An electronic newsletter

Produced by the Eastern Turkistan Information Center

7 July 1996

7 July 1996, CND-Global

5 July 1996, CND-Global

4 July 1996, Voice of America

4 July 1996, Eastern Turkistan Information Center

3 July 1996, OMRI Daily Digest

3 July 1996, Voice of America

2 July 1996, AP-Dow Jones News Service

1 July 1996, Eastern Turkistan Information Center

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(1) CHINA DISMISSES CRITICS OF ITS CRACKDOWN ON CRIME

7 July 1996, CND-Global

Chinese officials on Thursday, firmly rejected Amnesty International's condemnation of their wave of executions and warned foreign organizations against interference in its judicial affairs, reported both AFP and Reuters. Since the launching of its "Strike Hard" campaign on April 28, it has been reported that there have been tens of thousands of arrests and convictions for drug trafficking, corruption and theft. At least a thousand people have been executed, and thousands more have been handed life terms or lengthy jail sentences. Amnesty International on Wednesday characterized China's anti-crime campaign as "hysterical" and "shocking",

and demanded an immediate end to the "state killing". Foreign Ministry spokesman CUI Tiankai rebuffed the criticism at a regular news briefing by stating "China's judicial organs handle cases independently according to law, and no foreign group has any right to make irresponsible remarks."

(2) U.S. COMPANY DUMPS RADIOACTIVE WASTE IN CHINA

5 July 1996, CND-Global

A U.S. exporter Material Resources Inc. shipped 78 tons of highly radioactive waste to Tianjin, China from Houston, Texas, AFP reported. The iron and steel waste came in seven containers. China has set up an emergency team to deal with the hazardous material. China accused the U.S. of treating the developing world as its personal garbage can. In past 12 months, the authorities in Xinjiang also discovered 13 tons of radioactive waste imported from neighboring central Asian republics.

(3) CHINA HAS REJECTED ACCUSATIONS BY AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

4 July 1996, Voice of America

An on-going Chinese government crackdown against crime demonstrates what Amnesty calls "state killing on a massive Scale." Amnesty says one thousand people have been executed in

the past two months.

In response to a critical Amnesty report issued on Wednesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Cui Tiankai on Thursday defended Beijing's 'strike hard' campaign against crime:

" The crime crackdown campaign conducted by the Chinese Government is to fight against serious criminals such as drug traffickers",- he said.

Mr. Cui says Chinese judicial authorities have been handling the criminal cases according to law. He added foreign groups or individuals have no right to make what he calls "irresponsible remarks" on this issue.

In its report, the London-based Amnesty International says China has executed one thousand people in the first two months of the on-going "strike hard" campaign. Amnesty alleges most of those put to death during the period were not given a fair trial.

(4) A PROTEST BY THE UYGHUR COMMUNITY IN KIRGIZSTAN TO VISITING CHINESE PRESIDENT JANG ZEMIN

4 July 1996, Eastern Turkistan Information Center

The Uyghur community in Kirgizstan planned to organize a massive demonstration in a protest of the Chinese colonial policy in Eastern Turkistan during a visit of the Chinese President Jiang Zemin to Bishkek.

The demonstration was later cancelled by the request of the government of Kirgizstan. Nevertheless, on July 2 a group of Uyghurs organized picketing in front of the Chinese Embassy in Kirgizstan. This group prepared a letter of protest addressed to the Chinese President and requested from the Chinese Ambassador to deliver it to President Jiang.

Between 9 am and 10 am local police officers barred the demonstrators from the Embassy and demanded them to leave. The doors of the Chinese Embassy remained closed, and the Embassy employees refused to accept the letter.The officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kirgizstan worried the aggravating situation and suggested the demonstrators to deliver the letter to the Chinese President through the Foreign Ministry of Kirgizstan.

The demonstrators agreed and the letter was accepted by the deputy of the Foreign Minister of Kirgizstan, Mr. J. Chinetov.Text of the letter by the Uyghur demonstrators in Kirgizstan to the Chinese president Jiang Zemin is the following:

Mr. Jiang Zemin,

You are probably aware that in 1644 Manchurs conquered Chinese Empire and in 1759 they in the same way occupied Uyghuristan / Eastern Turkistan.

In 1911 the Qinhai revolution under the leadership of the Chinese democrat Sun Yatsen put an end to the despotic rule of the Manchu dynasty in China and paved a way to constructing a new Chinese Republic.Later, Josef Stalin made Uyghuristan a part of China. In result, the Uyghur people currently suffer much more from the colonialism than they did during the Manchu Dynasty.

We demand the following:

1. Stop forced assimilation of the Uyghur population by the massive transfer of the Chinese from other provinces.

2. Stop birth control policy in Uyghuristan.

3. Stop nuclear tests at Lopnor.

4. Freedom of speech to the people of Uyghuristan.

5. Religious freedom to the people of Uyghuristan.

6. Stop creating obstacles in educating the Uyghur youth.

7. Stop ethnic discrimination of the people of Uyghuristan.

8. Stop putting pressure on the governments of the Independent Central Asian states to curb activities by the Uyghur communities for freedom of their motherland.

In result of the "CLEANING UP IN 100 DAY" policy by the Chinese government in Uyghuristan, thousands of Uyghurs have been put in prisons and prison camps, and hundreds have been killed.

Stop these barbaric actions against the people of Uyghuristan!

Give the Uyghurs an opportunity to exercise their right for self-determination!

No nation has a right to exterminate another smaller nation!

The Uyghurs is a people living in Central Asia from ancient times.

By the international laws the Uyghurs have a right for self determination.

(5) CHINESE PRESIDENT ENDS VISIT TO UZBEKISTAN.

3 July 1996, OMRI Daily Digest

This material is reprinted with permission of the Open Media Research Institute, a nonprofit organization with research offices in Prague, Czech Republic. For more information about OMRI, please write to info@omri.cz

Jiang Zemin concluded a two-day official visit to Tashkent on 3 July, which included meetings with Uzbek President Islam Karimov and Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Komilov, international sources reported. The two sides signed 21 intergovernmental agreements, ITAR-TASS reported, which address trade and economic relations, transport, and avoiding double taxation. Mutual trade dropped from $165 million in 1994 to $59 million in 1995 and $37 million for the first five months of 1996. According to Reuters, Jiang praised Uzbekistan's role in stabilizing Central Asia and expressed his appreciation for Karimov's supporting China's policies in Tibet and Xinjiang. Jiang will also meet with the Presidents of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan before returning to China on 6 July.

(6) CHINESE PRESIDENT JIANG ZEMIN ARRIVES IN ALMATY THURSDAY

3 July 1996, Voice of America

For a two day official visit to the central Asian state of Kazakstan. Voa's ali jalali in Almaty reports this first visit of a Chinese president to Kazakstan since independence in1991.President Zemin arrives in Almaty after visiting two other Central Asian countries -- Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

China and Kazakstan have also shown interest in working together toward nuclear arms control. China's recent announcement saying that it is ending nuclear explosions at its northwestern test site of lop nor was welcomed in kzazakstan. Kazakstan was concerned that nuclear tests in the neighboring Chinese province of Xinjiang-Uyghur autonomous region (XUAR) threatened the environment in Central Asia.The two countries have also been cooperating in combating what is officially termed as separatist movement by Uyghurs in China.

More than 10 million Uyghurs -- a Turkic Muslim people – have been living for centuries in the northwestern Chinese province of Xinjiang commonly called east Turkistan. Nearly a quarter million Uyghurs live in Kazakstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Several exiled Uyghur organizations in central Asia fight for the rights of Chinese Uyghurs and preservation of their culture which they claim faces extinction because of what they call deliberate Chinese policy of assimilation.

In a recent news conference in Almaty, Kazakstan foreign minister Kasymzhumart Tokayev repeated his country's support for China's efforts to curb separatist activities in Xinjiang.

(7) CHINA TO INTENSIFY OIL EXPLORATION IN XINJIANG - REPORT

2 July 1996, AP-Dow Jones News Service

BEIJING -- To ensure China's output of onshore oil reaches 200 million metric tons by 2010, petroleum exploration is being intensified in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the China Daily reported Tuesday.In 1995, China's onshore oil production amounted to 140 million tons and is expected to hit 175 million tons a year by the turn of the century, according to the report.

Three basins in the remote Xinjiang region of northwest China are believed to contain one-third of the country's petroleum reserves, it said.The Tarim Basin is thought to hold more than 10 billion tons of crude oil, but so far only 500 million tons have been confirmed. Over the next five years, another one billion tons are expected to be verified, it noted.The Turpan-Hami and Junggar Basins may contain a combined total of 20 billion tons of oil, China Daily said.

So far in 1996, about 30 test wells have been drilled in the 560,000-square-kilometer Tarim Basin, with 10 more such wells expected to be in place by August, the report said. By 2000, the basin is likely to have facilities for production of eight million tons of oil. Around 2005, output is seen at 30 million tons, said the report.

(8) A RALLY AGAINST HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AND NUCLEAR TESTS.

1 July 1996, Eastern Turkistan Information Center

On June 29, 1996, the Eastern Turkistan community in South Australia held a rally in the city of Adelaide against human rights violations and nuclear tests in eastern Turkistan (Xinjiang province of China).

The rally began at noon when about 200 people formed lines and moved towards the Parliament House. The demonstrators hold the flags of Eastern Turkistan and the placards such as "FREEDOM FOR EAST TURKISTAN", "CHINA TAKE YOUR BOMBS OUT OF EAST TURKISTAN", and many other.

The rally in the front of the Parliament House began at 12:30 p.m. Ms. Tursinay Muhammad gave an introductory speech on Eastern Turkistan. She said that in this century more than 250 thousand East Turkistan lost their lives in the struggle for independence.

Then, Mrs. Julie Greig, a member of the Reinele Liberal Party, MP, and JP, spoke on behalf of the Liberal party, and said that the Chinese government does not pay any attention on Australia's condemnation of atomic tests in China. She was joined by Mr. Murray Delaine, MP, and JP from the Labor Party, who spoke on behalf of the labor party.

Mrs. Sandra Kinck, a member of the legislative council of the Parliament, spoke about stopping the atomic bomb tests in China.

Shaikh Sulaiman Noreddine gave an information on Eastern Turkistan and demanded freedom for the people of Eastern Turkistan.

Mr. Ahmet Kilnc spoke about inhumane treatment of the Eastern Turkistani people by the Chinese authorities.

Mr. Nadeem Rozi read to the demonstrators an open letter written by the Turkistani association and addressed to Mr. Downer, a foreign minister of Australia. The letter was presented to Mr. Murray Delaine with a request to deliver it to the foreign minister.

Prepared by:

Abdulrakhim Aitbayev (rakhim@lochbrandy.mines.edu)

WUNN newsletter index

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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.

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EASTERN TURKISTAN INFORMATION CENTER

Director: Abduljelil Karkash

Lindwurmstr 99, 80337 Munich, Germany

http://www.uygur.com

Fax: 49-89-54 45 63 30 Phone: 49-89-54 40 47 72

E-mail: etic@uygur.com