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Produced by the Eastern Turkistan Information Center No: 52 22 August 1997 "I do believe that where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I could advise violence. I would rather have India resort to arms than she should become a helpless witness to her own dishonor". GANDHI, "Young India", 8/11/1920 In this issue: (1) TWO UYGHUR CHILDREN SHOT DEAD IN URUMCHI Eastern Turkistan Information Center, 8/22/97 (2) ROBBERY LEAVES SIX DEAD Agence France-Presse, South China Morning Post, 8/22/97 (3) URUMQI'S CRIME RATE DECREASING China News Service, 8/12/97 (4) TIBET GROWING FAINTER, SAYS CONGRESSMAN Simon Beck in Washington and Agencies, South China Morning Post, 8/22/97 (5) THE WORLD UYGHUR NETWORK NEWS 25 August 1997 (6) AFP REPORTS CALL TO CRUSH XINJIANG'S MUSLIM SEPARATISTS Hong Kong AFP 0648 GMT 22 Aug 97 (7) HONG KONG: PAPER SAYS PRC MINISTRY LINKS CIA TO XINJIANG TROUBLES. Hong Kong AFP 0428 GMT 10 Aug 97 (8) UIGHUR SEPARATISTS KILL 5 IN XINJIANG Hong Kong AFP 1228 GMT 10 Aug 97 (9) JAPANESE OIL EXPLORATION IN CHINA VIEWED Tokyo Kyodo 0513 GMT 08 Aug 97 (10) FOUR UYGURS REPORTEDLY KILLED BY HAN ROBBERS IN XINJIANG Hong Kong Hongkong Standard 22 Aug 97 p 6 (11) FOUR UYGURS AMONG DEAD IN XINJIANG ARMED ROBBERY Hong Kong Ta Kung Pao 21 Aug 97 p A2 (12) XINJIANG SETS UP POPULATION INFORMATION NETWORK Urumqi Xinjiang Television Network 1330 GMT 20 Aug 97 *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= (1) TWO UYGHUR CHILDREN SHOT DEAD IN URUMCHI Eastern Turkistan Information Center, 8/22/97 According to an anonymous report, two Uyghur children were shot dead by unidentified Chinese men on playground in Urumchi on August 20. *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= (2) ROBBERY LEAVES SIX DEAD Agence France-Presse, South China Morning Post, 8/22/97 Two armed men killed six shoppers and injured a number of others in a robbery in Xinjiang. The men, armed with pump-action shotguns, attacked a shopping centre in central Urumqi, the regional capital, on Tuesday. They fled as a hunt was launched, reports said. The victims were four Uygurs, one Hui Muslim and one Han Chinese. Reports did not say which business was robbed or how many people were injured. Xinjiang has been the scene of a series of confrontations between the ethnic Han Chinese and the majority Uygurs, Muslims of Turkish origin, in past months. *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= (3) URUMQI'S CRIME RATE DECREASING China News Service, 8/12/97 Urumqi, August 12 (CNS) --- In the first seven months of the year, according to statistics provided by the local Public Security Bureau, criminal cases and offences in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, dropped 17 percent and 25 percent respectively, compared to the same period last year. In April this year an additional 840 people were brought into 28 key regions and departments throughout the city to assist public security officers to maintain law and order. The same statistics show that 173 criminal gangs were smashed and some 650 suspects were arrested on a variety of offences. In addition, 47 vehicles and motor cycles, and a quantity of pistols, bullets, ammunition and detonators have been seized, together with economic losses of RMB40m recovered. Urumqi today enjoys stability and good social order. (From CNS web cite: China News Service (CNS), a non-government organization and one of the two major news agencies in China, was set up in Beijing on September 14, 1952 by Chinese media celebrities such as Jin Zhonghua, Hu Yuzhi and Hong Sisi. CNS serves mainly overseas Chinese readers. It is also a comprehensive source of news and culture for overseas Chinese, including those living in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. ) *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= (4) TIBET GROWING FAINTER, SAYS CONGRESSMAN Simon Beck in Washington and Agencies, South China Morning Post, 8/22/97 An influential United States congressman who slipped into Tibet disguised as a tourist warned yesterday that the region was being "swallowed" by China through mass arrests and brutal repression. "The clock is ticking for Tibet. If nothing is done, a country, ist people, religion and culture will continue to grow fainter and could one day disappear," said Republican Representative Frank Wolf. He described his visits to prisons and monasteries in Lhasa and the countryside last week as a "nightmare tour" and said Tibetans were eager to tell him about horrible conditions in the region. Mr Wolf, only the second member of the House of Representatives to get into Tibet since it was assumed by China, spent four days there on a tourist visa this month without telling the authorities of his official status. Accompanied by a staff member and a Westerner who spoke Tibetan, Mr Wolf said he used the cover of a tour group to enter Tibet from August 9 to 13 and talk to local people in Lhasa and the countryside about their plight. He said he saw evidence of religious persecution and the destruction of Tibetan language and culture. Monks and people he spoke to told stories of having friends and relatives in prison for refusing to curtail their worship of the Dalai Lama. A relative of an imprisoned monk told Mr Wolf that prisoners of conscience were routinely tortured, starved and isolated and that Tibetans were forbidden to carry pictures of the Dalai Lama. "China is swallowing Tibet. Stores, hotels, bazaars, businesses and tradesmen are largely Chinese," he said. Chinese embassy spokesman Yu Shuning said: "The total population is now 2.3 million, of whom over 95 per cent are ethnic Tibetans. The figures answer his accusations." Mr Wolf said China was maintaining a "death grip" on the region and called for urgent action to save its Himalayan Buddhist culture. "I cannot think of another place in the world where a tighter lid is kept on open discussion," he said. "Government agents, spies and video cameras guard against personal outside contact. Offenders, even suspected offenders, are dealt with quickly and brutally." US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright recently agreed to name a special co-ordinator within the State Department by November to nudge China towards negotiations with the Dalai Lama. Mr Wolf suggested someone of the calibre of Richard Holbrooke, the tough-talking US special envoy to the Bosnian peace accords, to take on the role. He urged the administration to press China for the release of what he called 700 prisoners of conscience in Tibet during President Jiang Zemin's visit to the US, scheduled for late October. *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= (5) AFP REPORTS CALL TO CRUSH XINJIANG'S MUSLIM SEPARATISTS Hong Kong AFP 0648 GMT 22 Aug 97 Beijing, Aug 22 (AFP) - Moslem separatists in Xinjiang must be isolated and eradicated like "rats in the street," according to delegates to an officially-sponsored meeting of Islamic officials in the northwestern Chinese region. Local press reports seen here Friday quoted delegates to the fifth assembly of the Xinjiang Islamic Association as saying all separatist forces in the region must be crushed to ensure social and economic stability. Xinjiang is China's only Moslem-majority region and has witnessed repeated clashes between the ethnic Han Chinese and the majority Uighur Moslems, some of whom seek an independent state. "We must work together to isolate the principal separatist elements, so that they become like rats in the street, followed and cornered by passers by, "one assembly delegate was quoted as saying by the Xinjiang Daily [Xinjiang Ribao]. "We must protect national and ethnic unity as if they were our own eyes," another delegate said. They also called on all "religious patriots" to spurn the activities of separatist or illegal religious organisations in Xinjiang. Nine people were executed in the autonomous region last month for their roles in February riots against Chinese rule. Only three weeks after those riots -- in the border town of Yining -- three bombs exploded on buses in the regional capital of Urumqi, leaving nine dead and 58 injured. China has ruled Xinjiang in varying degrees for centuries and it re-established control there in 1949 by crushing the short-lived state of East Turkestan that emerged during the Chinese civil war. Since then, Beijing has adopted a policy of Han migration to the region to dilute nationalist tendencies. However, hopes of independence were rekindled with the fall of the Soviet Union and the emergence of the neighbouring Moslem states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= (6) HONG KONG: PAPER SAYS PRC MINISTRY LINKS CIA TO XINJIANG TROUBLES Hong Kong AFP 0428 GMT 10 Aug 97 Hong Kong, Aug 10 (AFP) -- China believes the U.S. Central Intelligence Service [as received] (CIA) is helping Moslem separatists in Xinjiang who have carried out bomb attacks, a news report said Sunday. Beijing blames the separatists for a series of bomb attacks in the far-western region and in Beijing, the independent Ming Pao newspaper said, citing Chinese State Security Ministry sources. Initial findings of a government investigation showed at least one of the bombs that rocked Beijing in March was connected to Xinjiang separatists, Ming Pao reported. The state security and public security ministries uncovered evidence the separatists movement had contacts with the CIA, but there were "still doubts" over the extent of the CIA role, the sources said. The report said the CIA had infiltrated exiled Moslem groups in central Asian countries neighbouring Xinjiang and had "close ties" in the region. China has not publicly accused the CIA of involvement in Xinjiang. The usual government line refers to "foreign forces hostile to China," which often means the United States, but in the case of Xinjiang, more often refers to sympathetic groups in Central Asian states. The predominantly Moslem area in northwest China has been plagued by unrest. In May, Xinjiang Governor Ablait Abdureschit conceded for the first time that organised separatist groups were operating in the region. He said a fundamentalist Hezbollah or "Party of Allah" was set up in 1996 with members from every part of Xinjiang, but denied that it had wide influence. Exiled Moslem groups in neighbouring Kazakhstan have claimed responsibility for three bus bombs in the Xinjiang capital, Urumqi, that killed nine people and injured 74. Ethnic Uighur groups claim that several thousand people were arrested in a security sweep during the unrest, and some said 100 were executed. China has ruled Xinjiang, to varying degrees, for centuries and it re-established control in 1949 by crushing the short-lived state of East Turkestan that emerged during the Chinese civil war. Since then, there has been mass migration by Han Chinese to dilute nationalist tendencies, but hopes of independence have been rekindled since the fall of the Soviet Union and the emergence of the Moslem states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= (7) UIGHUR SEPARATISTS KILL 5 IN XINJIANG Hong Kong AFP 1228 GMT 10 Aug 97 Almaty, Aug 10 (AFP) - Ethnic Uighur separatists in the northwestern Chinese province of Xinjiang killed three policemen and two alleged informers, separatist exile officials in the capital of Kazakhstan said Sunday. The five were shot or knifed in the town of Suidun on Wednesday, a spokesman for the the United Revolutionary National Front exile group said. A dozen young Uighurs were arrested shortly after the killings and taken to a prison in the regional capital Yinging, the spokesman said. Xinjiang is populated by a majority of Moslems, mostly Uighurs, but also Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and Tajiks. The Uighurs have been agitating for independence from China since 1996. *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= (8) JAPANESE OIL EXPLORATION IN CHINA VIEWED Tokyo Kyodo 0513 GMT 08 Aug 97 Beijing, Aug. 8 Kyodo -- Japan is beginning to emerge as an important player in china's growing exploration of its inland oil reserves, mostly located in extremely inhospitable desert areas. Last month, China National Oil Development Corp. (CNDOC) signed two agreements with various Japanese partners to explore oil and gas reserves in the Tarim Basin, located in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of northwestern China. One agreement, for a geological survey, was signed with Japan National Oil Corp. (JNOC), which in turn signed an exploration agreement with Japan Energy Corp., Japan Petroleum Exploration Ltd., Indonesia Petroleum Ltd. and Sumitomo Corp. The consortium will focus on a 7,397 square kilometer desert expanse known as the "misaray block." JNOC will fully fund the geological exploration and drilling, while Japan Energy Corp. will be the operator. The Japanese companies must shoulder all the exploration investment risk, with co-development and benefit sharing to only follow the discovery of commercial oil fields. The Chinese say the 560,000 sq. km. Tarim Basin has proven reserves of 254 million tons of crude oil and 143 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Last year, Tarim increased output to 3.1 million tons from the 1995 level of 2.53 million tons. The 1997 target is 4.6 million tons. China's crude oil output in 1996 was 155.3 million tons, an increase of 4 percent over the previous year. The onshore fields contributed 141.3 million tons, almost the same as 1995. Three major fields in the northeast contribute half of this -- Daqing, the country's first major exploration project, with 56 million tons, Shengli, 30.9 million tons and Liaohe, 15 million tons. Daqing's output, which a few years ago was expected to start declining rapidly by the mid-1990s, has been unchanged for the last three straight years, thanks to improved technology allowing operators to reach deposits which previously had been too difficult to tap. As a result, output is expected to maintain about the same level until 2010, allowing enough time to develop the newly discovered western fields into the country's main oil suppliers for the 21st century. Oil development in the Tarim Basin got a major boost in July with the opening of a 476 km pipeline linking Korla, a city on the basin's edge, with the nearest railhead at Shanshan on the Lanxin (Lanzhou-Gansu)line. From Shanshan, the oil will be transported by rail to Lanzhou, Gansu Province, for refining. Feng Lisheng, deputy director of the programming and planning bureau of China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), said the pipeline has a carrying capacity of 5-10 million tons of crude oil a year. Poor transportation had been plaguing the Tarim oilfields, which until now had to rely on a single desert road, especially as the railway linking Korla to Xinjiang's capital of Urumqi was often destroyed by summer floods, the CNPC official said. In 1985, CNPC was approved by the Beijing government to start international cooperation for onshore exploration and development. The recent contract with the Japanese was its 334th with foreign partners. Last year, it was the subject of major restructuring to make the oil industry more efficient and flexible. For decades the state-run corporation operated under a central planning system which made it nearly impossible to respond to changing circumstances and for the industry as a whole to make any money. The restructuring separated oil exploration and production from technical services and logistics, and other nonoil aspects of the business such as the running of hospitals and schools. Previously, the absence of such separation tended to drain time and money away from core activities. This followed a successful seven-year pilot restructuring scheme in the Tarim and Turpan-Hami oil fields in Xinjiang. Unlike other onshore oil fields, Tarim and Turpan-Hami managers only had to concern themselves with exploration and the development of the oil deposits found. Meanwhile, the Chinese are also stepping up their offshore oil production, with an increase of 40 percent planned for this year despite territorial water disputes with most of its neighbors. "We're sure to augment our production of crude oil and natural gas to 25 million tons of oil equivalent, from last year's 18 million tons," predicts Chen Bingqian, vice president of China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC). Industry analysts believe the organization is anxiously waiting for the central government to resolve various disputes in offshore areas by cooperating with countries claiming jurisdiction over them. International oil companies in the eastern part of the South China Sea and at the mouth of the Pearl River, between Hong Kong and Macao, are expected to contribute 10 million tons of crude oil to the target. The northern Bohai Sea, facing the Korean peninsula, will also play a bigger role, with annual production expected to increase to 10 million tons by 2005 from last year's 2 million tons. Chen says the south china sea has huge potential, although a lot of it has yet to be confirmed. But major surveys show that the Bohai Bay basin may contain up to 10 billion tons of oil. Forty percent of the onshore drilling of the 200,000 sq. km. basin has been completed in the major fields of Shengli, Liaohe, Dagang and Jidong, which between them produce 60 million tons of oil a year. But the offshore areas, which make up by far the largest share of the basin, have yet to be adequately prospected. CNOOC is now inviting international bids for the Qinhuangdao 32-6 oil field in the central part of Bohai Bay, where 120 million tons of crude oil reserves have been confirmed. Bidding will begin in September. As for the East China Sea, oil companies so far have had little success, although they believe the western part may contain oil. *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= (9) FOUR UYGURS REPORTEDLY KILLED BY HAN ROBBERS IN XINJIANG Hong Kong Hongkong Standard 22 Aug 97 p 6 Two armed men robbed a currency exchange shop on Tuesday, killing seven people near a crowded market place in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. In Xinjiang, where ethnic conflicts often arise, the case became especially sensitive when the gunmen were identified as Han Chinese, while at least four of the dead were Uygur. The slaughter took place in a bazaar in Xinjiang's capital city of Urumqi. The Turkey-based Eastern Turkestan National Centre quoted witnesses as saying the duo rushed into the marketplace and looted a currency exchange shop, carrying a machine-gun and a pistol. The gunmen then opened fire at passers-by without giving any prior warning, claiming seven lives. Among those killed, at least four were identified as ethnic Uygur, a Muslim people indigenous to the area. According to initial news reports, only six people were killed, four of which were believed to be Uygur, one Muslim Hui and one Han. The people were reportedly very frightened and the situation extremely chaotic, which is thought to explain why the massacre was not reported to police until 4pm, two hours after the incident took place. Initial evidence suggests that the incident was not politically motivated. Hong Kong's Beijing-supported Ta Kung Pao said that a massive hunt for the gunmen had been launched, stressing that order had returned to the city. Xinjiang has been the scene of a spate of ethnic confrontations between ethnic Han Chinese and Muslim Uygurs. Many Uygurs resent Chinese rule, and deplore the massive immigration of ethnic Han Chinese into the region, fearing their culture will be smothered by Han domination. [Description of Source: Hong Kong Hongkong Standard in English--one of Hong Kong's two major independent English-language papers] *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= (10) FOUR UYGURS AMONG DEAD IN XINJIANG ARMED ROBBERY Hong Kong Ta Kung Pao 21 Aug 97 p A2 Urumqi, 20 Aug (Ta Kung Pao) -- A major armed robbery and homicide took place in the downtown district of Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital city, on 19 August. Two thugs, armed with a machine-gun, killed six innocent people and wounded many others. At 1200, in Urumqi's busy Binhe Lu bazaar, two thugs armed with a machine-gun and a pistol robbed citizens in broad daylight. They opened fire, killing and wounding quite a number of people. Of the six slaughtered, four were Uygurs, one was a Muslim Hui, and the other a Han. Citizens on the spot rose courageously to fight and pursue the thugs in a joint effort. Upon receiving reports, the police quickly rushed to the site, organizing forces to pursue the criminals while giving emergency treatment to the wounded. Urumqi has returned to normal, but the pursuit is still under way as of this reporter sending this dispatch. [Description of Source: Hong Kong Ta Kung Pao in Chinese--PRC-owned daily newspaper] (11) XINJIANG SETS UP POPULATION INFORMATION NETWORK Urumqi Xinjiang Television Network 1330 GMT 20 Aug 97 A population information system network was recently set up and put into operation in Xinjiang. The completion of such a network has been well received by the state Ministry of Public Security, public security organs in some provinces and autonomous regions, and computer experts and scholars alike. [video opens with a long shot of a conference room with dozens of people attending a meeting, cutting to show demonstration by several computer operators] According to a recent on-the-site meeting in Urumqi to exchange experiences in setting up population information system networks in Xinjiang, all prefectures, counties and cities throughout the region are now equipped with computers. So far, data on 4.05 million people in the region have been computerized; and 200 police substations have used computers in handling office work. Thus, a unique branch of administration on residents and residency has taken shape. At present, local population information computer networks have been set up in Urumqi and Karamay Cities. [as the announcer reads the report, video shows computer screens, each with bio-data and pictures of individuals] Meanwhile, a Uygur language system has also been developed. The regional public security department has built a database at ist population information center. Through the database, inquiries about population data and images as well as statistics of relevant materials can be made with units inside and outside the region. As far as the population information system networks are concerned, Xinjiang has become a forerunner in the country. [video also shows Uygur language on computer monitors] Prepared by: Bill Mitchell (Turpan@ix.netcom.com).*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= The World Uyghur Network News electronic newsletter is produced by the Eastern Turkistan Information Center (ETIC) in cooperation with the Taklamakan Uighur Human Rights Association (USA), and is devoted to the current political, cultural and economic developments in Eastern Turkistan and to the Uyghur people related issues. Eastern Turkistan (Sherqiy Turkistan in Uyghur) is a name used by the indigenous people of the region for their motherland located in what is at present the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic China. The World Uyghur Network News brings information on situation in Eastern Turkistan from the Uyghur and other sources to the attention of the international community. *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= EASTERN TURKISTAN INFORMATION CENTER |