An electronic newsletter

Produced by the Eastern Turkistan Information Center

6 September 1996

6 September 1996, OMRI Daily Digest

4 September 1996, East Turkistan Information Center

4 September 1996, East Turkistan Information Center

2 September 1996, XINHUA

1 September 1996, CND-Global

1 September 1996, Itar-Tass

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(1) CHINESE OFFICIAL: UIGHURS BACKED BY "FOREIGN FORCES.

6 September 1996, OMRI Daily Digest

"The chairman of China's State Committee for Economic Reform, Li Tieying, on 5 September said from Almaty that Uighur separatists active in the Xinjiang Uighur

Autonomous Province are "breaking our laws at the instigation of foreign forces," AFP reported the next day. He also noted that a "small number of people" are involved in the rebellion which Uighur exiles in Kazakstan claim has resulted in the incarceration of an estimated 18,000 Uighur "separatists" in the last five months. At the invitation of Kazakstan's Supreme Economic Council, Li has been discussing China's experience with market reform in Almaty, ITAR-TASS reported on 3 September. AFP reported that journalists were asked by an unnamed Kazak official to refrain from asking Li about Uighur separatism. – Lowell Bezanis

(2) THE CHINESE HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST MR. HARRY WU IN GERMANY.

4 September 1996, East Turkistan Information Center

On August 27, 1996, a prominent Chinese democrat and human rights activist Mr. Harry Wu arrived to Munich, Germany, to visit East Turkistan Union in Europe (ETUE).

In the Munich airport, Mr. Wu was warmly greeted by Mr. Omer Kanat, the Chairman of ETUE, Enwerjan, Dolkun Isa and Parhat Yurunkash, ETUE executive council members, and other members of ETUE.

In evening of the same day, Mr. Wu had a meeting with members of the ETUE. Mr. Wu expressed full support to the East Turkistani people's struggle for independence, which he considers as legitimate and just.

From now on, Mr. Wu and the ETUE will cooperate together in bringing the brutal policy of the Communist Chinese government in Eastern Turkistan to the World's and, in particular, to the American human rights organizations' attention.

On the next day in afternoon, Mr. Wu met with the ETUE, Germany's human rights organization, the organization for protection of vanishing peoples, and the correspondents of a TV channel "Germany-2".

At the meeting, Mr. Wu once again denounced gross human rights violations in China and in Eastern Turkistan, in particular. He called on all democratic forces in the USA and Europe to struggle together against inhumane policies of the Communist Chinese government.

On August 29 Mr. Wu returned back to the USA. Several German and international newspapers covered Mr. Harry Wu's visit to Germany.

(3) AN INTERVIEW WITH HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST HARRY WU.

4 September 1996, East Turkistan Information Center

On September 4, the English service of German International broadcasting Service "Deutsche Welle" broadcasted an interview with the prominent Chinese human rights activist Harry Wu.

In the interview, Mr. Wu told that the people of Eastern Turkistan are under double oppression by the Chinese government: first, as all other citizens of China and, second, as an ethnic minority. He said that the Uyghurs, as well as other non Han ethnic groups, became a second class citizens in China. He also claimed that in the going on political campaign called "Strike Hard" by the Chinese government, about 20,000 Uyghurs were arrested and accused in splittist activities, and many of them executed without trials.

The Uyghurs are fighting for their independence very seriously and it is a part of the Chinese people's struggle for democracy and human rights in China. As an example, Mr. Wu said that recently in one prison located in Xinjiang the Uyghur prisoners organized a riot, took weapons from guards and began to fight with those weapons.

He called on the American and German governments to pay attention on severe human rights violations in China, and do not put economic interests ahead of humanitarian issues.

(4) BORDER SURVEY BETWEEN XINJIANG, TIBET COMPLETED

2 September 1996, XINHUA

LHASA - A survey of the 1,559 km border line between northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the Tibet Autonomous Region has been completed, thanks to efforts by the autonomous regional governments. The two regional governments signed an agreement in Lhasa today. Meanwhile, programs of implementation for determining the confluence of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces and the Tibet Autonomous Region and for surveying the joint Sichuan-Tibet border line was also signed here today. The Xinjiang-Tibet border line runs through some 5,000-m-high mountains and glaciers and ends at the China-India border. Both autonomous regional governments worked together to survey the line following the State Council's conference on border surveying early this year. Tibet and its other border provinces, Sichuan and Yunnan, will also conduct border surveys soon.

(5) AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CALLS FOR WORLDWIDE PRESSURE ON BEIJING TO IMPROVE ITS HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD

1 September 1996, CND-Global

An international conference co-sponsored by Amnesty International and the Asian Forum for Human Rights ended Wednesday with a call for worldwide government and business leaders to hold Beijing accountable for its alleged human rights abuses, UPI reported. A high ranking Amnesty official said that governments and business should invest in China only after it cleans up its act. According to Amnesty International's records, China executed 2,535 people in 1995, more than the rest of the world combined. Amnesty International demands that

Beijing abolish the death penalty, free all prisoners of conscience and belief, limit its practice of imprisonment without charges, and provide prisoners with immediate access to lawyers. Amnesty International is an independent and non-political worldwide movement founded in 1961 with over 1 million members in 192 countries. (Shiji SHEN, Jian LIU)

(6) RUSSIAN-CHINESE TRADE REFLECTS IMPROVED RELATIONS.

1 September 1996, Itar-Tass

Bilateral trade between Russia and China in the first six months of 1996 reached $3.27 billion

dollars, up more than 41 percent from the same period last year, a top Chinese official said in Moscow on September 1. According to Chinese state councilor Li Tieying, additional unregistered "shuttle" trade taking place over the border between the two countries probably pushed actual trade volume well above the official figures. The Chinese official added that bilateral relations between Russia and China were now at one of "the most favorable stages in their entire history."

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