Uyghur
تۈرك مەدەنىيىتىدىكى چوڭ ئوخشاشلىق ۋە كىچىك پەرقلەر
India apprehends Chinese soldier for transgressing border
India apprehends Chinese soldier for transgressing border
ASHOK SHARMA
NEW DELHI (AP) — The Indian army said Saturday that it had apprehended a Chinese soldier in the remote Ladakh region, where the two countries are locked in a monthslong military standoff along their disputed mountain border.
An army statement said the Chinese soldier was taken into custody on Friday for transgressing into the Indian side in area South of Pangong Tso lake.
“The PLA (People’s Liberation Army) soldier is being dealt with as per laid down procedures and circumstances under which he had crossed the LAC (Line of Actual Control) are being investigated,’’ the statement said.
China said it informed the Indian side as soon as one of its soldiers went missing “due to darkness and complicated terrain.”
The Indian side later confirmed that it had found the missing soldier and said it would return him to the Chinese side, China’s Defense Ministry said in a statement.
“The Indian side should strictly abide by relevant agreements between the two countries and hand over the lost personnel to the Chinese side as soon as possible, to add positive factors to cool down the situation at China-India border and jointly maintain peace and calm in the border area,” the statement said.
Indian and Chinese soldiers often lose their way in the disputed Himalayan region.
In October, India detained another Chinese soldier in Ladakh’s Demchok area, but he was freed after he was found to have strayed across the de facto border.
In September, China released five Indian nationals who went missing from the eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh amid simmering tensions between the two countries. The five men were Indian hunters.
The high-altitude standoff between the Asian giants began in early May with a fierce brawl, and exploded into hand-to-hand combat with clubs, stones and fists on June 15 that left 20 Indian soldiers dead. China is believed to also have had casualties, but has not given any details.
witter blocks ‘dehumanizing’ Chinese Embassy tweet claiming Uighur women are no longer ‘baby-making machines’
witter blocks ‘dehumanizing’ Chinese Embassy tweet claiming Uighur women are no longer ‘baby-making machines’
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Twitter blocks ‘dehumanizing’ Chinese Embassy tweet claiming Uighur women are no longer ‘baby-making machines’
Joshua Zitser 4 hours ago
uighur women london protest
A woman holds a placard during a London protest in support of Uighur people over ongoing human rights violations in China’s Xinjiang autonomous region on October 08, 2020. Hasan Esen/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
On Thursday, the Chinese Embassy in the US posted a tweet claiming that Uighur women were no longer “baby-making machines” because of the eradication of extremism.
Twitter removed it on Saturday morning for violating rules against “the dehumanization of a group of people,” according to Ars Technica.
The tweet was linked to an article, published by the Chinese Communist Party, that celebrated the decline in birth rates in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of northwestern China.
China has been accused of using inhumane birth control practices on Uighur women. Forced abortions, sterilization, and unwanted IUDs are “widespread and systematic” practices, according to the AP.
Sens. Tom Cotton and Rick Scott had condemned the tweet. A number of other politicians criticized it and urged Twitter to take it down.
Twitter urged to act on China’s ‘violent propaganda’ about Uyghur Muslim women
Twitter urged to act on China’s ‘violent propaganda’ about Uyghur Muslim women
Conservative MP Nus Ghani brands social media post ‘blatant fake news and violent propaganda’, as Jewish leaders join calls for Twitter to censor Chinese government accounts
By JEWISH NEWS REPORTERJanuary 8, 2021, 2:34 pm
Protestors against discrimination of Uyghurs
Community leaders and leading MPs have urged Twitter to take action against Chinese government accounts, spreading “violent propaganda” about the sterilisation of Uyghur Muslim women.
Its Embassy to the United States shared an article from China Daily, state-run media, claiming the “eradication of extremism” in Xinjiang, an area of China with a large Uyghur population, has given women “more autonomy”.
It said: “Study shows that in the process of eradicating extremism, the minds of Uyghur women in Xinjiang were emancipated and gender equality and reproductive health were promoted, making them no longer baby-making machines. They are more confident and independent.”
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This comes after Jewish News led a campaign to highlight to MPs the similarities between the Jewish experience of persecution and China’s repression of its Uyghur minority – including sterilisation of the community’s women.
This included images of shaved heads, crammed cells and names replaced by numbers in vast ‘re-education’ camps, which have been met by communal outcry. Up to one million Uyghur Muslims thought to be detained, with concern raised last year after hair, forcibly removed Uyghur Muslim women, was found in the United Sates.
Conservative MP Nus Ghani responded to the article, calling on Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey to take action. She said the article is “blatant fake news & violent propaganda against millions of Uyghur women & children. Block this site – just as you banned Trump. Block it-stop the abuse.”
Last year, she hand-delivered a letter to Downing Street, organised with Jewish News, urging the UK to put pressure on China to end persecution.
MP Tom Tugendhat agreed with Ghani, saying: “Claiming that ethnic cleansing is a form of gender equality is horrific.”
Nus Ghani holding the Uyghur petition
Joining the chorus of condemnation was Board of Deputies Vice President Edwin Shuker, who said: “The attempt by the Chinese Embassy in the US to present an alleged programme of forced sterilisation of Uyghur women as a humanitarian measure is both outrageous and disgusting The persecution of the Uyghurs for their faith must stop immediately and the International community must be given access to verify “
Mia Hasenson-Gross Executive Director of Jewish human rights groups Rene Cassin said: “The forced steralisaltion, forced coupling and physical and sexual abuse that Uyghur women are experiencing is very real and goes against any value of humanity and dignity, as well as international human rights law.
“The genocidal acts committed against the Uyghur people are real and must end now! The Jewish community has been at the forefront on speaking out against what is happening to the Uyghurs and should continue to do so in any instance.
The Chinese government strongly denies claims about persecution, insisting it is a ‘re-education’ programme against extremist views.
US voices disgust at China boast of Uighur population control
US voices disgust at China boast of Uighur population control
A US official voiced disgust Friday after China’s embassy took to social media to laud how women of the mostly Muslim Uighur community were no longer “baby-making machines.”
“Appalled and disgusted at lies” of the Chinese embassy, tweeted Sam Brownback, the US envoy on international religious freedom.
“Coercive population control is not reproductive health care. (Uighur) women deserve to enjoy their religious freedom and unalienable rights with dignity to make their own choices.”
China’s embassy on Thursday promoted a study in state-run media that said that the birth rate declined in 2018 among Uighur women as they increasingly accepted contraceptive measures due to the “eradication of religious extremism.”
“The minds of (Uighur) women in Xinjiang were emancipated and gender equality and reproductive health were promoted, making them no longer baby-making machines,” the embassy tweeted from the study.
Rights groups say more than one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim people in China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang have been incarcerated in camps in a bid to root out Islamic customs and forcibly integrate minorities.
China insists it is offering vocational training to reduce the allure of extremism in the wake of deadly attacks.
A study by German researcher Adrian Zenz last year found that China had forcibly sterilized large numbers of Uighur women and pressured them to abort pregnancies that exceeded birth quotas, an assertion denied by Beijing.
US lawmakers have pointed to population control as they push for a declaration that China’s policies meet the definition of genocide.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, an advocacy group, urged Twitter to remove the tweet by the embassy, which it said used the platform “to celebrate crimes against humanity.”
When I learned the #CCP was enforcing population controls on Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang, I was the first leader to condemn it. Forced abortion, forced sterilization, jail & torture if you resist – this is what I mean by #StainOfTheCentury.
When I learned the #CCP was enforcing population controls on Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang, I was the first leader to condemn it. Forced abortion, forced sterilization, jail & torture if you resist – this is what I mean by #StainOfTheCentury.
When I learned the #CCP was enforcing population controls on Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang, I was the first leader to condemn it. Forced abortion, forced sterilization, jail & torture if you resist – this is what I mean by #StainOfTheCentury. pic.twitter.com/YG5D3DkOBB
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) January 8, 2021
When I learned the #CCP was enforcing population controls on Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang, I was the first leader to condemn it. Forced abortion, forced sterilization, jail & torture if you resist – this is what I mean by #StainOfTheCentury.
CHINA: FURTHER INFORMATION: UYGHUR AGAIN DETAINED INCOMMUNICADO: MAHIRA YAKUB
CHINA: FURTHER INFORMATION: UYGHUR AGAIN DETAINED INCOMMUNICADO: MAHIRA YAKUB
, Index number: ASA 17/3491/2021
Mahira Yakub has been sent back to Yining Detention Centre in China’s Xinjiang region in late November 2020 and is still without access to her family and a lawyer of her choice. A Uyghur who worked in an insurance company, she first went missing in April 2019 and was indicted in January 2020 for “giving material support to terrorist activity” after transferring money to her parents in Australia. She was temporarily released from custody on 4 September 2020 and subsequently hospitalized for unknown reasons. There are grave concerns for Mahira Yakub’s condition and wellbeing.
Second UA: 86/20 Index: ASA 17/3491/2021 China Date: 7 January 2021 URGENT ACTION UYGHUR AGAIN DETAINED INCOMMUNICADO Mahira Yakub has been sent back to Yining Detention Centre in China’s Xinjiang region in late November 2020 and is still without access to her family and a lawyer of her choice. A Uyghur who worked in an insurance company, she first went missing in April 2019 and was indicted in January 2020 for “giving material support to terrorist activity” after transferring money to her parents in Australia. She was temporarily released from custody on 4 September 2020 and subsequently hospitalized for unknown reasons. There are grave concerns for Mahira Yakub’s condition and wellbeing, especially as she suffered from liver damage during a previous detention. TAKE ACTION: WRITE AN APPEAL IN YOUR OWN WORDS OR USE THIS MODEL LETTER Deputy Procurator of Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture People’s ProcuratorateHan JielongLane 4, Sidalin (West) LuYining Shi 835000Ili Kazakh Autonomous PrefectureXinjiang Uyghur Autonomous RegionPeople’s Republic of China Dear Deputy Procurator Han: I am writing to express my concern about Mahira Yakub (甫亚库 ‧ 依拉玛), a Uyghur insurance companyworker who is being held in Yining Detention Centre without access to her family and a lawyer of herchoice. She first went missing in April 2019 and was indicted for “giving material support to terrorist activity” (罪动助恐怖活资) in January 2020 for transferring money to her parents in Australia. I understandthat she was released from detention on 4 September 2020, after which she was taken to hospital forunknown reasons, but she was returned to Yining Detention Centre in November 2020. Throughout thistime, Mahira Yakub’s family has not been able to get in touch with her. It is alarming to learn that Mahira Yakub’s relatives residing in Xinjiang have been harassed by the Chinese authorities because other relatives living overseas shared updates about her on social media. This type ofintimidation has no legal basis and is aimed solely at curbing others’ right to free expression. Without access to her family and lawyer of her choice, I am deeply concerned about Mahira Yakub’s healthand wellbeing, especially as she did not receive adequate medical treatment when she suffered from liverdamage in a “transformation-through-education” facility from March to December 2018. I therefore call on you to: Release Mahira Yakub, unless there is sufficient, credible and admissible evidence that she committed an internationally recognized offence and is granted a fair trial in line with internationalstandards; Allow Mahira Yakub access to her family as well as prompt and adequate medical care, as necessary or requested, facilitate her right to have effective legal representation of her choice, andensure she is not subjected to torture and other ill-treatment; Stop all kinds of harassment and intimidation against Mahira Yakub’s relatives. Yours sincerely,Second UA: 86/20 Index: ASA 17/3491/2021 China Date: 7 January 2021 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Mahira Yakub worked at China Life Insurance Co. She also sold walnuts in local markets and taught Uyghur childrenMandarin Chinese at night. After Mahira Yakub went missing in April 2019, her sister who was living in Australia reached out to the Australian authorities for their help. It was only in September 2019 that she learned, throughcommunications between the Australian authorities and the Chinese embassy in Canberra, that Mahira Yakub hadbeen arrested on 15 May 2019 and “prosecuted in July 2019 for allegedly financing terrorist activities and is currentlyin good health”.Mahira Yakub’s parents are accused by the Chinese authorities of being “fleeing terrorists” despite being able to visit China without incident in 2015 and 2016. They have not been targeted in any way by the Australian authorities forsuspected criminal activities.According to her sister, Mahira Yakub transferred money to her parents in June and July 2013 to help them pay for a house in Australia. Mahira Yakub’s sister has kept the documentation, including the bank transfer receipts andrecords of the house purchase. The Chinese authorities also claimed that Mahira Yakub possessed items, including 66 photos, that promoted extremism. Mahira Yakub’s sister believes that the photos were of herself, Mahira and their mother wearing headscarves. No reasons were provided for Mahira Yakub’s detention in a “transformation-through-education” facility from March to December 2018. It is unclear if this detention was related to her money transfers to her parents.When Mahira Yakub was taken away on 5 September 2020, her family members were told that she would be takento Yining People’s Hospital for unknown reasons. However, her family members were not able to speak to her even on phone. According to her sister, Mahira Yakub has not been able to engage a lawyer because she is a Uyghur. Amnesty International has documented cases in which members of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang were unable to hire lawyers because the lawyers feared retaliation for representing them. Mahira Yakub’s aunt and uncle, Gulbekram Memtimin (麦米提敏‧ 木热古勒拜克 ) and Qasim Tohti (托合提‧ 哈斯木), were indicted on the same charges. They are currently released on bail.Xinjiang is one of the most ethnically diverse regions in China. More than half of the region’s population of 22 millionpeople belong to mostly Turkic and predominantly Muslim ethnic groups, including Uyghurs (around 11.3 million),Kazakhs (around 1.6 million) and other populations whose languages, cultures and ways of life vary distinctly fromthose of the Han who are the majority in “interior” China.In March 2017, the Xinjiang government enacted the “De-extremification Regulation” that identifies and prohibits awide range of behaviours labelled “extremist”, such as “spreading extremist thought”, denigrating or refusing towatch public radio and TV programmes, wearing burkas, having an “abnormal” beard, resisting national policies, and publishing, downloading, storing, or reading articles, publications, or audio-visual materials containing “extremist content”. The regulation also set up a “responsibility system” for government cadres for “anti-extremism” work andestablished annual reviews of their performance. It is estimated that up to a million Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other predominantly Muslim people have been held in the“transformation-through-education” centres. The Chinese authorities had denied the existence of such facilities until October 2018, when they began describing them as voluntary, free “vocational training” centres. They claim that theobjective of this vocational training is to provide people with technical and vocational education to enable them tofind jobs and become “useful” citizens. China’s explanation, however, contradicts reports of beatings, food deprivation and solitary confinement that have beencollected from former detainees. Chinahas rejected calls fromthe international community, including Amnesty, to allow independent experts unrestricted access to Xinjiang.Instead, China has made efforts to silence criticism by inviting delegations from different countries to visit Xinjiangfor carefully orchestrated and closely monitored tours.PREFERRED LANGUAGE TO ADDRESS TARGET: Chinese, EnglishYou can also write in your own language. PLEASE TAKE ACTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE UNTIL: 18 February 2021 Please check with the Amnesty office in your country if you wish to send appeals after the deadline. NAME AND PREFFERED PRONOUN: Mahira Yakub (she) LINK TO PREVIOUS UA: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa17/2391/2020/en/
MSCI and index compilers to drop China Mobile, Chinese telecoms stocks from global benchmarks
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Chad Bray chadwick.bray@scmp.com
·4 min read
MSCI said it would drop three of China’s biggest telecommunications companies from several of its global equity benchmark indices on Friday in response to a US executive order restricting ownership of companies with purported ties to the Chinese military.
The index compiler said it would drop the Hong Kong-traded shares of China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom from its family of MSCI ACWI indices and MSCI China All Shares indices at the close of business on Friday, following further guidance from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), an arm of the US Treasury Department.
S&P Dow Jones Indices said on January 6 it would remove the telecoms trio before the start of trading on Monday. FTSE Russell will also do the same to some of its stock, bond and other associated indexes on Monday.
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The announcement came after the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) said it would delist the American depositary shares (ADS) of the three Chinese telecoms beginning Monday. The NYSE originally announced on January 1 it would delist their shares, but reversed course several times this week until it received updated guidance from OFAC.
The US claims China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom are among companies controlled by the Chinese military. Photo: Bloomberg alt=The US claims China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom are among companies controlled by the Chinese military. Photo: Bloomberg
Last November, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that barred American investors, including pension funds and university endowments, from owning or trading securities of 35 companies and dozens of subsidiaries that the Trump administration claims are controlled by Chinese military.
The ban on US persons kicks in from Monday and they have until November 11 to divest their holdings of similarly designated companies but cannot buy new shares starting Monday.
The order is one among a flurry of moves taken in the waning days of the Trump administration against Chinese companies, including moves to limit their access to US capital markets.
On Wednesday, the administration added it would ban transactions with Ant Group’s Alipay, Tencent Holdings’ WeChat Pay and six other Chinese apps, citing national security concerns.
The Chinese telecoms stocks represented 0.07 per cent of the MSCI ACWI indices, 0.50 per cent of the MSCI Emerging Markets indices and 0.81 per cent of the MSCI China All Shares indices as of January 6, MSCI said.
MSCI previously said it would drop 10 Chinese companies from its indices after they were blacklisted by the US government, including surveillance camera maker Hangzhou Hikvision and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) and supercomputer manufacturer Dawning Information, which is also known as Sugon.
Other major stock and bond index providers, including FTSE Russell and S&P Dow Jones Indices, have taken similar steps beginning in December to drop designated Chinese stocks from their global benchmarks.
In this week’s announcements, S&P Dow Jones Indices said it would remove the telecoms trio from 113 headline equity indices, and five bonds from four indices, the start of trading on Monday. FTSE Russell will also do the same to some of its stock and other associated indexes.
“The companies facing immediate removal from the NYSE likely aren’t a major part of most US-based investors’ portfolios but may present issues on the margin,” said Katie Rushkewicz Reichart, Morningstar’s director of US equity strategies.
Actively managed funds in the US with Morningstar ratings held about US$1.3 billion worth of securities facing blacklisting as of their most recently disclosed portfolios, Rushkewicz Reichart said in a research note on Friday.
The biggest effect may be on 15 actively managed funds rated by Morningstar who held nearly US$700 million of China Mobile’s H shares or ADSs per their most recent disclosures, she said.
Shares of China Mobile fell as much as 9.9 per cent in intraday trading in Hong Kong on Friday, while shares of China Telecom dropped as much as 10.3 per cent and China Unicom (Hong Kong)’s shares were off as much as 11.2 per cent.
The ADSs of the telecoms companies traded in New York are fungible with their H-shares in Hong Kong, which means they can be exchanged for their counterparts ahead of the NYSE delisting. Each China Telecom ADS is equal to 100 shares in Hong Kong, while Unicom’s ratio is 1 for 10, and China Mobile’s ratio is 1 for 5.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2021 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved
China study says Wuhan COVID infections three times higher than official figure
China study says Wuhan COVID infections three times higher than official figure
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – The number of people who have been infected with COVID-19 in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus was first identified, could be around three times the official figure, according to a study by Chinese researchers based in the city.
The paper, published by the PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases journal on Thursday, analysed blood samples from more than 60,000 healthy individuals taken from locations across China from March to May 2020.
It found that 1.68% of those from Wuhan contained antibodies for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, compared to 0.59% in surrounding Hubei province and 0.38% in the rest of China.
With the city’s total population at more than 10 million, the researchers estimated that as many as 168,000 Wuhan residents were infected with the virus, compared to the official number of 50,340 hospitalised cases.
The study suggested at least two thirds of the total number were asymptomatic, and thousands could have been infected after the “elimination” of clinical cases, raising the possibility the virus could exist in a community for a long period without causing hospitalisations.
A separate study published by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) late last month put the “seroprevalence” rate in Wuhan, the percentage of the population with antibodies, even higher at 4.43%, implying that around half a million people in the city could have been infected.
COVID-19 was identified in Wuhan at the end of 2019, with the first outbreak associated with a seafood market in the city. China finally locked down Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province on Jan. 23, 2020, but critics say it should have acted sooner.
China has dismissed criticism of its early handling of the virus, and officials now point to overseas studies suggesting it was circulating in Europe several months before the Wuhan outbreak.
A 10-strong team from the World Health Organization was due to arrive in China this week to investigate the origins of COVID-19, but they have yet to be been given authorisation to enter the country.
Total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases to date in mainland China now stands at 87,331, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,634.
(Reporting by David Stanway; Editing by Michael Perry)
Trump administration to mull expansion of China investment ban – sources
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Alexandra Alper, Humeyra Pamuk and Mike Stone
·3 min read
By Alexandra Alper, Humeyra Pamuk and Mike Stone
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Trump administration officials are expected to discuss a proposed expansion of an executive order banning U.S. investment in alleged Chinese military companies at a Thursday afternoon meeting, according to two people familiar with the matter.
At the meeting, officials from the Defense, State and Treasury Departments will consider, among other things, proposed changes to the November directive, which has spurred confusion among investors and firms seeking to comply, five sources said.
One change that is likely to be discussed is a draft amendment that would direct U.S. investors to completely divest their positions in the blacklisted companies by Nov. 11, 2021, according to two of the sources.
If approved, the proposed change would dramatically broaden the scope of the directive, which now states only that U.S. investors must stop buying securities of the blacklisted companies by that date.
It was not clear if any final decisions would be made at the meeting. The State and Treasury Departments did not immediately respond to requests for comment and the Defense Department declined to comment.
The executive order, signed by President Donald Trump in November, is part of his bid to cement his tough-on-China legacy in the waning days of his administration. It also sought to give teeth to a 1999 law that tasked the Defense Department with drafting a list of Chinese companies it believes are owned or controlled by the Chinese military.
The Defense Department has not yet provided a rationale for designating the companies.
The Pentagon has so far blacklisted 35 firms, including China’s top chipmaker SMIC and oil giant CNOOC. Reuters reported that the administration was considering adding tech giants Alibaba and Tencent.
A Beijing foreign ministry spokeswoman previously said China opposed U.S. efforts to suppress its companies, adding that Washington’s moves run counter to principles of market competition.
The November directive spurred some index providers like MSCI to announce plans to shed some of the blacklisted companies from their indexes.
But confusion over what the order requires prompted the New York Stock Exchange last Thursday to announce plans to delist three Chinese telecom companies that the Pentagon added to the blacklist. On Monday, the NYSE scrapped the move and then in a surprise twist the exchange reversed course a second time on Wednesday and vowed to continue with its bid to delist the firms.
The confusion comes against a backdrop of tension among U.S. agencies about how aggressively to implement the order. Reuters and other news outlets reported that the State and Defense Departments had pushed back against the Treasury Department after it planned to issue draft guidance that was seen as watering down the order.
Both U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin later wrote in tweets that there was no disagreement over the executive order.
(Additional reporting by Karen Freifeld and Andrea Shalal; Writing by Alexandra Alper; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall and Aurora Ellis)