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рддंрдЧ рдЧрд▓ी рд╢рд╣рд░ рдХा

рдмрд░рдмрд╕ рдЙрддाрд░рдиे рд▓рдЧे, рдиाрдЧ рдЕрд╕рд░ рдЬрд╣рд░ рдХा। рдХंрдЧрди рдХрд▓ाрдИ рдХी, рдкूрдЫрддी рднाрд╡ рдЦँрдЬрд░ рдХा। рдЬ़िंрджрдЧी! рдоैंрдиे рджेрдЦी, рдмाрд░- рдмाрд░ рдХрдИ рдмाрд░, рдкुрдЬाрд░ी рдЕрдорди рдХे, рдкрд░ рдиोрдЪрддे рдХрдмूрддрд░ рдХा। ...

Friday 31 May 2013

China Daily launches local edition in Nepal


China Daily launches local edition in Nepal When Lila Mani Poudel, Nepal's Chief Secretary was based in China's Tibet forfour years as a diplomat, he was a regular reader of China Daily, which provided himprofessional news and views about China and the world.

Poudel no more has to miss the largest circulating English daily of Chinaas the newspaper'sNepal edition was launched in Kathmandu on Friday.
"I'm happy that I can now read the newspaper from my own home countrywhich I used to doroutinely during my stay in Lhasa from 2003 to 2007," Poudel revealed during the officiallaunch of China Daily Asia Weekly in collaboration with Himal Media of Nepal.
"You have tied up with a very professional media house of NepalI wish all the best to you all,"Poudel said.
China Daily will be published every Friday as a weekly paper in Nepalaccording to thepublishers.
"We want to present China's Asian and global perspectives to Nepali readersWe areextremely happy to introduce China Daily among the Nepali people," Kunda Dixita publisher ofHimal Media and editor of Nepali Times weekly told Xinhua.
Dixit said the Himalayasthat constitute border between Nepal and Chinashould be taken asthe backbone of relationship between the two neighbors and not as the barrier.
"China Daily has been published in Nepal to serve the same purpose," Dixit said.Jointlyunveiling the "China Daily Asia Weeklywith Nepal's Chief Secretary PoudelChineseAmbassador to NepalWu Chuntai said he and the Chinese government is committed topromote bilateral ties and trade between Nepal and China.
"Media plays a crucial role to promote our relationsChina Daily's publication in this regard ishighly encouraging," Chuntai said.
Zhou Lipublisher and editor-in-chief of China Daily Asia Pacific LtdHong Kongsaid that morethan 20 countries have been publishing the China Daily regularly.
"We are grateful to all to announce that Nepal is the 21st country where we have started ourpublication," Li said.
Around the worldChina Daily has collaborated with reputed professional publicationsForinstance in the USAit has tied up with the New York Times while in Britainits partner is theTelegraph.
At the sidelines of the launching ceremony todaya short symposium on Nepal-ChinaInvestmentTrade and Tourism was also held.
The symposium was addressed by Pend WeiCommercial Counselor at the Embassy of Chinain Kathmandu and Radhesh Pantthe director of Nepal Investment Boardamong others.
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Nepal, Chinese contractor to sign agreement for Pokhara airport

Nepal, Chinese contractor to sign agreement for Pokhara airport
Nepal will sign a commercial agreement with the Chinese construction company by August for construction of Pokhara Regional International Airport (PRIA), officials said on Friday.

Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), the implementing agency of PRIA will possibly sign and seal the commercial agreement with China CAMC Engineering Co, the lowest bidder of the project after the approval of final feasibility study report, Ranjan Krishna Aryal, joint secretary of Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA) told Xinhua.

This process will take two months. A government team from Nepal headed by joint secretary Aryal recently visited China to hold talks with officials of the construction company China CAMC as well as the Export-Import (EXIM) Bank of China about the proposed concessional loan of 145 million US dollars for the project.

The team during its week long visit from May 19 to 26 also conducted field observation of different airports there including Beijing International Airport and Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport.

"Though proposed PRIA shall be smaller in size compared to Chengdu Airport that handles more than 30 million tourists a year, the visit has helped us to visualize the model of airport in Pokhara," joint secretary Aryal said.

PRIA is estimated to have the capacity of handling one million tourists per year. Nepali team has suggested that China CAMC should bring down the estimated cost of the project as much as possible to keep the cost at par with government estimate, according to Suman Kumar Shrestha, deputy director general of CAAN.

"We have advised the company to leave out some structures like aero-bridge and some other optional equipment to limit the project cost within our estimate of 167 million US dollars," he said.

China CAMC had quoted 305.13 million US dollars for the project, lowest among three shortlisted Chinese firms; later the company was ready to develop the project at the government estimated cost. China CAMC will send the draft report to CAAN within next week which will be further reviewed by a technical committee under CAAN.

After incorporation of the comments of technical committee the feasibility study will be finalized within two months paving way for commercial agreement between CAAN and China CAMC in August 2013. MoTCA will then forward the approved feasibility study report to the Ministry of Finance (MoF), which will then start negotiations for the concessional loan from EXIM Bank of China.

The cabinet meeting on Feb. 14, 2013 had decided to approve the proposal of the MoTCA, which had requested approval of China CAMC's proposal to develop the project at the government estimated cost. Government of Nepal (GoN) has initiated the process to acquire additional 26 acres of land for the construction of PRIA. GoN had acquired 150 acres of land at Chhinedanda of Pokhara in 1975 for the purpose. PRIA is believed to boost Nepali tourism industry, directly connecting popular tourist hub of Pokhara with the outside world.
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Official's Son's Hunting Dogs Kill Pensioner in China


Official's Son's Hunting Dogs Kill Pensioner in China


china-dogs-dec-2012.jpg
A man walks pet dogs around the streets of Beijing on December 11, 2012.
 AFP
The relatives of an elderly man killed in an attack by two dogs belonging to the son of a former Guizhou official have hit out at police for not firing at the animals, sparking fresh anger online over official privilege.

The 62-year-old man surnamed Chen was attacked by two Argentine mastiffs—a breed of big game hunting dog also known as Dogo Argentino—in the early hours of Monday morning, local media reported.

His relatives later spoke out against police for failing to shoot the animals, citing their link to the son of a local official.

"The dogs' owner was Zhou Yang, the son of former forestry bureau chief Zhou Deli," a woman who identified herself as Chen's great niece wrote on the popular Twitter-like service Sina Weibo on Wednesday.

"The dogs were kept on ... land owned by the forestry bureau," she wrote, saying a "carload" of policemen had watched the attack but done nothing to help her great uncle.

"Not one of them came to help him, and neither the forestry bureau nor the government have done a thing to comfort out family."

Sina's own news report, published online on Wednesday, said the dogs had been on the attack long enough to have dragged Chen's body into a nearby ditch.

It quoted a doctor at the hospital where Chen was taken as saying that the pensioner's body had been stripped of flesh in a number of places and that he was clearly dead on arrival at the emergency department.

The Honghuagang district police department said on its official microblog account that police had tried to frighten the dogs away by driving at them in their car.

Failure of duty

News of the attack spread on the Chinese Internet, prompting an angry response among netizens already disgusted at shows of official power and privilege.

"If the roles were switched, and some dogs belonging to an ordinary person were attacking someone in a position of power, the police would have shot the dogs for sure," wrote @naojia09 on Sina Weibo.

"But what we have here is just the opposite, so they calmly sat there and watched someone get torn to pieces, because the dogs have back-up," the user wrote. "Those in power have turned [the police] into heartless dogs."

Guangzhou-based rights lawyer Sui Muqing said the failure of police to help during an attack by dogs would amount to a failure of duty.

"According to most people's understanding, as a police officer, the first reaction should be to shoot [at the dogs] if they can see an elderly person is in great danger," Sui said.

"I don't think that this requires any specific sort of training," he said.

Government explanation

The Zunyi municipal government issued a statement on Wednesday in defense of the police officers at the scene, saying that the dogs had stopped attacking Chen by the time the police officers reached the scene.

"The police officers were afraid that they would themselves be injured, as the dogs were too fierce, and their judgement was that the person was already dead," the statement said.

"That is why they didn't shoot."

It confirmed that the dogs' owner was the son of the former forestry bureau chief of the Zunyi municipal government.

The Dogo Argentino is outlawed as a dangerous dog in a number of countries including the U.K., New Zealand, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Singapore, Ukraine, and Israel.

Anger over official privilege

Microblog user @luyanzhuyan said the excuse that the police were afraid of the dogs was "truly unbelievable."

Meanwhile, user @feishoubuke added: "On what basis did they decide that the person was already dead? From their vantage point a good distance away? These police must be like God."

Hangzhou-based veteran journalist Zan Aizong said most people were unlikely to accept the government's explanation.

"Sometimes statements made by government officials leave things out, and the general public, through long experience, takes them with a pinch of salt," Zan said.

"A lot of what the government does is subjective [and what they say is] untruthful, so people don't believe it...They only tell you what it's in their interest to tell you, not the stuff that isn't," he said.

Popular anger is mounting in China at the widening gap between those with official power and privilege and the rest of the population.

Earlier this month, new figures revealed that the sons and daughters of ruling Chinese Communist Party officials are likely to make more money in their first job than their less well-connected peers, amid one of the worst graduate job markets China has ever seen.

And while the new administration of President Xi Jinping has vowed to fight for a cleaner and more transparent government, Chinese authorities have launched a crackdown that appears directly targeted at activists calling for the disclosure of official assets.

Police in China have detained a number of activists, lawyers, and ordinary citizens in a coordinated crackdown on the "New Citizens' Movement," after they launched a petition calling on more than 200 high-ranking Communist Party officials, including President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, to publicly disclose their financial assets and those of their closest relatives.
Read more »

Chin Struggle for Role in New Myanmar


Chin Struggle for Role in New Myanmar


burma-china-christians.JPG
Chin Christians attend Easter Sunday services at Hakha Baptist Church in Chin state, March 31, 2013.
 RFA
CHIN STATE, Myanmar—It was Easter Sunday and the two Chin women had just left Hakha Baptist church on the second holiest day of the Christian calendar.  They were headed to festive family dinners, until their cell phones rang.
Chin State, on Myanmar’s western border with India, has a population of about 500,000. Ninety-five percent of them are Christian. But Myanmar is a Buddhist country, and in Chin state, Buddhists control the government bureaucracy, the army, the police, the education system and most of the corporate hierarchy, such as it is.
The women worked at one of the national banks. Their boss, a Buddhist, was summoning them to work.  He told them there was an emergency to deal with. The women were furious.
“This is typical,” one of them told me, through an interpreter. The woman declined to give her name, out of fear of being fired. “They have no respect for us or our religion.”
Religion is just one of the factors that sets the Chin apart from the Myanmar people. Ethnically and culturally, they are more akin to their Chin cousins just across the border in India. Economically, they are practically isolated in a mountainous region with no airport and terrible roads. Politically, as one of Myanmar’s ethnic minorities, they are of little import to the central government.
“They [the government] always think we are the low class,” said Pu Zo Zam, chairman of the Chin National Party (CNP), one of the political parties that has emerged in Myanmar’s democratic development.  “That’s the problem:  they look down on us.”
Christians told me they are concerned about the violence between Buddhists and minority Muslims in Myanmar but are confident there will be no such conflict between Buddhists and Christians because they have always coexisted peacefully.
Symbolic visit
President Thein Sein, who has spearheaded Myanmar’s move to democracy, made a symbolic first visit to the Chin capital, Hakha, on Chin National Day, Feb. 20, and pledged U.S. $1.5 million to help jump-start the moribund Chin economy. It was a gesture of goodwill by the government but fell short of Chin expectations.
“It’s nothing,” said Zing Cung, secretary general of the Chin National Front (CNF), which had fought the central government since 1988 until a cease-fire was signed in May 2012. “We are the poorest region in Myanmar. We need much more than that.”
The cease-fire agreement, in theory, put an end to the oppression of the old military regime. It called for freedom of religion; the right to teach and speak the Chin language; the preservation of Chin culture and traditions; development in an environmentally responsible way; better roads, an airport and electrification, and a human rights commission to investigate abuses.
Ultimately, what the Chin want is self-rule under a federal system, similar to what states have in the United States. That would require a change in the country’s new constitution.
In the meantime, Pu Zo Zam of the CNP said the new government has ended most of the abuses of the past, including using Chin people as forced labor, but “lots of people are still afraid to speak … The bottle [government] has a new label, but we still have to taste more of what’s inside before we can trust it.”
Freedom of religion
Central to the Chin people’s opinion of the Thein Sein administration is whether it respects their freedom of religion. So far, they are not persuaded, especially when Buddhist pagodas continue to go up around the capital, Hakha, and second-largest Chin city, Falam. And there’s the contentious issue of hilltop crosses being torn down by the government.
“The government keeps telling us that Christianity is a western religion and that we should convert to Buddhism,” said Siang Mang, a township manager for one of the nongovernmental organizations working to develop Chin State. “But it won’t work. No one here will become a Buddhist.”
Christianity gained a foothold in Chin State with the arrival of American Baptist missionaries in 1899, when Buddhism was nonexistent in this region. With the advent of almost 50 years of Myanmar military rule in 1962, missionaries were banned. But by then, Christianity was deeply rooted, with churches big and small dotted across the landscape.
The pioneering missionaries Arthur and Laura Carson of Columbus City, Iowa, are buried in Hakha, in a memorial adjacent to the biggest church, Hakha Baptist.
Even though Westerners are now officially welcome in previously restricted Chin State, the government is suspicious that missionaries are among them. I was questioned twice by immigration and intelligence agents:  where was I going, what was I doing, who was I meeting, etc. That my guide was from the Chin National Front added to their curiosity.
Still, amid the doubts, there is optimism among some Chin clerics, including Pastor Pezamang of the Evangelical Assembly Church.
“It is much better under the new government,” he said. “Everything has changed. New churches are being built, and we can now publish religious articles and talk freely. It gives me hope.”
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Myanmar Inks Peace Deal With Kachin


Myanmar Inks Peace Deal With Kachin

myanmar-kachin-talks-may-2013.jpg
Lt-Gen Myint Soe (L) and KIA Deputy Chief of Staff Guam Maw (R) shake hands after signing an agreement to cease hostilities in Kachin state, May 30, 2013.
 AFP
Myanmar signed a tentative ceasefire agreement with ethnic Kachin rebels Thursday, a lead negotiator said, following three days of talks the two sides hope will end hostilities that have marred the country’s transition to democracy from a military dictatorship.

Representatives from the government and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) met for the first time in Myanmar since fighting erupted two years ago and signed a pledge to end hostilities in the region, negotiator Hla Maung Shwe of the European Union-backed Myanmar Peace Center said.

Previous talks had been held across the border to the north in China’s Yunnan province, which is also home to a large Kachin minority community.

“After many meetings during the three-day talks, we finally signed a seven-point agreement,” Hla Maung Shwe told RFA’s Myanmar Service.

The two sides, which met in the Kachin state capital of Myitkyina, agreed to continue holding talks, work on preventing further fighting, establish a joint monitoring committee with representatives from both parties, and resettle the nearly 100,000 people displaced by the clashes, Hla Maung Shwe said.

He said the agreement also called for negotiations on the placement of soldiers, the establishment of a team of KIO representatives to work closely with the Myanmar government in Myitkyina, and further, more inclusive talks to be held in the near future.

Political dialogue


Deputy Chief of Staff Guam Maw of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), which is the military wing of the KIO, said that while the agreement was not a full cease-fire, it was a major step towards lasting peace.

“The KIO promised in Ruili that we would work towards a concrete cease-fire agreement if the government made efforts to address our concerns politically,” he said.

“The agreement we signed today is not a complete cease-fire agreement, but it is one that will move us towards one. The most important aspect of these talks was that we were all able to express our expectations for political inclusion in a free manner.”

The decision to pursue political dialogue was a key demand of the Kachin, who say they want greater autonomy and increased representation in reformist President Thein Sein’s nominally civilian government, which took power from the former junta in 2011 and set the country on a path to democracy.

Meeting needs

Hla Maung Shwe said that Aung Min, a minister in Thein Sein’s office who led the government delegation, had conveyed the president’s hope to meet the needs of all of Myanmar’s people and that building peace with its ethnic populations was part of that effort.

“To meet the people’s needs, Minister Aung Min believes a cease-fire agreement is needed with the KIO,” he said.

“When we have achieved that, the president hopes to hold an all-inclusive discussion with every ethnic group in [the capital] Naypyidaw.”

Thein Sein has signed cease-fire agreements with most of Myanmar’s armed ethnic groups, but the KIA had held out on peace talks until recently. The two sides had a cease-fire agreement in place for 17 years until it broke down in June 2011.

Fierce fighting occurred as recently as December, when the Myanmar military used air strikes against the KIA, but the violence has since eased.

The Myintkyina talks were also attended for the first time by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's special adviser on Myanmar, Vijay Nambiar, as well as a representative from China, and Hla Maung Shwe said that the international presence may have helped influence a positive outcome.

“These talks were the best I have attended in the last year-and-a-half. They received the most attention from the international community and the people, and yielded some of the best results I’ve seen,” he said.

He said the two sides expect to meet again within a month to further solidify the peace process.

Optimistic response

The positive response to Thursday’s talks was echoed by representatives of both the Myanmar government and the Kachin rebels.

“The agreement we signed today was a good result from three days of talks,” Lt-Gen Myint Soe of the Myanmar Ministry of Defense told RFA following the meeting.

Myint Soe said that the Myitkyina talks had yielded a much more constructive outcome than previous talks he had attended in Ruili, across the border in China’s Yunnan province.

“The dream of our people and the local population in Kachin state will soon come true,” he said.
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Two-child limit for Rohingya Muslims in Rohingya towns


Two-child limit for Rohingya Muslims in Rohingya towns

At a camp for displaced Rohingya people in Sittwe, northwestern Rakhine State, recently. Photo: AP
At a camp for displaced Rohingya people in Sittwe, northwestern Rakhine State, recently.
         Authorities in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State have introduced a two-child limit for Muslim Rohingya families after a spate of deadly violence between Muslims and Buddhists, an official said on Saturday.
Local officials said the new measure — part of a policy that will also ban polygamy — will be applied to two Rakhine townships that border Bangladesh and have the highest Muslim populations in the State. The townships, Buthidaung and Maungdaw, are about 95 per cent Muslim.
File photo shows a Rohingiya refuge family at a camp in Bangladesh. The country’s Rakhine State has introduced a two-child limit for Muslim families “in an effort to ease tensions with... Buddhist neighbours”.
File photo shows a Rohingiya refuge family at a camp in Bangladesh. The country’s Rakhine State has introduced a two-child limit for Muslim families “in an effort to ease tensions with... Buddhist neighbours”.
The measure was enacted a week ago after a government-appointed commission investigating the violence issued proposals to ease tensions, which included family planning programmes to stem population growth among minority Muslims, said Rakhine State spokesman Win Myaing.
The commission also recommended doubling the number of security forces in the volatile region.
“The population growth of Rohingya Muslims is 10 times higher than that of the Rakhine [Buddhists],” Mr. Win Myaing said. “Overpopulation is one of the causes of tension.”
Some Buddhists, however, welcomed the plan for addressing their fear of a Muslim population explosion.
Sectarian violence in Myanmar first flared nearly a year ago in Rakhine state with mobs of Buddhists armed with machetes razing thousands of Muslim homes, leaving hundreds of people dead and forcing 125,000 to flee, mostly Muslims.
Mr. Win Myaing said authorities had not yet determined how the measures would be enforced but the two-child policy would be mandatory in Buthidaung and Maungdaw. The policy will not apply yet to other parts of Rakhine State, which have smaller Muslim populations.
Predominantly Buddhist Myanmar does not include the Rohingya as one of its 135 recognised ethnicities. It considers them to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and denies them citizenship. Bangladesh says the Rohingya have been living in Myanmar for centuries and should be recognised there as citizens.
For years, the Rohingya in Myanmar have faced a variety of heavy-handed restrictions. They needed permission to travel outside their villages, couples were required to have permission to marry, and were then limited to having two children. Any offspring that exceeded the regulation were “blacklisted” and refused birth registrations, and denied the right to attend school, travel and marry, according to a report by the Arakan Project, a Thailand-based advocacy group for the Rohingya.
Muslims account for about four per cent of Myanmar’s roughly 60 million people.
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Saturday 25 May 2013

рдоाрдУрд╡ाрджी рд╣िंрд╕ा рдоें рдорд╣ेंрдж्рд░ рдХрд░्рдоाँ рдХी рд╢рд╣ाрджрдд

рдоाрдУрд╡ाрджी рд╣िंрд╕ा рдоें рдорд╣ेंрдж्рд░ рдХрд░्рдоाँ рдХी рд╢рд╣ाрджрдд 
*рдЫрдд्рддीрд╕рдЧрдв़ рдХे рд╕ुрдХрдоा рдоें рдПрдХ рдмрдб़े рдоाрдУрд╡ाрджी рд╣рдорд▓े рдоें рдорд╣ेंрдж्рд░ рдХрд░рдоा рдХी рд╢рд╣ाрджрдд 
рдорд╣ेंрдж्рд░ рдХрд░्рдоा рдХी рд╢рд╣ाрджрдд рдЖрдЬ рдЪीрдЦ-рдЪीрдЦ рдХрд░ рддрдоाрдо рд╕ेрдХ्рдпुрд▓рд░ рд╡ рдХांрдЧ्рд░ेрд╕िрдпों рд╕े рдкूрдЫ рд░рд╣ी рд╣ै --
рд╕рд▓рд╡ा рдЬुрдбूрдо рд╕рд╣ी рдпा рдЧрд▓рдд рдеा?
рдЗрд╕ рдмेрд╣рдж рджुрдЦрднрд░ी рдШрдЯрдиा рдкрд░ рдХांрдЧ्рд░ेрд╕िрдпों рдХो рдЕрдкрдиी рдк्рд░рддिрдХ्рд░िрдпा рджेрдиे рд╕े рдкрд╣рд▓े рдпрд╣ рдЗंрддрдЬाрд░ рдХрд░ рд▓ेрдиा рдЪाрд╣िрдП рдХि рдХेрди्рдж्рд░ीрдп рд╕рд░рдХाрд░ рдХे рд╕рдд्рддा рдХे рдПрдХ рд╣िрд╕्рд╕ा рдбा. рд╡िрдиाрдпрдХ рд╕ेрди рдФрд░ рдЕрд░ुंрдзрддी рд░ाрдп рдХी рдЗрд╕ рдШрдЯрдиा рдкрд░ рдХ्рдпा рдк्рд░рддिрдХ्рд░िрдпा рд╣ै, рдпрджि рдпे рджोрдиों рдЗрд╕ рдШрдЯрдиा рдкрд░ рдЪुрдк рд╣ों рддो рдоिрдбिрдпा рдХा рдпрд╣ рдХрд░्рддрд╡्рдп рд╣ै рдХि рдЗрди рджोрдиों рдХे рдоुंрд╣ рдоें рдЕंрдЧुрд▓ी рдбाрд▓рдХрд░ , рдЙрдирдХी рдк्рд░рддिрдХ्рд░िрдпा рд▓ें 
рджेрд╢ рдХो рднी рдЗрди рджोрдиों рдХी рдк्рд░рддिрдХ्рд░िрдпा рдХी рдк्рд░рддीрдХ्рд╖ा рдЕрд╡рд╢्рдп рд╣ी рдХрд░рдиी рдЪाрд╣िрдП|
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Friday 17 May 2013

MQM decides to boycott NA-250 re-polls


MQM decides to boycott NA-250 re-polls

MQM had requested the ECP to conduct re-polling in the entire NA-250 instead on selected polling stations. PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI: After the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) maintained its decision to hold re-elections in selected polling stations of NA-250 on Friday, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) said it will boycott the re-polling.
Addressing a press conference in Karachi, MQM leader Raza Haroon said that after the ECP rejected the MQM’s request to hold re-elections in the entire NA-250 constituency instead of selected polling stations, the party was within its rights to boycott the elections.
“MQM reject’s ECP’s decision to conduct re-polls in only 43 polling stations.”
Haroon said that the party will be raising the matter in every competent forum. “After today’s meeting, when ECP rejected our request, we reject their decision.
Earlier, MQM leader Wasay Jalil told the media at a press conference on Friday evening that the party leadership in London and Karachi was currently consulting legal and constitutional experts on the matter.
“The first session of consultations has ended and once we come to decision we will announce that.”
Jalil said that a decision is expected later on Friday.
Raza Haroon added that the matter was about the public’s right to vote and re-enforcing the faith in voting. “The ECP should have looked at the larger interest of   the people.”
“This  was a golden opportunity for the ECP to demonstrate to the people that while they could not conduct flawless elections everywhere, they could have conducted exemplary elections in NA-250.”
Of their consultations, Haroon said that they are currently looking at all options.
Earlier on Friday, the ECP had rejected the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) request to conduct re-polling in the entire constituency of NA-250 Karachi.
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Mayor's Tweet Sparks Anger Over Chinese PX Plan


Mayor's Tweet Sparks Anger Over Chinese PX Plan


china-kunming-plant-protest-may-2013.jpg
Police officers stand in front of protestors holding up signs in Kunming, May 16, 2013.
 ImagineChina
Censors in Beijing have blocked information about a protest movement against government plans to produce paraxylene (PX) at a petrochemical plant in the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan, as a top city official took to social media on Friday, drawing further ire.

The Central Propaganda Department of the ruling Chinese Communist Party has banned news organizations from covering Thursday's demonstrations, which saw hundreds of people take to the streets of the provincial capital Kunming in protest at the plan.

"Without exception, do not republish, report, or comment on the assembly of the masses in Kunming to protest against the planned construction of a PetroChina oil refinery," the department said in a directive published by the China Digital Times (CDT), which monitors censorship instructions to Chinese media.

Similar bans were in place for websites and social media platforms, CDT said.

"All websites are asked to remove text, images, and video related to the protest of over 1,000 people in Kunming city center against the Anning PX construction plan," it quoted the State Internet Information Office as saying in a directive.

"Interactive platforms must strictly monitor activity," it said.

Comments still visible

In spite of the ban, some comments about the petrochemical plant and the protests were still visible on the popular microblogging service Sina Weibo on Friday, many of them linked to the opening of a new microblog account by Kunming mayor Li Wenrong.

China National Petroleum Corp (PetroChina), the country's largest oil and gas producer and supplier, announced in February that the refinery project at Anning, just outside Kunming, was approved by the top state planning body in Beijing.

Li has already promised that the refinery won't go ahead, if "most of our citizens say no to it," the official Xinhua news agency said.

But popular feeling was still apparently strong on China's Twitter-like services, the day after the protest.

"Protect the environment, resist the PX plant!" wrote user @meng_zhao. "Please be prudent, on behalf of our children and grandchildren."

And user @moshangzidai commented on Li's tweet: "First, tell us clearly what is going on with the PX project."

Stepped-up security

According to a tweet from Weibo user @ZHy03-Cross, the authorities in Kunming have stepped up security measures at the city's universities and colleges in the wake of the protests.

"No one is allowed to take a day off for the next three days, and every day they have to sign in, subject to spot checks by the municipal education committee," the user wrote.

"Anyone who doesn't show up will be immediately disciplined, and a black mark will remain on their record for life," said the post, which also forwarded the inaugural tweet from the account @kunminshizhang (Kunming mayor).

While no violence was reported, online photos of the protests showed a heavy police presence in downtown Kunming, with police struggling to control the crowd in some places.

However, a comment on the mayor's first post by user @aiguodexiaomao on Friday accused the government of dealing violently with protesters, some of whom had begun a second day of protest in the Wuhuashan district of the city.

"The government is sending armed police in full military gear with iron batons to surround the crowds," the user wrote. "Anyone who opens their mouth or raises a banner is immediately pulled onto a waiting bus."

It said protesters had been unable to send tweets or photos from the area.

"Please, Mr. Mayor, could you give us your thoughts and an explanation?" the comment said.

'Bridge for communication'

Li's initial post, which was retweeted more than 18,000 times and garnered more than 17,000 comments by Friday evening local time, said he had opened a Weibo account in order to build "a bridge for communication" with local people.

Comments came thick and fast within seconds of each other; some congratulatory, others concerned about environmental protection, including concerns about the PX plant and the state of nearby beauty spot Dianchi Lake.

An official surnamed Wang at the Yunnan provincial environmental protection department said the planned plant would have a refining capacity of 10 million tons a year, of which 650,000 tons would be PX, a carcinogenic petrochemical used in the textiles industry.

"Right now the government is entering into a process of consultation and explanation with local citizens," Wang said.

"It will be for the provincial government to make the final decision about whether this project goes ahead or not," he told RFA's Mandarin service on Thursday.

Wang said he could understand the strength of resistance to the project.

"I'm a native of Yunnan myself," he said. "The PX project encountered strong popular resistance in Dalian, Xiamen, and other places, and now they want to bring it to Kunming, a region of beautiful mountains and lakes."

"We find this disturbing, and we don't like them moving polluting industry out here just because the more developed coastal regions want to enjoy cleaner air and water," Wang said.

Lack of information

A Kunming resident surnamed Shi said he was "fairly opposed" to the plant, largely because of a lack of clear information.

"The government here communicates very little with the general public, and people don't trust the government to regulate the plant properly after it is built," Shi said.

"If they don't regulate it properly, then that will harm everybody."

The Anning refinery would produce gasoline, diesel, other various chemicals and fertilisers as well as PX, according to PetroChina's planning submission to the State Development and Reform Commission (SDRC) in Beijing.

State media last week quoted company officials as saying that the refinery would not produce PX, however.

More than three decades of rapid economic growth have sent China’s environment into crisis, officials say,

Worsening levels of air and water pollution, as well as disputes over the effects of heavy metals from mining and industry, have forced ordinary Chinese to become increasingly involved in environmental protection and protest.

China has a comprehensive set of environmental protection legislation, but close ties between business and officials mean that it is rarely enforced at a local level, activists and experts say.
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Friday 3 May 2013

рдЪीрди рдХे рдЦिрд▓ाрдл рдк्рд░рджрд░्рд╢рди


рдЪीрди рдХे рдЦिрд▓ाрдл рдк्рд░рджрд░्рд╢рди

рддрд╕्рдмीрд░ें рд╣ी рдмोрд▓рддी рд╣ै --------
burn a Chinese flag
рдирдИ рджिрд▓्рд▓ी рдоें рд░рд╡िрд╡ाрд░, 2 рд╕िрддंрдмрд░ рдХो рдЪीрдиी рджूрддाрд╡ाрд╕ рдХे рдмाрд╣рд░ рдЪीрди рдХे рдЭंрдбे рдХो рдЬрд▓ाрддे рддिрдм्рдмрддी рдк्рд░рджрд░्рд╢рдирдХाрд░ी।
Protest in Jammu
рдЬрдо्рдоू рдХे рд▓рдж्рджाрдЦ рдХ्рд╖ेрдд्рд░ рдоें рдЪीрди рдХे рдШुрд╕рдкैрда рдХे рд╡िрд░ोрдз рдоें рдиाрд░े рд▓рдЧाрддे рдЬрдо्рдоू рд╡ेрд╕्рдЯ рдЕрд╕ेंрдмрд▓ी рдоूрд╡рдоेंрдЯ рдХे рдХाрд░्рдпрдХрд░्рддा।
Protest against Jammu Kashmir Panthers Party
рднाрд░рддीрдп рдХ्рд╖ेрдд्рд░ рдоें рдЪीрдиी рдШुрд╕рдкैрда рдХे рдЦिрд▓ाрдл рдЬрдо्рдоू-рдХрд╢्рдоीрд░ рдиेрд╢рдирд▓ рдкैंрдерд░्рд╕ рдкाрд░्рдЯी (рдЬेрдХेрдПрдирдкीрдкी) рдХे рдХाрд░्рдпрдХрд░्рддाрдУं рдиे рд╢ुрдХ्рд░рд╡ाрд░, 26 рдлрд░рд╡рд░ी рдХो рдЬрдо्рдоू рдоें рдкрдб़ोрд╕ी рджेрд╢ рдХा рдЭंрдбा рдЬрд▓ाрдХрд░ рдк्рд░рджрд░्рд╢рди рдХिрдпा।
Bajrang Dal protest against China intrusion
рдмрдЬрд░ंрдЧ рджрд▓ рдХाрд░्рдпрдХрд░्рддाрдУं рдиे рд╣ोрд╢ рдоें рдЖрдУ рдЪीрди рдЬैрд╕े рдиाрд░े рд▓рдЧाрддे рд╣ुрдП рдЪीрдиी рдШुрд╕рдкैрда рдкрд░ рднाрд░рдд рд╕рд░рдХाрд░ рдХे рд░рд╡ैрдпे рдХे рдЦिрд▓ाрдл рдоंрдЧрд▓рд╡ाрд░, 30 рдЕрдк्рд░ैрд▓ рдХो рдирдИ рджिрд▓्рд▓ी рдоें рдк्рд░рджрд░्рд╢рди рдХिрдпा।
Tibetan activists waves a Tibetan flag
рдЪीрдиी рд░рдХ्рд╖ा рдоंрдд्рд░ी рд▓िрдпांрдЧ рдЧुंрдЖंрдЧрд▓ी рдХे рдХुрддुрдм рдоीрдиाрд░ рдн्рд░рдордг рдХे рджौрд░ाрди рддिрдм्рдмрддी рдиाрдЧрд░िрдХ рдиे рдмुрдзрд╡ाрд░, 5 рд╕िрддंрдмрд░ рдХो рдЗрд▓ेрдХ्рдЯि्рд░рдХ рдкोрд▓ рдкрд░ рдЪрдв़ рддिрдм्рдмрддी рд╕рд░рдХाрд░ рдХे рдЦिрд▓ाрдл рдк्рд░рджрд░्рд╢рди рдХрд░рддे рд╣ुрдП рддिрдм्рдмрддी рдЭंрдбा рдлрд╣рд░ाрдпा।
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рдЪीрди рдиे рд╕рдмрд╕े рдмрдб़े рдиिрдЧрд░ाрдиी рдкोрдд рдХो рд╕рдоुрдж्рд░ рдоें рдЙрддाрд░ा

рдЪीрди рдиे рд╕рдмрд╕े рдмрдб़े рдиिрдЧрд░ाрдиी рдкोрдд рдХो рд╕рдоुрдж्рд░ рдоें 

рдЙрддाрд░ा 
Respond strongly to India's move in SCS: Chinese media
рднाрд░рдд рд╕े рд╕рдЦ्рддी рдХे рд╕ाрде рдиिрдкрдЯे рдЪीрди рд╕рд░рдХाрд░
 рджрдХ्рд╖िрдг рдЪीрди рд╕ाрдЧрд░ рдоें рднाрд░рдд рдФрд░ рд╡िрдпрддрдиाрдо рдЕрдЧрд░ рддेрд▓-рдЧैрд╕ рдЦोрдЬрдиे рдХा рдХाрд░्рдп рдЬाрд░ी рд░рдЦрддे рд╣ैं рддो рдЪीрди рд╕рд░рдХाрд░ рдХो рдХрдб़ा рд░ुрдЦ рдЕрдкрдиाрдиा рдЪाрд╣िрдП। рдЪीрди рдХे рд╕рд░рдХाрд░ी рдЕрдЦрдмाрд░ рдЧ्рд▓ोрдмрд▓ рдЯाрдЗрдо्рд╕ рдиे рдЕрдкрдиी рд╕рд░рдХाрд░ рдХो рдпрд╣ рд╕рд▓ाрд╣ рджी рд╣ै। рдЗрд╕рд╕े рдкрд╣рд▓े рдЪीрдиी рд╡िрджेрд╢ рдоंрдд्рд░ाрд▓рдп рдХे рдк्рд░рд╡рдХ्рддा рдиे рднी рджрдХ्рд╖िрдг рдЪीрди рд╕ाрдЧрд░ рдкрд░ рдХрдб़ा рд░ुрдЦ рдЕрдкрдиाрдиे рдХा рд╕ंрдХेрдд рджिрдпा। рд╣ाрд▓ाрдХि, рдЙрди्рд╣ोंрдиे рдХिрд╕ी рджेрд╢ рдХा рдиाрдо рдирд╣ीं рд▓िрдпा, рд▓ेрдХिрди рд╕्рдкрд╖्рдЯ рд╕ंрджेрд╢ рджिрдпा рдХि рдЙрдирдХा рджेрд╢ рджрдХ्рд╖िрдг рдЪीрди рд╕ाрдЧрд░ рдоें рдХिрд╕ी рдФрд░ рдХा рджрдЦрд▓ рдмрд░्рджाрд╢्рдд рдирд╣ीं рдХрд░ेрдЧा।
рд╡िрджेрд╢ рдоंрдд्рд░ाрд▓рдп рдХे рдк्рд░рд╡рдХ्рддा рдиे рдЪीрди рдХे рд╕рдмрд╕े рдмрдб़े рдиिрдЧрд░ाрдиी рдкोрдд рдХो рд╕рдоुрдж्рд░ рдоें рдЙрддाрд░े рдЬाрдиे рдХे рдПрдХ рджिрди рдмाрдж рдпрд╣ рдмрдпाрди рджिрдпा рд╣ै। рдЙрди्рд╣ोंрдиे рдиिрдЧрд░ाрдиी рдкोрдд рдХा рдЬिрдХ्рд░ рдХрд░рддे рд╣ुрдП рдХрд╣ा, рд╣рдо рджрдХ्рд╖िрдг рдЪीрди рд╕ाрдЧрд░ рдоें рдиिрдЧрд░ाрдиी рдХрдб़ी рд░рдЦрдиा рдЪाрд╣рддे рд╣ैं। рдпрд╣ рд╣рдоाрд░ा рдХ्рд╖ेрдд्рд░ рд╣ै рдФрд░ рджूрд╕рд░ा рдХोрдИ рджेрд╢ рдЗрд╕ рдкрд░ рджाрд╡ा рдХрд░े рдпрд╣ рд╣рдо рдХрддрдИ рдмрд░्рджाрд╢्рдд рдирд╣ीं рдХрд░ेंрдЧे। рджрдХ्рд╖िрдг рдЪीрди рд╕ाрдЧрд░ рдХे рдЕрд▓рдЧ-рдЕрд▓рдЧ рд╣िрд╕्рд╕ों рдХो рд▓ेрдХрд░ рдЪीрди рдХा рд╡िрдпрддрдиाрдо, рдЗंрдбोрдиेрд╢िрдпा, рдлिрд▓ीрдкींрд╕ рдФрд░ рдЬाрдкाрди, рднाрд░рдд рдФрд░ рдЕрдоेрд░िрдХा рдЖрджि рджेрд╢ों рдХे рд╕ाрде рд╡िрд╡ाрдж рдЪрд▓ рд░рд╣ा рд╣ै। рдмрд╣рд░рд╣ाрд▓, рдЪीрдиी рдоीрдбिрдпा рдиे рдпрд╣ рдк्рд░рддिрдХ्рд░िрдпा рдЙрд╕ рдЦрдмрд░ рдкрд░ рджी рд╣ै, рдЬिрд╕рдоें рдХрд╣ा рдЧрдпा рдХि рд╡िрдпрддрдиाрдо рдиे рднाрд░рдд рдХो рдПрдХ рдк्рд░рд╕्рддाрд╡ рднेрдЬा рдеा, рдЬिрд╕рдоें рдУрдПрдирдЬीрд╕ी рд╡िрджेрд╢ рд▓िрдоिрдЯेрдб рд╕े рджрдХ्рд╖िрдг рдЪीрди рд╕ाрдЧрд░ рдоें рддेрд▓ рдЦोрдЬ рдЬाрд░ी рд░рдЦрдиे рдХो рдХрд╣ा рдЧрдпा рдеा। рдЪीрдиी рдЕрдЦрдмाрд░ рдХा рджाрд╡ा рд╣ै рдХि рднाрд░рдд рдиे рдЗрд╕ рдк्рд░рд╕्рддाрд╡ рдХो рд╕्рд╡ीрдХाрд░ рдХрд░ рд▓िрдпा рд╣ै।
рдХुрдЫ рд╕рдк्рддाрд╣ рдкрд╣рд▓े рдЪीрдиी рдоीрдбिрдпा рдиे рд░िрдкोрд░्рдЯ рджी рдеी рдХि рднाрд░рдд рдиे рджрдХ्рд╖िрдг рдЪीрди рд╕ाрдЧрд░ рд╕े рдХрджрдо рд╡ाрдкрд╕ рдЦींрдЪ рд▓िрдП рд╣ैं। рдЙрд╕ рд╡рдХ्рдд рдЪीрдиी рдоीрдбिрдпा рдирдИ рджिрд▓्рд▓ी рдХे рдлैрд╕рд▓े рдХी рднूрд░ि-рднूрд░ि рдк्рд░рд╢рд╕ा рдХрд░ рд░рд╣ा рдеा, рд▓ेрдХिрди рдЕрдм рдЬैрд╕े рд╣ी рдЙрд╕े рдЦрдмрд░ рдоिрд▓ी рдХि рднाрд░рдд рдкीрдЫे рдирд╣ीं рд╣рдЯा рд╣ै рддो рдЙрд╕рдиे рдЪीрди рд╕рд░рдХाрд░ рд╕े рд╕рдЦ्рдд рд░ुрдЦ рдЕрдкрдиाрдиे рдХी рдЕрдкीрд▓ рдХी рд╣ै। рдЕрдЦрдмाрд░ рдХे рдоुрддाрдмिрдХ, рднाрд░рдд рдиे рд╕ोрдЪी-рд╕рдордЭी рд░рдгрдиीрддि рдХे рддрд╣рдд рд╡ाрдкрд╕ी рдХा рдиिрд░्рдгрдп рд▓िрдпा рд╣ै। рднाрд░рдд рд╕рд░рдХाрд░ рджрдХ्рд╖िрдг рдЪीрди рд╕ाрдЧрд░ рд╡िрд╡ाрдж рдХो рдФрд░ рдЙрд▓рдЭाрдиा рдЪाрд╣рддी рд╣ै। рдЙрд╕рдХा рдордХрд╕рдж рдХ्рд╖ेрдд्рд░ рдоें рдЪीрди рдХे рдк्рд░рднाрд╡ рдХो рдХрдо рдХрд░рдиा рд╣ै।
рд╕рдоाрдЪाрд░ рдкрдд्рд░ рдЧ्рд▓ोрдмрд▓ рдЯाрдЗрдо्рд╕ рдиे рд▓िрдЦा, рдРрд╕े рд╕рдордп рдоें рдЪीрди рд╕рд░рдХाрд░ рдХो рднाрд░рдд рдФрд░ рд╡िрдпрддрдиाрдо рдкрд░ рд░ाрдЬрдиीрддिрдХ рджрдмाрд╡ рдмрдиाрдиा рдЪाрд╣िрдП। рдЙрди्рд╣ें рдЪेрддाрд╡рдиी рджेрдиी рдЪाрд╣िрдП рдХि рдЗрди рджोрдиों рджेрд╢ों рдХा рд╕ंрдпुрдХ्рдд рддेрд▓ рдЦोрдЬ рдЕрднिрдпाрди рдЪीрди рдХी рд╕ंрдк्рд░рднुрддा рдХा рдЙрд▓्рд▓ंрдШрди рд╣ै।  

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рдЪीрди рдХी рджाрджाрдЧिрд░ी; рднाрд░рддीрдп рдоीрдбिрдпा рдХो рдЪीрди рдиे рджी рдзрдордХी, рдЙрдХрд╕ाрд╡ा рдмрд░्рджाрд╢्рдд рдирд╣ीं


рдЪीрди рдХी рджाрджाрдЧिрд░ी; рднाрд░рддीрдп рдоीрдбिрдпा рдХो рдЪीрди рдиे рджी рдзрдордХी, рдЙрдХрд╕ाрд╡ा рдмрд░्рджाрд╢्рдд рдирд╣ीं

China warns Indian media for sensationalising reports of incursion
рднाрд░рддीрдп рдоीрдбिрдпा рдХो рдЪीрди рдиे рджी рдзрдордХी, рдЙрдХрд╕ाрд╡ा рдмрд░्рджाрд╢्рдд рдирд╣ीं
рдмीрдЬिंрдЧ। рднाрд░рддीрдп рд╕ीрдоा рдоें 19 рдХिрдоी рддрдХ рдШुрд╕рдХрд░ рдмैрдаे рдЪीрди рдХो рднाрд░рдд рдХी рдЪिंрддाрдУं рд╕े рдХुрдЫ рд▓ेрдиा-рджेрдиा рдирд╣ीं рд╣ै। рдЪीрди рд╕рд░рдХाрд░ рдХे рдоुрдЦрдкрдд्рд░ рдЧ्рд▓ोрдмрд▓ рдЯाрдЗрдо्рд╕ рдоें рдЧुрд░ुрд╡ाрд░ рдЫрдкे рд▓ेрдЦ рдоें рди рдХेрд╡рд▓ рднाрд░рдд рд╕рд░рдХाрд░ рдмрд▓्рдХि рд╡िрдкрдХ्рд╖ рдФрд░ рдоीрдбिрдпा рдХी рднी рдЖрд▓ोрдЪрдиा рдХी рдЧрдИ рд╣ै।
рдЕрдЦрдмाрд░ рдиे рд▓िрдЦा рд╣ै рдХि рд╕ीрдоा рд╡िрд╡ाрдж рдкрд░ рдоीрдбिрдпा рдФрд░ рд╡िрдкрдХ्рд╖ рдХे рд╣рд▓्рд▓े рдХे рдмीрдЪ рднाрд░рдд рд╕рд░рдХाрд░ рдЦाрдоोрд╢ рдмैрдаी рд╣ै। рдЗрд╕рд╕े рднाрд░рдд-рдЪीрди рд╕ंрдмंрдз рдк्рд░рднाрд╡िрдд рд╣ो рд░рд╣े рд╣ैं। рд╕рдд्рддाрд░ूрдв़ рдХрдо्рдпुрдиिрд╕्рдЯ рдкाрд░्рдЯी рдХे рдЕрдЦрдмाрд░ рдиे рд▓िрдЦा рдХि рднाрд░рдд рдХी рдЪीрди рдХे рдк्рд░рддि рдиीрддि рдЕрд╕्рдкрд╖्рдЯ рдФрд░ рдЕрд╕्рдеिрд░ рд╣ै। рдЪीрди рднाрд░рдд рдХे рднрдб़рдХाрдиे рд╡ाрд▓े рд╡्рдпрд╡рд╣ाрд░ рдХो рдХрддрдИ рдмрд░्рджाрд╢्рдд рдирд╣ीं рдХрд░ेрдЧा। рдЕрдЦрдмाрд░ рдиे рд▓िрдЦा рдХि рдирдИ рджिрд▓्рд▓ी рд╕ीрдоा рдкрд░ рдЙрдд्рддेрдЬрдиा рдкैрджा рдХрд░ рд░рд╣ा рд╣ै। рднाрд░рдд рд╕рд░рдХाрд░ рдХो рдШुрд╕рдкैрда рдкрд░ рд╕्рдеिрдд рд╕ाрдл рдХрд░рдиी рдЪाрд╣िрдП। рдЙрд╕े рдЕрдЪ्рдЫा рд╡ाрддाрд╡рд░рдг рддैрдпाрд░ рдХрд░рдиे рдХी рдЬिрдо्рдоेрджाрд░ी рдЙрдаाрдиी рд╣ोрдЧी। рд╣ाрд▓ांрдХि, рднाрд░рдд рд╕рд░рдХाрд░ рдРрд╕ा рдХрд░рдиे рдоें рдЕрд╕рдлрд▓ рд░рд╣ी рд╣ै। рд╕рд░рдХाрд░ рдЦाрдоोрд╢ рд╣ै। рдЗрд╕рд╕े рдоीрдбिрдпा рдФрд░ рд╡िрдкрдХ्рд╖ рдХो рд╢ोрд░ рдХрд░рдиे рдХा рдоौрдХा рдоिрд▓ рд░рд╣ा рд╣ै।
рднाрд░рддीрдп рдоीрдбिрдпा рдоें рдЪीрдиी рдм्рд▓ॉрдЧрд░ों рдХी рдк्рд░рддिрдХ्рд░िрдпा рдкрд░ рдЫрдкी рдПрдХ рд░िрдкोрд░्рдЯ рдкрд░ рдЯाрдЗрдо्рд╕ рдиे рд▓िрдЦा рдХि рдРрд╕ी рдмेрд╡рдХूрдлी рд╕рдоाрдЬ рдХो рдиुрдХрд╕ाрди рдкрд╣ुंрдЪाрдиे рд╡ाрд▓ी рд╣ै। рдЪीрдиी рдм्рд▓ॉрдЧрд░ों рдиे рднाрд░рдд рдХो рд╕рдмрдХ рд╕िрдЦाрдиे рдХो рдХрд╣ा рдеा। рднाрд░рддीрдп рдоीрдбिрдпा рд▓рдЧाрддाрд░ рджोрдиों рджेрд╢ों рдХे рд╕ंрдмंрдз рдЦрд░ाрдм рдХрд░рдиे рдХी рдХोрд╢िрд╢ рдХрд░рддा рд░рд╣рддा рд╣ै। рд╕ीрдоा рд╡िрд╡ाрдж рдкрд░ рджोрдиों рджेрд╢ों рдХे рдЕрдзिрдХाрд░ी рдЕрдЪ्рдЫे рдоाрд╣ौрд▓ рдоें рдПрдХ-рджूрд╕рд░े рд╕े рд╡ाрд░्рддा рдХрд░ рд░рд╣े рд╣ैं। рдоीрдбिрдпा рдФрд░ рднाрд░рддीрдп рд╡िрдкрдХ्рд╖ рдХो рд╕ंрдпрдо рдмрд░рддрдиा рдЪाрд╣िрдП। рдЪीрди рдХो рднाрд░рдд рдХे рд╕ाрде рд╢ांрддि рдФрд░ рджोрд╕्рддाрдиा рд╡्рдпрд╡рд╣ाрд░ рдХाрдпрдо рд░рдЦрдиा рдЪाрд╣िрдП। рд╣ाрд▓ांрдХि, рдЗрд╕рдХा рдорддрд▓рдм рдпрд╣ рдирд╣ीं рдХि рдЪीрди рднрдб़рдХाрдиे рд╡ाрд▓ी рдХाрд░्рд░рд╡ाрдИ рдХी рдмрд░्рджाрд╢्рдд рдХрд░ेрдЧा।

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Wednesday 1 May 2013

Who are the Uyghurs


Who are the Uyghurs

A few facts about the Uyghurs

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Uyghurs are a Turkic people native to Central Asia and inhabit parts of the Tarim, Junghar, and Turpan basins.
RFA

Where do the Uyghurs come from?
Uyghurs are a Turkic people native to Central Asia and inhabit parts of the Tarim, Junghar, and Turpan basins. Uyghurs themselves refer to this area collectively as “Uyghuristan,” “East Turkestan,” and sometimes “Chinese Turkestan.” This area encompasses 2,000 kms from East to West and 1,650 kms North to South—bordering Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, as well as China’s Gansu and Qinghai provinces and Tibet Autonomous Region. China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) comprises nearly one-sixth of China’s territory.
Population
A 2003 Chinese government census set the number of Uyghur-speakers at nearly 9 million, making them the fifth-largest of China’s 55 officially recognized ethnic minorities, although unofficial estimates set the figure higher. Before 1949, Uyghurs accounted for 95 percent of the population in China’s northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. After 60 years of Chinese Communist rule, Uyghurs officially represent 45 percent of the population. Han Chinese account for more than 40 percent of the region’s population of 23 million, up from 5 percent in the 1940s as a result of large-scale Chinese migration. Uyghurs, like other ethnic minorities, are mostly exempt from the central government’s “one child per family” policy.
Religion
Historically, the inhabitants of the Uyghur region practiced Shamanism, Buddhism, Manichaeism, Nestorianism, and Islam. Uyghurs officially adopted Islam in 960 C.E. under the Sultan Sutuq Bughra Khan.
Current situation
Many Uyghurs in the XUAR resent Chinese rule and complain that Han Chinese immigrants—encouraged to migrate by Beijing’s “go West” campaign — benefiting disproportionately from economic and educational opportunities there. Unemployment among Uyghurs is very high. They also resent the phasing out of Uyghur-language instruction in schools and universities, restrictions on the practice and teaching of Islam, travel restrictions, and other curbs that they regard as harassment, such as local regulations banning women from wearing headscarves or men from wearing beards.
Experts note that while Chinese law guarantees equal treatment and autonomy for ethnic minorities, these principles in many instances aren’t honored in practice. Human rights groups accuse Beijing of taking advantage of the U.S.-led “war on terror” that followed the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks to pursue a rigorous crackdown on suspected Uyghur separatists. China has accused Uyghur separatists of fomenting unrest in the region, particularly in the run-up to and during the Olympics last year, when a wave of violence hit the vast desert region. The violence prompted a crackdown in which the government says 1,295 people were detained for state security crimes.
Origins
The name “Uyghur—also written Uighur or Uygur—first appeared in the Orkhun Kok Turk inscriptions and in early medieval Uyghur, Manichaean, and Sogdian scripts, as well as in Arabic-Persian scripts. The Uyghurs and their forebears are an ancient people who have lived in Central Asia since the first millennium B.C. This region has had great importance since early times because of its favored geographic location on the ancient trade routes between the East and the West, connecting Greco-Roman civilization with Indian Buddhist culture and Central and East Asian traditions. Burgeoning trade, commerce, and cultural exchange brought a cosmopolitan character to the Uyghur region, marked by linguistic, racial, and religious tolerance.
Language
Turkic peoples have historically used Uyghur as a literary language. The ancient Uyghur language, which was used in the 8th century during the Uyghur Khanate, is the same as the language of the Orkhun-Yenisay inscription, called ancient T├╝rki. The literary language of the Iduqut Uyghur Khanate and the Uyghur literary language of Khaqaniyid were very similar. Modern Uyghur belongs to the Ural-Altaic language family, a Turkic language group of the eastern branch, and is similar to Uzbek, Kazakh, and Turkish. Historically, the Uyghur language has used seven different writing systems. Now Uyghurs use an Arabic script-based modern writing system.
Culture
The Uyghurs are indigenous to Central Asia and, as such, are culturally closer to their Central Asian neighbors than to Han Chinese, the majority ethnic group in China. They have developed a unique culture and made significant contributions to Asian literature, medicine, architecture, music, song, dance, and fine arts. The Uyghur economy is based on light industry and on the farming of fruits, cotton, wheat, and rice, made possible throughout this arid region by an irrigation method invented by the Uyghurs more than 2,000 years ago. In addition, the Uyghur region is rich in oil and mineral reserves.
History
For two thousand years, the area of today's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region was controlled by a succession of nomadic Turkic empires, notably the Uyghur Khanate, which ruled in the eighth and ninth centuries. The Uyghurs and their ancestors established their reign under the Huns, Kangkil, the Jurjan, and the Kok Turk. The Uyghurs also established states throughout their history. The term “Uyghur ├Дli,” found in a medieval Uyghur manuscript, means “The Country of the Uyghurs.”
After China’s Manchu government invaded and claimed the region during the Qing Dynasty in 1884, the region became known as “Xinjiang,” which means “new territory” or “new frontier” in Mandarin Chinese. Uyghurs twice declared independent Eastern Turkestan Republics in 1933 and 1944. China took control of the region in 1949 and renamed it the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in 1955.
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Xinjiang Cell Phone Users Forced to Register With Real Names


Xinjiang Cell Phone Users Forced to Register With Real Names



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A user reads a message on a Chinese cell phone in an undated file photo.
RFA
Chinese authorities in the troubled northwestern region of Xinjiang have launched a new crackdown on millions of cell phone users amid tight security in the wake of last week's violence in the south of the region.

New regulations from the Xinjiang regional government's communications bureau will require anyone buying a SIM card for use with a cell phone to provide proof of identity and register the card to their own name, sources in the regional capital Urumqi said.

In accordance with the special regulations governing Xinjiang, which is home to 9 million minority Uyghurs and is the scene of recurring ethnic violence, the bureau has been meeting with sales representatives for mobile network operators to train them in implementing the "real-name" registration system for SIM cards, according to an Urumqi-based sales representative surnamed Zhang.

"As of May 1, the sellers will be required under the real-name system to ensure that the customer produces their own identity documents," Zhang said.

"They must then transmit a photo of the original ID document to the mobile service provider," he said.

"The traveling sales reps have been called to a meeting every day [since Saturday] to learn about the real-name system," Zhang said.

"My first reaction was not to believe it, because it affects such a large number of customers," he said.

Zhang said local service providers had already begun cutting off service to existing customers to force them to register before continuing to use the service.

"There are a lot of cards already in customers' possession out there," he said. "It's going to have a huge impact on society if you suddenly cut off people's service while they're already using it, and make them reregister," he said.
Xinjiang violence

The move comes just days after 21 people were killed in clashes in Siriqbuya (in Chinese, Selibuya) township in Kashgar prefecture, and after clashes in Hotan's Yengi Awat (Yingawa) village left two people dead.
Police have arrested 19 suspects in connection with the clashes, while propaganda officials and state media have reported that the "terrorists" were caught making explosives and meeting secretly to study the Koran, the interpretation of which is strictly controlled by China's ruling Communist Party.

Chinese authorities blamed the violence on Uyghur "terrorists," but rights groups and experts familiar with the region say Beijing exaggerates a terrorism threat to take the heat off domestic policies that cause unrest or to justify the authorities' use of force against the Uyghur minority.
The Kashgar violence was the worst single episode since deadly clashes between Han Chinese and Uyghurs rocked the Xinjiang capital Urumqi in July 2009, prompting a region-wide blackout of the Internet and cell phone coverage that lasted for months.
Previous attempt
At attempt to force pay-as-you-go SIM card customers to register using their real names was made in 2010 in the wake of the Urumqi clashes, but wasn't widely implemented because sales personnel quietly allowed people to buy cards using other people's identities, Zhang said.
"The sales agents got around this by borrowing people's details in large numbers to acquire registration for them, and then reselling the SIM cards in the market," he said.
A directive issued to the region's railways and seen by RFA also requires the administration to clear unofficial hawkers of second-hand phones away from railway property by May 1, in an apparent bid to limit the resale of phones and SIM cards on the black market.
A sales representative at Urumqi Hongshan's flagship mobile phone store confirmed the new move to implement real-name registration from was going ahead on the ground from May 1.

"We got a directive through [for implementation] by May 1," the salesperson said.
"If you have bought a SIM card, you have to come to the sales department and register with your real name," he said.

He said the company had no plans to cancel people's phone service over the May 1 Labor Day holiday, however.

"This will probably start on May 2," he said. "When the time comes, our employees will call you or text you to tell you."

Region-wide directive

Customers who choose not to comply will have their service terminated, he said, adding that the company's entire network across the region is undergoing changes and an upgrade.

"There is now a real-name registration system in all locations [in Xinjiang]," he said.

"This is according to a directive sent down from the communications bureau of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region government," he added.
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Tensions at University in Beijing After Uyghur Student Assaulted


Tensions at University in Beijing After Uyghur Student Assaulted


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Uyghur students study at a bilingual middle school in Hotan, Xinjiang, in a file photo.
 AFP
A Uyghur student at the Beijing-based Central University for Nationalities has been seriously assaulted by his Han Chinese roommates, sparking protests and an order by university authorities for the two ethnic groups to be housed separately in a bid to ease tensions, according to a student.

Memetjan Ali, a third-year student majoring in Uyghur language and literature, was beaten last Wednesday, a day after the worst violence in four years occurred in China's northwestern Xinjiang region—home to the mostly Muslim minority Uyghurs who complain of discrimination by the country’s majority Han Chinese.

Memetjan Ali was watching television with his three Han Chinese roommates in their dormitory when one of them approached him and squeezed his neck, one of his Uyghur classmates told RFA's Uyghur Service.

Memetjan Ali tried to leave the dorm but he was prevented from doing so, with the other Chinese classmates also joining in and assaulting and abusing him.

"One of the Chinese boys abused him with vulgar words and suddenly punched his face. At that moment, another one hit his head with a chair from his back while one of them held him firmly," the classmate said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The seriously injured Memetjan Ali has been hospitalized with his condition reported as stable, but the incident has raised concerns among his Uyghur university mates.

Some of them gathered at the university's grounds, demanding justice and urgent medical attention for him, the classmate said.

Three detained
The three Chinese students were detained, but two of them were released after questioning, he said. It is not immediately clear whether charges will be pressed on any one of them.

The university authorities have paid for Memetjan Ali’s medical expenses, according to nurses in the hospital.

To ease tensions at the university, the authorities decided to have Uyghurs and Han Chinese stay separately in the dormitories.

“Now Uyghur students are staying with Uyghur students in the dormitory and we feel more secure than before,” said one Uyghur female student.

But another student said: “That doesn’t mean we are safe."

"We are still living in a Chinese city, studying in a Chinese school, and we are outnumbered.”

RFA's Mandarin Service called up the university to inquire about the alleged assault but a staffer said, "We are not clear what's going on."

The university's students department, when contacted, said, "We never heard of this incident."

Exile Uyghur activists linked the incident to the April 23 violence in Siriqbuya (Selibuya) township in Xinjiang's Kashgar prefecture in which 21 people were killed.

Chinese authorities blamed the violence on Uyghur "terrorists," but rights groups and experts familiar with the region say Beijing exaggerates a terrorism threat to take the heat off domestic policies that cause unrest or to justify the authorities' use of force against the Uyghur minority.

Hatred

The charges leveled against the Uyghurs have intensified Han Chinese hatred against the ethnic group, Uyghur activists said.

“Recent Chinese state media’s lies about the violence in Kashgar have increased ethnic hatred again," said Adil Abbas, a Uyghur activist and vice-president of the Uyghur Canadian Society.

"They heavily painted Uyghurs with terrorism charges to cover government violence against the Uyghurs, increasing hatred against the Uyghurs," he said.

"It is obvious that the dominant force of hate crimes such as what happened in the Central University for Nationalities is the Chinese government itself because their state-sponsored media always lies and slanders about the Uyghurs,” Adil Abbas said.

Chinese state media reported Monday that 11 more suspects have been arrested in addition to eight held on the day the Siriqbuya violence occurred.

The state media had charged that the violence erupted after community officials on patrol were attacked by Uyghur "terrorists" armed with knives at a house.

Reinforcements were called, and in the ensuing shootout six of the suspects were killed, state media said. Others were killed either after being slashed by the suspects or burned to death when the house was torched, state media reports said.

In total, 16 Uyghurs, three Han Chinese, and two Mongolians were killed in the Siriqbuya violence—the worst since ethnic clashes between Uyghurs and Han Chinese rocked Xinjiang's regional capital of Urumqi in 2009, killing nearly 200.

State news agency Xinhua, citing Xinjiang police, said on Monday that the suspects were from a "terrorist group" that was founded in September 2012 and that the deadly clashes broke out when they were caught making explosives.

The report said they watched terrorist video clips, had tested explosive devices, and planned to "do something big" in the densely populated areas of Kashgar in the summer.

"The claims of terrorism are suspected of being an excuse to oppress Uyghurs," Dilshat Rexit, a spokesman for the World Uyghur Congress, said in an email to Agence France-Presse.

Independent probe

He called on Chinese authorities to publish an independent investigation into their accusations of terrorism, echoing an earlier call by the United States which was dismissed by Beijing as evidence of a "double standard."

A Uyghur farmer in Siriqbuya township told RFA's Uyghur Service that some of those arrested were from the township's Number Three Village.

"They also arrested the uncle and son of a Uyghur man who was [allegedly] involved in the fight. The arrested person’s name was Ahmet Turadin, but I don't know his son’s name," the farmer said.

"Another person who was arrested was renting a house next door to that of Ahmet Turadin."

Security has also been bolstered in Kashgar, with one Uyghur lady who returned to her village from Kashgar late Sunday saying checkpoints had been set up along the highways.
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