014192656.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

10 years, 3 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: Exclusive commentary on the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests by a former aide to the late Chinese premier Zhao Ziyang.

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

OCT. 4, 2014 – Below is a commentary on the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests written exclusively for Radio Free Asia’s Mandarin Service by Bao Tong, a political aide to China’s late premier Zhao Ziyang, who was ousted during the 1989 student-led pro-democracy movement on Tiananmen Square. Bao Tong lives under house arrest at his Beijing home. In his commentary, Bao Tong, among other things, calls on the Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters to take a 'break.' The full commentary: 'The seeds have already been sown, they need time to lie fallow' A commentary by Bao Tong True patriots are those who say "no" to fake universal suffrage. They are "the ones who don't wish to be slaves" [in China's national anthem.] So I am naturally proud of those who put the principles of "a high degree of autonomy," and "Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong," into practice. So, transportation and some businesses in Hong Kong appear to have been paralyzed. We should ask who is responsible for this, and what has caused this state of affairs? Some say it was caused by the Occupy Central campaign. That's wrong. Occupy Central was forced into existence after the legitimate rights of citizens were denied them. At the heart of the matter, the responsibility lies with bureaucrats acting on their own and not serving any master. The same people say: "If the demonstrations continue, our political and economic system will be damaged. The thing we fear most of all is damage to, and loss of confidence in, Hong Kong's market. This sort of damage will be permanent, and we can't afford it." Consensus view of history Actually, if the National People's Congress refuses to rescind its [Aug. 31] announcement; if "one country, two systems," becomes "one country, one system," then Hong Kong's political and economic system will certainly be damaged, and that thing we fear the most, that damage to and loss of confidence in Hong Kong's markets will come about. I have no doubt that one day, this view will have become the consensus view of history. But saying it out loud now, I don't think it has much chance of being heard. This will take at least a little time. If I were one of the protesters, I would probably want a rest from the debate for a while. The seeds have already been sown, and they need time to lie fallow. No great task can be achieved all at once; they all need some time to gestate. There's no need to keep digging up the seeds to see if they're still growing every day. Take a break, for the sake of future room to grow. For tomorrow. Bao Tong, political aide to the late ousted premier Zhao Ziyang, is currently under house arrest at his home in Beijing. Translated by Luisetta Mudie. View this commentary online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/commentaries/baotong/democracy-10042014172414.ht… Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

10 years, 3 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: At Least a Dozen Killed, 100 Wounded in Bugur Riots in Xinjiang

by Param

At Least a Dozen Killed, 100 Wounded in Bugur Riots in Xinjiang SEPT. 25, 2014 -- At least a dozen people, including three policemen, were killed and about 100 injured in attacks targeting government buildings and police stations in a southern prefecture of China’s restive Xinjiang region at the weekend, local officials and eyewitnesses said, as details of the violence emerged Thursday. The Xinjiang government's Tianshan web portal had said on Monday that two people were killed in the Sept. 21 bomb attacks by suspected Uyghurs on at least three locations in Bugur (in Chinese, Luntai) county in the Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture. But local officials and witnesses told RFA’s Uyghur Service that the violence had caused higher casualties. They said the raids on the Bugur city center and the townships of Yengisar and Terekbazar had left at least 12 people dead, including three policemen and seven attackers. All of them were killed during the bomb attack at a police station in Yengisar, the sources said. The number of fatalities in Bugur and Terekbazar was not immediately know, they said. The Bugur county hospital has been crammed with patients with serious injuries, a nurse said, in the latest violence to rock Xinjiang, which has seen more than 200 deaths in attacks the past year. “I assume there are about 100 people with injuries because all the hospital beds are occupied right now,” the nurse said. Among those undergoing treatment were up to 20 policemen, as well as one suspected attacker, she said. The raids were believed to have been staged by disgruntled ethnic minority Uyghurs, who claim to have long suffered ethnic discrimination, oppressive religious controls, and continued poverty and joblessness, sources said. A curfew has been imposed in the affected areas, with schools and offices closed as of late Tuesday, according to Aklikim, the secretary of the ruling Chinese Communist Party branch in Bartoghraq village in Terekbazar. “The explosions are all related to attacks on government buildings and police stations,” he said. Stabbed Amangul Mollaq, the aunt of policeman Nijat Ehet, who was seriously injured in the raid on the police station in Yengisar, said he had gone to investigate an explosion when he was stabbed by one of the attackers. “When he heard the explosion, he went to the site and saw the gate of the police station being ripped off by the blast and a group of people attacking the station from the front and back of the building,” she said. “When my nephew was dispersing the crowd, one of the attackers stabbed him,” Mollaq said. “He was only able to convey a few details as his condition was severe.” Police officers who visited him at the hospital told Mollaq that "three suspects who staged the attack on the police station from the front and three attackers who came from the back of the building were killed on the spot." "I also heard that two policemen with the names Husenjan [Osman] and Ibrahim had been killed in action.” Another police assistant, who was not identified, was among the three policemen who died in the raid, sources said. Morgue mobbed Qadir Osman, a Communist Party cadre in Yengisar and whose brother, a restaurant owner, was among those killed in the attacks, said the township morgue was mobbed by relatives and friends of those who perished. “The place was surrounded by police and there were about 100 people, some of whom were waiting to identify the bodies,” he said. Osman, whose younger brother was shot dead, said that among those at the morgue was a Han Chinese woman who told him that her husband was “crushed” by a motor vehicle during the attack. A teacher in Yengisar, who declined to be identified, said he witnessed police cars, motorcycles and a gas station being torched. He said that he believed that the attackers, particularly in Bugur county center, were Uyghurs disgruntled by mass forced evictions to make way for the influx of Han Chinese. Reported by Shohret Hoshur and Eset Sulaiman for RFA’s Uyghur Service. Translated by Mamatjan Juma. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/violence-09252014005018.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

10 years, 3 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: Tibetan Student Perishes in First Self-Immolation in Five Months

by Param

Tibetan Student Perishes in First Self-Immolation in Five Months SEPT. 21, 2014 -- A 22-year-old Tibetan student has burned himself to death in front of a police station in Gansu province in protest against Chinese rule — the first self-immolation in more than five months among disgruntled Tibetans in China, according to sources. Lhamo Tashi set himself on fire last week, shouting slogans in front of the Kanlho (in Chinese, Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture's police station in Tsoe (Hezuo) county before succumbing to his burns on the spot, the sources said. Information of Tashi's Sept. 17 fatal burning emerged only at the weekend, apparently due to communication clampdowns usually imposed by Chinese authorities following self-immolation protests. Tashi's burning protest occurred more than five months since the last reported self-immolation among Tibetans in China on April 15. It brought the total number of self-immolations to 132 since the fiery protests began in 2009 challenging Chinese rule in Tibetan areas and calling for the return from exile of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. “Tashi self-immolated in front of the office of the police department of Kanlho Prefecture," a local Tibetan told RFA's Tibetan Service, speaking on condition of anonymity. "He did it for Tibetan freedom and died in the self immolation," the source said. Chinese authorities seized Tashi's remains but returned them to his parents a day later, the source said. "After learning about their son's self-immolation, they rushed to the site and demanded his body but the authorities refused to hand it over to the family. Only the next day, the family members were handed over some remains.” 2008 protest A second Tibetan source, who confirmed the self-immolation, said Tashi had been studying in Tsoe. "He was among those who protested against Chinese rule in 2008," the source said, referring to a mass uprising which erupted in Tibet's capital Lhasa in March that year before spreading to other Tibetan-populated areas. Tashi was detained then and subsequently released for participating in the protest, the source said. The Central Tibetan Administration, the India-based Tibetan government in exile, says about 220 Tibetans died in the 2008 unrest and nearly 7,000 were detained in the subsequent region-wide crackdown. The Chinese government had put the death toll at 22. The last reported self-immolation before Tashi's burning occurred in Sichuan province's restive Kardze prefecture on April 15. Thinley Namgyal, 32, had self-immolated in Tawu (in Chinese, Daofu) county in Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture "in protest against Chinese policy and rule [in Tibetan populated areas]," a Tibetan resident had said. Chinese authorities have tightened controls in a bid to check self-immolation protests, arresting and jailing Tibetans linked to the burnings. Some have been jailed for up to 15 years. Reported by RFA's Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/burning-09212014121057.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

10 years, 3 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: Uyghur Scholar Tohti 'Humiliated' in Prison, Shackled Again

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Uyghur Scholar Tohti 'Humiliated' in Prison, Shackled Again SEPT. 4, 2014 -- Detained Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti has claimed that several inmates in his prison in northwestern China's Xinjiang region ganged up on him and humiliated him, forcing a confrontation that led to him being shackled again, his lawyer said Thursday. Lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan said he learned about the clash between Tohti and the other prisoners when he met the scholar at the detention center in Xinjiang's capital Urumqi on Thursday ahead of his pretrial hearing this weekend. "In the morning, I saw that he was wearing manacles and leg irons," Liu told RFA's Mandarin Service after his lengthy meeting with Tohti, a long-time advocate of Uyghur rights and outspoken critic of Chinese policies in the Xinjiang region. "I spoke to the prosecutor's office about it, and they said it was because there had been a confrontation with other inmates on Aug. 9." "Tohti told me that several people had ganged up on him and humiliated him," Liu said. "There was a clash between him and [a few others], and the detention center accused him of getting into a fight, and he was subjected to internal disciplinary procedures." It was not immediately clear what triggered the fight last month between Tohti, who is facing separatism charges, and a few of his seven other cellmates, who were ordinary criminals. The prosecutor at the detention center said the other inmates were also sanctioned, but Tohti told Liu they weren't punished at all. Dragged from home Tohti was placed in leg irons for 20 days when he was first detained in January after being dragged away from his home in the Chinese capital Beijing by dozens of police, his former lawyer Wang Yu said in June after meeting him. Tohti told her then that he was denied food and given one and a half glasses of water for 10 days in March in an apparent punishment for failing to cooperate with the authorities. Human rights groups have said that Tohti's detention is part of Beijing's broad strategy to drown the voices of the mostly Muslim Uyghurs, who call Xinjiang their homeland. They said his incarceration underscores the Chinese leadership's increasing hard-line stance on dissent surrounding Xinjiang, where Uyghurs say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination, oppressive religious controls, and continued poverty and joblessness. Tohti, who was sacked from his job as economics professor at the Central University for Nationalities in Beijing following his detention, has applied to attend his pretrial hearing on separatism charges, according to Liu. Tohti has dismissed the charges as baseless. “He is sticking to his original position, which is that he is simply an intellectual expressing a point of view. He had no intention of incitement to separatism, and he carried out no separatist activities either,” Liu said. Evidence in doubt Committing the state security crime of "separatism" can result in the death penalty in China, while the lesser crime of "inciting separatism" carries penalties ranging from less than five years to 15 years maximum. Tohti has also said that some of the evidence against him should be disallowed and has demanded to watch several video recordings that would be used in testimonies in the trial, Liu said. Among the evidence are 52 DVDs, five of which contain footage of Tohti's university lectures. His lawyers also want to cross-examine witnesses for the prosecution. "That's what we are going to be requesting, applying for. But some witnesses may not appear. It's not entirely clear yet. The defense team is working on this, and we will be bringing it up at the pretrial hearing," Liu said. "Also, some witnesses have quoted him as saying certain things. But he says he didn't say those things, and is insisting on seeing the videotapes of the interview." Tohti is also demanding that he be tried in Beijing, where he had worked and lived. "He said the Xinjiang police shouldn't be involved in his case, because he moved to Beijing in 1985, and his hukou [household registration] is in Beijing," Liu said. "He started lecturing at the Central University for Nationalities in 1991." "If he is suspected of a crime, he says it should be the Beijing police who investigate the case against him, and that he should be tried in a Beijing court." "This is also the view of the defense team. We think it's very strange that this case is being handled in Xinjiang. We will also be bringing up this issue of jurisdiction at the pretrial hearing." Family contact denied Liu said Tohti expressed sadness that the prison authorities had refused to give him photos of his children brought by his lawyers. "He had tears in his eyes when we talked about his children. I asked the detention center staff about the photos, and also mentioned it to the prosecution official there," Liu said. Chinese authorities have not allowed Tohti's wife Guzelnur and their two young sons to meet with him in jail. Asked about Tohti's health, Liu said he has some pain and discomfort along his lower back and abdomen and on his right side that hasn't gotten any better. "He is feeling very sluggish, and is in some pain. His left eye looks smaller than his right, while his voice sounds hoarse and hurts sometimes. He has a nighttime cough." Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated by Luisetta Mudie and Feng Xiaoming. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai and Luisetta Mudie. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/shackled-09042014162301.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

10 years, 4 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: Tibet's Exile Government Rejects Beijing's Claim of Dalai Lama Return Talks

by Param

Tibet's Exile Government Rejects Beijing's Claim of Dalai Lama Return Talks AUG. 31, 2014 -- The head of Tibet's government-in-exile has rejected a claim by Chinese authorities that the Dalai Lama is in talks with Beijing through his envoys about the possibility of his return to Tibet. But Lobsang Sangay, the political leader of the India-based Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), left open the possibility of any official dialogue between the two sides aimed at bringing about a resolution to the Tibet question. "As we have always been transparent, right now there isn’t any official contact or dialogue taking place [with the Chinese leadership]," Sangay told RFA's Tibetan Service. "If dialogues are to take place, as we stressed earlier, it would be between the envoys of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and representatives of the new Chinese leadership," he said. "It has been like this before and will remain like this in the future." China’s government in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) claimed last week that the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, was in discussions with Beijing through his “personal envoys” but the talks were only about the possibility of his return to Tibet. Wu Yingjie, the deputy secretary of the ruling Chinese Communist Party's Committee for Tibet, had told a group of Indian journalists on a special visit to the TAR capital Lhasa that the talks with the Dalai Lama were “ongoing and always smooth, but we are discussing only his future, not Tibet’s.” “All Tibetans, including the Dalai Lama and the people around him, can return if they accept Tibet and Taiwan as part of China, and give up ‘splittist’ efforts,” The Hindu newspaper of India quoted Wu as saying. He claimed that many Tibetan leaders in exile had chosen to return to Tibet in recent years. The Dalai Lama fled into exile in India in the midst of a failed national uprising in Tibet against Chinese occupation in 1959, and the Chinese government has repeatedly accused exiled Tibetans, including the Dalai Lama, of stoking dissent against its rule ever since. Talks held on Tibet’s status between envoys of the Dalai Lama and Beijing stalled in January 2010. There has been no progress in the discussions since then despite calls from U.S. President Barack Obama and other world leaders for a resumption of the Sino-Tibetan dialogue. "If we receive a signal from the Chinese side and a conducive environment is created for possible dialogue, then our side can easily appoint the envoys [for the talks]," Sangay said. "We attach more importance to the substance than form of the dialogue," he said. "So, the most important objective is to resolve the Tibet issue.” Optimistic The Dalai Lama had always said he remained optimistic he would be able to return to Tibet, citing political reforms that have taken place over the last few decades. But he is reviled by some Chinese leaders as a dangerous separatist who seeks to split the formerly self-governing region from Beijing's rule. The Dalai Lama says he seeks only a meaningful autonomy for Tibet as a part of China, with protections for the region’s language, religion, and culture under his "Middle Way" approach. When asked by RFA whether the Dalai Lama’s return to Tibet would solve the Tibet issue, Sangay said, "There are several possibilities." "Whatever is the most realistic and practical approach, we pursue that.” “Ninety-nine percent of the Tibetan people aspire and dream for His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s return to Tibet. My hope for that becoming a reality is still strong," he said. "We have made consistent efforts at the international stage for the realization of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s return and for the restoration of Tibetan freedom, and recognize the unflinching spirit of Tibetans inside Tibet," Sangay said. Sangay, a Harvard-educated lawyer, was elected Tibet’s exile political leader in 2011 after the Dalai Lama relinquished his political role as the leader of the government-in-exile, ending a tradition spanning centuries of the Dalai Lamas holding both spiritual and political authority. Reported by Palden Gyal for RFA's Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/lama-08312014221933.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

10 years, 4 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: Uyghur Linguist, Two Associates Sentenced After One Year Detention

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Uyghur Linguist, Two Associates Sentenced After One Year Detention AUG. 27, 2014 -- A U.S.-educated Uyghur linguist and two others who wanted to set up schools to promote the ethnic minority language in China’s troubled Xinjiang region have been sentenced to up to three years on what their supporters see as trumped-up charges of “illegal fundraising.” In a case that has received international attention, the Tengritagh (in Chinese, Tianshan) district court in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi imposed an 18-month jail term and a 80,000 yuan (U.S $13,000) fine on Abduweli Ayup after detaining him for about a year, a relative of Ayup’s told RFA’s Uyghur Service. Ayup, who earned a Master’s Degree in Linguistics at the University of Kansas, returned to his homeland in 2011 to pursue his dream of opening Uyghur language schools but was arrested and thrown in jail with two of his business partners – Dilyar Obul and Muhemmet Sidik – on Aug. 20, 2013. Their firm was called Mother Tongue International Co. Sidik, the company’s director, was sentenced to two years and three months imprisonment and ordered to pay a fine of 130,000 yuan (U.S. $21,130) while Obul, a board member like Ayup, got two years imprisonment and was fined 100,000 yuan (U.S. $16,260), the relative said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Family notified of court ruling The court arrived at its decision on Aug. 21 after holding a one day-trial on July 11, he said, adding that Ayup’s family has been notified about the ruling. “The ruling states that they committed a crime of abusing public money,” he said, citing a copy of the court’s ruling. “There are no other charges except that.” He said that Ayup and Obul had accepted the verdict and do not wish to lodge an appeal. Sidik’s decision however is not immediately known. The jail sentences would be effective from the date of their detention, according to the court ruling, he said. “If the court ruling is truly enforced, Ayup may be released in six months,” he said. The trio are being held in Liudawan prison in Urumqi. “It has not been stated when the ruling would be enforced and Ayup’s parents have not been allowed to meet with him,” the relative said. An active promoter of the Uyghur language in Xinjiang, where Beijing is strongly pushing the use of Mandarin Chinese in schools, Ayup established a Uyghur-language kindergarten in Kashgar, China’s westernmost city, together with his business associates in the summer of 2012. Authorities said they closed down the school in March 2013 because it was operating “without complete documentation.” They refused the trio’s permission to open another school in Urumqi. Relatives of Ayup were not told of his whereabouts until recently, even though they had pleaded to meet with him after learning that he was in poor health in jail. International petition A group of supporters in the United States lately launched a petition on MoveOn.org to publicize his case, receiving more than 500 backers from across the globe. They also set up a Facebook page “Justice for Uyghur Linguist Abduweli Ayup” to highlight his plight. The petition called on the ruling Chinese Communist Party to protect the rights of ethnic minorities, among other requests. The mostly Muslim Uyghurs say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination, oppressive religious controls, and continued poverty and joblessness. The New York-based Committee of Concerned Scientists also wrote a note of concern over Ayup’s plight to Chinese President Xi Jinping. Anwar Memet, a childhood friend and middle school classmate who now lives in the U.S., told RFA in an earlier report that Ayup’s supervisor at the University of Kansas had offered him a three-year scholarship if he agreed to pursue his doctorate in linguistics following the completion of his graduate degree. “[B]ut he chose to return to his homeland to realize his dream ... of opening Uyghur-language kindergartens and schools.” He said that he and other friends had tried to persuade Ayup—whose wife and daughter were also with him in the U.S. at the time—to stay to pursue his studies, but he could not be swayed. Reported by Eset Sulaiman for RFA’s Uyghur Service. Translated by Mamatjan Juma and Eset Sulaiman. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/language-08262014235118.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

10 years, 4 months

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