Vietnam breaks up anti-China protests

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Hanoi, Vietnam, last month following China's oil and gas moves in the South China Sea. Source: AP

August 05, 2012
AFP

VIETNAMESE police have detained at least 20 people in a protest in Hanoi against Beijing's territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea.

Demonstrators were forced into waiting buses and taken to a rehabilitation centre usually used to detain sex workers and drug users, after attempting to gather in defiance of a heavy police presence, one detainee told AFP.

"There are at least 25 people here and there are arrestees elsewhere," the person -- who requested anonymity for security reasons -- said by telephone from the Loc Ha detention centre.

Another eyewitness estimated that 20 people had been detained.

Vietnam activists hold another anti-China rally

Protesters are seen shouting anti-China slogans and holding placards as they attend a rally in central Hanoi, on July 22, the third anti-China rally in the Vietnamese capital this month amid heightened territorial tensions over the South China Sea

AFP – 07/22/2012

About 200 protesters brought parts of central Hanoi to a brief halt on Sunday in the third rally this month against Beijing's perceived territorial assertiveness in the South China Sea.

Demonstrators shouting "Down with China's aggression!" brought traffic around Hoan Kiem Lake in the centre of the Vietnamese capital to a standstill as they marched towards the Chinese embassy.

They were prevented from getting close to the mission building by security forces -- who broke up similar rallies last year -- but no arrests were made, according to witnesses.

The protests come at a time of rising regional tensions over the South China Sea, which is believed to contain vast oil and gas deposits and is the subject of a web of competing claims between Beijing and its neighbours.

Vietnam reacts against Chinese power-play in South China Sea [-Khmer should protest against Viet aggression along its borders also!]

(Photo coming up soon!)

Anti-China protesters march with a Chinese national flag with an image of a pirate's skull and bones on a street in Hanoi June 5, 2011. Up to 300 people shouting "Down with China" marched to the Chinese embassy in Vietnam on Sunday to protest against what they see as Chinese violations of Vietnam's sovereignty in the disputed South China Sea. REUTERS/Kham

June 6, 2011
International Business Times

Yesterday over 1,000 Vietnamese protesters marched through the center of Ho Chi Minh City, rallying against what they say is China's domination in the South China Sea.

Protesters at the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi numbered in the hundreds.

Vietnam reported that late last month that Chinese ships sliced cables on a PetroVietnam survey ship.

China is vying with its historical tributary state and several other nations in the region for control of one of the world's busiest shipping lanes and what is believed to be vast oil reserves.

Appeal to Chinese government over missing asylum seekers

3 Jan 2010
By Agency reporter
Source: Ekklesia (UK)

Amnesty International has called on the Chinese authorities to reveal the whereabouts of 20 ethnic Uighur asylum-seekers who were forcibly deported from Cambodia to China on 19 December 2009.

The group, which includes two very young children, may be at risk of torture or even execution since their forcible deportation at the request of the Chinese government.

Since 2001, Amnesty has documented cases in which Uighur asylum seekers or refugees who were forcibly returned to China were detained, reportedly tortured and in some cases sentenced to death and executed.

"The 20 should either be charged with recognizably criminal offences or released," said Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific Director Sam Zarifi in a letter to the Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi Buzhang.

"Their trials should meet international fair trial standards, and under no circumstances should the death penalty be imposed.

"Our concerns are heightened by the fact that the Chinese authorities have already executed nine people and sentenced eight others to death in relation to the July 2009 unrest in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region," said Sam Zarifi.

Amnesty International has also urged the Chinese government to provide the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) with immediate access to the 20 individuals to monitor their well-being.

China shows no tolerance for dissidence

BEIJING, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- China may have deservedly earned all the international accolades for its dazzling economic achievements, but two recent developments show its Communist regime is nowhere near winning similar praise for tolerating political dissidence or challenge to its authority in any form.

In the first instance, China, going against pleas and urgings from around the world, handed an 11-year prison sentence to Liu Xiaobo, the country's widely respected ardent supporter of democracy and freedom of speech.

In an equally disturbing move, China convinced Cambodia to deport 20 Uighurs who had fled to that country for political asylum to escape the crackdown on their fellow Turkic-speaking minority members by Chinese authorities for the ethnic riots last July in the far northwest Xinjiang-Uighur region.

The 53-year-old Liu's trial in a Beijing people's court last week on subversion charges lasted only about three hours. His wife and foreign diplomats were not allowed to attend the proceedings, which preceded his Friday sentencing on charges of "inciting subversion of state power."

The charges against Liu, who has been politically active since the 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy protest in Beijing, resulted from articles posted on the Internet and jointly authoring the "Charter 08" petition against one-party rule and urging human rights and free speech.

The Washington Post, quoting a relative, reported that at the trial, Liu's lawyers were allowed only 14 minutes of speaking time.

"Liu has been engaged in agitation activities, such as spreading of rumors and defaming of the government, aimed at subversion of the state and overthrowing the socialism system in recent years," according to a police statement reported by China's state-run Xinhua news agency.

Human Rights Watch in New York said Liu, a prolific writer, has been detained, arrested and sentenced repeatedly for peaceful political activities since the late 1980s.

HRW's Sophie Richardson, calling the trial a "travesty of justice," said its only purpose was "to dress up naked political repression in the trappings of legal proceedings" against non-existent crimes.

China's response was that the international calls for Liu's release were "gross interference" in its internal affairs. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said those expressing such concerns should respect the country's judicial sovereignty.

Commenting on the former university lecturer's prison sentence, Rebecca MacKinnon, a fellow at the Open Society Institute and co-founder of GlobalVoicesOnline.org, told the Post: "It certainly seems to reflect a high level of sensitivity and very low level of tolerance."

There had been expectations among other Chinese dissidents that some of the reforms in recent years would lead to political modernization in step with the country's economic modernization, the Post report said.

U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley was quoted as saying: "As far as we can tell, this man's crime was simply signing a piece of paper that aspires to a more open and participatory form of government. That is not a crime."

In the incident relating to the Uighurs' deportation from Cambodia, China also said it was an internal matter as the 20 Uighurs were suspected of committing criminal offences, and urged the outside world not to make irresponsible remarks, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said the "Chinese citizens" had broken the laws of both China and Cambodia by illegally crossing the border and that Cambodia had acted according to its immigration law.

"China is a country under the rule of law. Judicial authorities will deal with these people's illegal criminal activities in accordance with the law and safeguard their legitimate rights," Jiang said.

It is not clear what fate awaits the deported Uighurs, but last Friday a Chinese court sentenced five more people to death, bringing to 22 the total condemned to die for the July ethnic riots. The five were part of a new group of 22 suspects tried by a court in Urumqi, capital of the region where the July riots killed about 200 people. The others were sentenced from 10 years to life in prison.

The July riots involved the minority Muslims Uighurs and the majority Han Chinese. Chinese officials have said most of the victims were Han Chinese. Tensions between the two groups have been simmering for a long time as the Uighurs resent being ruled by the Hans.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang, commenting on whether the deportation of Uighurs was linked to China's assistance to Cambodia, said both countries have maintained a comprehensive and cooperative partnership. "We provide assistance to Cambodia in line with our own capacity and without any strings attached," Xinhua quoted her as saying.

However, two days after the 20 Uighurs were deported, China signed 14 business deals with the Cambodian government worth about $1 billion, The New York Times reported.

Cambodia at Fault in Uighur Expulsion: Expert

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington
28 December 2009

A leading rights investigator squarely blamed the government for the forced deportation of 20 Uighurs to China last week, as officials failed to examine their asylum status in time.

“As we have not done this, that’s why we received criticism from countries and from UNHCR,” said Ny Chakrya, chief investigator for the rights group Adhoc, as a guest on “Hello VOA.”

The Uighurs were reportedly fleeing unrest in their home province of Xinjiang, where anti-Chinese rioting in May left nearly 200 people dead. Twenty-two arrived through November. Beijing called them criminals, and, on the eve of the arrival of China’s vice president, Cambodia deported them.

The move prompted sharp criticism for the UN, the US and international rights groups, who said the government had failed to adhere to its international obligations to protect refugees and asylum seekers.

Government officials said they applied immigration laws and were not pressured by China to deport the group. They also blamed UNHCR for failing to assess the status of the group quickly enough. (Two Uighurs remain at large.)

Ny Chakrya said Thursday the Cambodian authorities themselves had failed to properly assess the asylum seekers and instead deported them as illegal immigrants.

“That seems to affect our obligation and violate universal human rights, as well, if the 20 Uighurs receive persecution,” he said.

China has already executed at least 17 people in the wake of the July riots.

Cambodia was obligated to investigate each individual case and to protect the asylum seekers until it could determine their status, Ny Chakrya said.

Any criminal accusations should have been investigated from Cambodia, using documents from China, to determine whether the criminal charges were politically motivated, he said.

International law should be applied before domestic law, he said.

“If those 20 Uighurs have problems after they return, then Cambodia’s credibility will face more serious [challenges],” he said.

Leader Of The Pack

Source: Strategy Page

December 28, 2009: China aspires to be a world power. It's understood that China cannot do this alone. Even the mighty United States has allies it depends on. Who can China depend on? Not a lot. In fact, China has a rather disturbing roster of friends. There's Pakistan, a corrupt nation, always on the verge of falling apart and one of the few remaining sanctuaries for Islamic terrorists. China is also cozy with North Korea, Iran and Myanmar, pariah nations all. So China has been forced to improvise. This has resulted in uniting the search for allies, with business opportunities, China embraces countries willing to do business (especially if they have needed raw materials), no matter what their international reputation. As a result, China has made friends with some of the most unsavory states of Africa. China is nonplussed by Western disdain at this behavior. It's business, and the outcast states have few nations they can do business with. That cuts down on the competition. Operating conditions are less than ideal, but the Chinese are accustomed to dealing with corruption and criminal gangs. It's really a good fit.

China played on these friendships recently to get Cambodia to expel twenty Chinese citizens (ethnic Turks, or Uighurs) suspected of participating in recent ethnic violence, and sending them back to China. China does not want the separatist minded Uighurs setting up operations outside China, and is using all its diplomatic clout to extradite wanted Chinese citizens from foreign sanctuaries.

Chinese courts are being kept busy persecuting Internet pests. The expense and stress of going to trial, then the large fines, or even jail term, that usually result, causes outspoken Chinese to think twice before they say something, the government might not like, on the Internet. Writer Liu Xiaobo was recently sentenced to 11 years in prison, because he wrote a book that called for more freedom. China has been a communist police state for the last 60 years, and the people in charge want to keep it that way.

December 27, 2009: China announced that it had rescued the Chinese coal ship, the De Xin Hai, and its 25 Chinese sailors, off the coast of Somalia. What was not immediately mentioned was the payment of a $3.5 million ransom, and the pirates then leaving the ship. The seizure of the ship, two months ago, despite the presence of Chinese warships and commandos in the area, was embarrassing for the Chinese government. Little was said, in the government controlled press, about the De Xin Hai. But the chatter on the Internet was less than flattering for the government. That apparently led to the attempt to spin the ransom payment as a military rescue mission.

December 24, 2009: A court in western China condemned five more Uighur men to death, for participating in ethnic violence earlier in the year. Five other death sentences were commuted, meaning the accused would spend life in prison. Nearly a thousand people, mostly Uighurs, have been arrested and are being prosecuted. The government is still seeking several hundred others, many who have fled the country.

December 17, 2009: China has a growing reputation for taking every opportunity to do a little espionage on the side, especially an overseas business operation is close to a military base. For example, the U.S. government is threatening to block a Chinese firm from developing a mine in Nevada, because the operation would be too close (80 kilometers) to Fallon Naval Air Station, where experimental work is done. Earlier in the year, Australia also blocked Chinese investment in a mining operation that was near Woomera (where missiles are tested.) In Taiwan, Chinese government officials are not allowed to own real estate. While there are some national security concerns at play here, Taiwan is mainly concerned with preventing corrupt Chinese officials from hiding their loot in the form of Taiwanese commercial and residential property.

East Turkestan: More Xinjiang Death Sentences

Monday, 28 December 2009
Source: UNPO

China's national media haven't reported on new trials and death sentences related to deadly riots in Xinjiang.

Below is an article published by Radio Free Asia:

A court in China has handed down death sentences to another five people for their alleged roles in deadly ethnic rioting in Urumqi, capital of the far western Xinjiang region, news agencies say.

The new trials, omitted from China’s national media, brings the number of death sentences handed down in connection with the rioting to atleast 22, of which at least nine have already been carried out.

“Altogether 22 defendants in five cases went on trial Dec. 22- 23,” Reuters quoted Hou Hanmin, director of the Xinjiang Government Information Office, as saying.

The names of the defendants all appeared to be Uyghur. Uyghurs are a Turkic, largely Muslim people indigenous to what China now calls the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), many of whom bitterly resent Chinese rule in the region.

News blackout

Hou declined to specify the charges, which she said were published in Xinjiang newspapers. The Internet has been blocked in Xinjiang since July, and local newspaper Web sites are inaccessible from outside the region.

Ma Xinchun, spokesman for the Urumqi city government also told AFP that five people were handed death sentences and eight given life in prison. Four more were handed sentences of 10 years or longer, Ma was quoted as saying.

Ethnic Uyghurs attacked Han Chinese in Urumqi on July 5, after protests against Han attacks on Uyghur workers in Guangdong, in far-off southeastern China. Majority Han launched revenge attacks two days later.

Urumqi’s Intermediate Court meanwhile sentenced five more people to death with a two-year suspension—which the courts generally commute to life in jail.

Another eight people were jailed for life, according to a statement faxed by the spokeswoman.

The statement said the court was shown ample evidence in the open trials, and that more similar trials would follow.

China last week pressed Cambodia to deport a group of 20 Uyghurs, including two young children, who fled after the July riots and sought asylum with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Phnom Penh.

Cambodia said it expelled the Uyghurs because they had illegally entered the country. It has since been sharply criticized by Washington, which said the deportations would harm bilateral ties with the United States, though they may have strengthened relations with Beijing.

On Monday, China signed off on more than U.S. $1.2 billion in aid to Cambodia during a visit there by Vice President Xi Jinping. The assistance, including 14 agreements for grants and loans, ranges from help in building roads to repairing Buddhist temples.

Fatal flaws in Chinese law

The Dalai Lama, a thorn for communist China (Photo: AP)

28/12/2009
Bangkok Post
EDITORIAL

China is a rapidly emerging nation, in the jargon of the day, but it has shown defects that will prevent it from being a true world power. Industrially and in many economic areas, China measures up to its reputation as a global player. Its defence forces are modernising. But two recent events, at home and abroad, show that Beijing has not earned and cannot command the respect of a 21st century superpower.

The ''state subversion'' trial of the dissident Liu Xiaobo failed all possible tests of fairness. Outsiders were not permitted and the witnesses did not testify in public. Mr Liu, a 53-year-old former literature professor, was brought into the court, heard his accusation read, and then was taken away for 11 years in prison, plus two more years of enforced censorship.

The procedure was no trial to determine guilt or innocence. Instead, it was a harsh warning to others who might dare to write or to voice complaints against central authorities.

The second case took place in Cambodia, and the proceedings were even murkier and more opaque than the trial of Prof Liu. Chinese diplomats or other authorities gave Cambodia orders, threats or an ultimatum - who knows which, or what combination? - that caused the Hun Sen government to reverse its old policy of granting asylum to political refugees. Now, Cambodia has ''decided'' to deport 20 Chinese Uighurs, including two infants back to China. Beijing has said the 20 were criminals, involved in last July's riots which left at least 197 people dead in Urumqi city and the surrounding Xinjiang Autonomous Region.

China offered no public proof that the Uighur refugees were criminals or violent. The refugees themselves said they feared punishment, jail terms or the death penalty. Cambodian authorities who had previously drawn strong praise from the United Nations for helping refugees from regional minority groups clearly felt the Chinese breath on their back of the neck over the case. It was obviously no coincidence that just days after Cambodia deported the Uighur, China announced 14 separate aid deals, worth US$850 million (30 billion baht).

Like all countries, China uses its diplomatic and economic strength to try to gain its strategic goals. But Beijing officials too often go overboard, seem unwilling to suspend their own questionable beliefs, and consider that there is more than one way to approach an issue and to solve disagreement.

For example, China has bullied Thailand for three decades over the Dalai Lama. The Chinese embassy and senior government officials on visits to Thailand have made it clear there would be severe repercussions if the former Tibetan leader stepped foot on Thai soil. It is a shame that Thai officials have bent to this threat, but there is no reason to make such an issue out of a possible visit to Thailand by a world Buddhist figure. China, of course, made exiled Thai communists welcome and gave them strong support for the violent plans to overthrow the government and institutions of Thailand. Nor has any harm come to Thailand because of failure to crack down on the Falungong group, detested and banned in China.

The single-minded cruelty of the Liu trial and the Uighur deportation is a serious blemish on the makeup of the Chinese administration. It is clear from examples in China and other countries that Prof Liu posed no real threat to central power. Both he and the Uighur families deserved fair hearings instead of the deeply flawed justice of today's China.

More Xinjiang Death Sentences

Demonstrators march in Urumqi, July 5, 2009. (Sent by a witness)

2009-12-25
Radio Free Asia

China's national media haven't reported on new trials and death sentences related to deadly riots in Xinjiang.

HONG KONG—A court in China has handed down death sentences to another five people for their alleged roles in deadly ethnic rioting in Urumqi, capital of the far western Xinjiang region, news agencies say.

The new trials, omitted from China’s national media, brings the number of death sentences handed down in connection with the rioting to atleast 22, of which at least nine have already been carried out.

“Altogether 22 defendants in five cases went on trial Dec. 22- 23,” Reuters quoted Hou Hanmin, director of the Xinjiang Government Information Office, as saying.

The names of the defendants all appeared to be Uyghur. Uyghurs are a Turkic, largely Muslim people indigenous to what China now calls the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), many of whom bitterly resent Chinese rule in the region.

News blackout

Hou declined to specify the charges, which she said were published in Xinjiang newspapers. The Internet has been blocked in Xinjiang since July, and local newspaper Web sites are inaccessible from outside the region.

Ma Xinchun, spokesman for the Urumqi city government also told AFP that five people were handed death sentences and eight given life in prison. Four more were handed sentences of 10 years or longer, Ma was quoted as saying.

Ethnic Uyghurs attacked Han Chinese in Urumqi on July 5, after protests against Han attacks on Uyghur workers in Guangdong, in far-off southeastern China. Majority Han launched revenge attacks two days later.

Urumqi’s Intermediate Court meanwhile sentenced five more people to death with a two-year suspension—which the courts generally commute to life in jail.

Another eight people were jailed for life, according to a statement faxed by the spokeswoman.

The statement said the court was shown ample evidence in the open trials, and that more similar trials would follow.

China last week pressed Cambodia to deport a group of 20 Uyghurs, including two young children, who fled after the July riots and sought asylum with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Phnom Penh.

Cambodia said it expelled the Uyghurs because they had illegally entered the country. It has since been sharply criticized by Washington, which said the deportations would harm bilateral ties with the United States, though they may have strengthened relations with Beijing.

On Monday, China signed off on more than U.S. $1.2 billion in aid to Cambodia during a visit there by Vice President Xi Jinping. The assistance, including 14 agreements for grants and loans, ranges from help in building roads to repairing Buddhist temples.

Original reporting by RFA's Uyghur service and news agencies. Service director: Dolkun Kamberi. Written by Sarah Jackson-Han.

Forcible Return Of Uighurs

24 December 2009
Voice of America Editorials
The Following is an Editorial Reflecting the Views of the US Government

Cambodia took a step back this month in the protection of fundamental human rights. On December 18, the Royal Government of Cambodia forcibly repatriated a group of 20 asylum seekers, members of China's Uighur community, back to China before the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR] had the chance to complete its refugee status determination.

U.S. State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said, "The United States is deeply concerned about the welfare of these individuals, who had sought protection under international law. We are also deeply disturbed that the Cambodian government decided to forcibly remove the group without the benefit of a credible process for determining refugee status and without appropriate participation by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees."

"The United States strongly opposed Cambodia's involuntary return of these asylum seekers before their claims have been heard," said Mr. Duguid. He noted that "the incident will affect Cambodia's relationship with the U.S. and its international standing."

Cambodian law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in accordance with the 1951 U-N Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 protocol, to which Cambodia is a signatory. But the Uighurs were denied the protection afforded by the law.

During his trip to China earlier this year, President Barack Obama said the United State does not "seek to impose any system of government on any nation, but we also don't believe that the principles that we stand for are unique to our nation." These principles include fundamental human rights, he said. "They should be available to all people, including ethnic and religious minorities," said President Obama, "whether they are in the United States, China, or any nation."

Now that the group of Uighurs who were seeking asylum in Cambodia has been returned to China, the United States urges the government of China to allow UNHCR access to all twenty Uighurs and to provide them with international standards of due process. The U.S. continues to stress to all parties the importance of respecting human rights and honoring their obligations under international law.

China to execute five more for Xinjiang unrest

Thursday, December 24, 2009
By Robert Saiget
AFP

BEIJING — Five more people have been sentenced to death over ethnic violence in July in China's Xinjiang region, an official said Thursday, as Beijing's human rights record comes under a harsh new spotlight.

The sentences bring to 22 the number of people condemned to die or executed over the unrest in the Xinjiang capital Urumqi, which pitted mainly Muslim Uighurs against China's Han ethnic majority and left nearly 200 dead.

The first executions last month of nine people for their roles in the violence drew sharp criticism from the United States, the European Union and rights groups concerned that the accused had not been guaranteed due process.

Eight others were sentenced to death earlier this month.

"On Wednesday, 22 people were tried in five cases with five people being sentenced to death and five others sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve," Ma Xinchun, spokesman for the Urumqi city government told AFP.

A death sentence with a two-year reprieve is often commuted to life in prison if the defendant is deemed to exhibit good behaviour.

The spokesman refused to give other details, such as the names and ethnicity of the convicted or their crimes.

During the initial eruption of violence on July 5, Uighurs attacked Han Chinese, but in subsequent days mobs of Han roamed the streets seeking revenge on the minorities, who have long complained of repression under Chinese rule.

According to official figures, more than 1,600 people were injured in the ethnic violence, the worst seen in China in decades.

Uighurs say the violence was initially triggered when police cracked down harshly on peaceful demonstrations in Urumqi that were held in protest of the beating deaths of two Uighur migrant workers at a factory in southern China.

China says it faces a serious separatist threat in Xinjiang. But exiled Uighurs say Beijing exaggerates the threat to justify harsh controls in the strategic western region, which is rich in energy reserves.

Based on names provided in state media reports, most of those sentenced to death and executed before Wednesday's sentencings have been Uighurs.

In recent weeks, Chinese police have been rounding up suspects that fled Urumqi after the unrest, with the government reporting earlier this month that 94 fugitives had been brought into custody after fleeing.

On Saturday, Cambodia handed over to China another 20 Uighurs who had sought political refuge in the Southeast Asian nation following the unrest, prompting a firestorm of criticism from the West amid fears they could face mistreatment.

Washington said it was "deeply disturbed" by the move and said relations with Phnom Penh would suffer, while the EU urged Beijing to treat them properly.

The UN special rapporteur on torture, Manfred Novak, on Tuesday called the expulsion of the Uighurs "a blatant violation" of anti-torture rules and urged an independent probe as well as access to the group should they be detained.

Washington and Brussels have also expressed concerns this week over the trial of prominent Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo on subversion charges. He faces a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted when the verdict is given Friday.

"As far as we can tell, this man's crime was simply signing a piece of paper that aspires to a more open and participatory form of government. That is not a crime," US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said.

"Clearly, a political trial that will likely lead to a political conviction is uncharacteristic of a great country."

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu on Thursday slammed statements made by foreign governments about Liu's case, calling them a "gross interference" in China's internal affairs.

China is also facing calls from Britain and rights groups for clemency for a Briton with reported mental health problems due to be executed in the Asian nation next week on drugs charges.

London said it was "alarmed and concerned" when Akmal Shaikh's final appeal was denied, but Beijing says the case has been handled properly.

More Uighurs sentenced to death in China

December 23, 2009
Michael Sainsbury, China correspondent
The Australian

The fresh trials are set to begin only days after Cambodia deported 20 Uighur asylum-seekers to China as the emerging economic superpower unveiled $1 billion in development aid to the impoverished south-east Asian nation. China has denied the money is linked to the return of the Uighurs

CHINA has begun sentencing 20 more ethnic Uighurs - some to death - for their part in riots which left 197 people dead in the remote western city of Urumqi on July 5, as the second batch of trials of more than 1200 people arrested as a result of the carnage began today, with at least one man sent for execution.

In early December five people were sentenced to death and a further eight given prison terms, bringing to 17 sent to be executed in trials of the first two groups of people from the bloody unrest. Nine have been executed so far.

The province of Xinjiang, of which Urumqi is the capital, remains locked down with internet, text messaging and international phone access cut off.

The Australian has learned that three new trials were held today with other accused expected to be given their final sentences in coming days.

On July 5, long simmering tensions between Muslim Turkic-speaking Uighurs and the majority ethnic Han erupted as members of the minority group attacked and killed dozens of Chinese, sparking citywide violence that lasted several days in which thousands were injured along with the casualty count.

The unprecedented events saw a massive lockdown of the city and others parts of Xinjiang province where Uighurs account for about 40 per cent of the 22 million population.

The military and police presence in Urumqi has been reduced in the past few months but machine-gun-toting groups of uniformed militia regularly patrol the streets in the Uighur sector south of the Urumqi business district.

Nineteen-year-old Uighur Mehmet Maheti was sentenced to death yesterday after being found guilty of two murders and robbery. He has five days to decide whether to appeal or not.

Maheti was accused beating 41-year-old Han businessman Yang Quanhong to death on the night of July 5 – leaving a widow, his seventy-year-old parents and a son born at the end of July.

“My husband didn't have a chance to have a single look at his son,” Mr Yang’s widow Luan Xingyan Yang told The Australian.

“He was hoping for a child for years, and got me pregnant when he was not young. It's a feeling nobody else can experience.

“We were driving on street the evening of July 5, they dragged me and my husband out of our car and started beating him. I ran away back home for help, and they stole my mobile too.

“I called my mobile, and got through at around 2am the next day. Maheti picked up my call and said 'we beat your husband dead, you come here’."

Ms Luan said that during the trial Maheti showed no regret. He said he beat Yang but didn't beat at fatal parts of his body.

“He showed no sign of regret, nor did he apologise as have some others at previous trials,” Ms Luan said.

But overseas Uighur groups have claimed that since an initial seven-week clampdown, dozens of Uighurs have “disappeared” and other have been regularly harassed by authorities and rounded up in mass detentions. Police announced on December 4 they had arrested a further 94 people as part of a “strike hard” campaign started in November that has so far netted an extra 382 in custody.

Xinjiang Information Office Director General Hou Hanmin said that about 825 people were arrested between the start of the riots and the end of August.

“The trials have been open to family and the media and have been according to the law,” Ms Hou told The Australian.

But journalists in Urumqi who spoke on condition on anonymity said that they had been given less than a day’s notice of the trials and warned by the government not to write detailed reports or conduct their own investigations into the murders or the accused.

Yet almost six months since the violence, it remains unclear how quickly the trials of the remaining detainees will progress through China’s opaque legal system.

The fresh trials are set to begin only days after Cambodia deported 20 Uighur asylum-seekers to China as the emerging economic superpower unveiled $1 billion in development aid to the impoverished south-east Asian nation. China has denied the money is linked to the return of the Uighurs.

Protest Over Deportations

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (L) meets with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in Phnom Penh, Dec. 21, 2009. (AFP)

2009-12-21
Radio Free Asia

Cambodia's deportation to China of Uyghur asylum-seekers will harm U.S. ties, Washington says.

HONG KONG—China is defending its deportation of 20 ethnic minority Uyghurs who had fled to Cambodia in the wake of deadly ethnic rioting, as the United States voices “deep concern” over the move.

The ethnic Uyghurs sought asylum in Cambodia following deadly ethnic riots this summer in China’s far western region of Xinjiang. China says they are suspected criminals.

They were deported back to China on Saturday despite international protests and fears that they could face trial, torture, and execution in China.

“In line with immigration law, Cambodia has in recent days deported 20 Chinese citizens who illegally entered their country,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a faxed statement. “The Chinese side received the above-mentioned people according to usual practice.”

Jiang didn’t indicate where the Uyghurs were or whether they had been charged with any crime upon their return to China.

U.S. protest

The U.S. State Department said Sunday it was “deeply disturbed” by the move, which may have violated Cambodia’s international obligations to asylum-seekers.

Washington “is deeply concerned about the welfare of these individuals, who had sought protection under international law," State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said.

“The United States strongly opposed Cambodia’s involuntary return of these asylum seekers before their claims have been heard. This incident will affect Cambodia’s relationship with the U.S. and its international standing,” Duguid said in a statement.

He urged Beijing “to uphold international norms and to ensure transparency, due process and proper treatment of persons in its territory.”

Ethnic rioting in July between Uyghurs and the majority Han Chinese was China’s worst communal violence in decades. The Chinese government says the violence left nearly 200 people, mostly Han, dead.

China has handed down at least 17 death sentences over the rioting. Police have meanwhile detained more than 700 people in connection with the unrest, according to earlier state news reports.

The United States, the United Nations, and human rights groups had urged Cambodia to stop the deportation. And in statements given to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and seen by the Associated Press, several of the Uyghur asylum-seekers voiced fears they would be imprisoned or executed upon their return.

The Chinese government has detained hundreds of Uyghurs, and at least 43 Uyghur men have disappeared in the wake of ethnic violence that erupted in Urumqi on July 5, according to Human Rights Watch, which says the actual number of disappearances is likely far higher.

Uyghurs, a distinct and mostly Muslim ethnic group, have long complained of religious, political, and cultural oppression by Chinese authorities, and tensions have simmered in the Xinjiang region for years.

Kadeer speaks out

Rebiya Kadeer, president of the World Uyghur Congress and the Uyghur American Association, said in a commentary Monday that the deportations signify “China’s increasing ability to resist international pressure regarding its human-rights violations.”

“Governments of countries neighboring China are reluctant to take any action that would displease Chinese authorities, leaving Uyghurs nowhere to flee,” Kadeer wrote in The Wall Street Journal.

Kadeer, a former political prisoner in China, called on governments “committed to the preservation of human rights” to press Beijing over the case.

“During my time in a Chinese prison, my jailers often told me the world did not care about me or the Uyghurs’ struggle for freedom, but my treatment did improve when officials from the U.S. and other democratic countries campaigned for my release,” she wrote.

“If there is to be any hope for the safety and well-being of these Uyghur asylum-seekers, it is vital that world powers continue to press China regarding their welfare.”

Original reporting by RFA's Khmer and Uyghur services and by news agencies. Khmer service director: Sos Kem. Uyghur service director: Dolkun Kamberi. Executive producer: Susan Lavery. Written and produced in English by Sarah Jackson-Han.

Deportation of Uighur Asylum Seekers Condemned

By Heng Reaksmey and Chun Sakada VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
21 December 2009

The US joined rights groups on Monday in condemning the forced return to China of 20 Uighur asylum seekers over the weekend.

The Muslim Uighurs had fled after anti-Chinese riots in their home province of Xinjiang in July, but Chinese officials had said they should be returned to face criminal charges.

The US condemned the deportation, which occurred before members’ asylum status could be assessed by the UN’s refugee office in Phnom Penh and on the eve of a visit by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping.

The US State Department said in a statement the forced return would affect Cambodia’s relationship with the US and its international standing.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Kuy Kuong said the move had been conducted under Cambodia’s constitution.

Xi arrived in Cambodia on Sunday to lead a high-level delegation to discuss cooperation between the two nations and “promote common development.”

“The good-neighborly relations between China and Cambodia are in the interests of the two peoples and benefit the peace, stability and prosperity in the region," Xi told the Chinese news agency Xinua on his arrival in Siem Reap.

Deported Uighurs told UN of fears of China return

Tuesday, December 22, 2009
By TINI TRAN
AP

BEIJING — Ethnic Uighur asylum-seekers forcibly repatriated over the weekend had warned the U.N. refugee agency they feared long jail terms or even the death penalty if they were sent back to China, according to statements seen Monday by The Associated Press.

The 20 Uighur Muslims had fled to Cambodia in search of asylum after witnessing and documenting violent ethnic riots in the restive western Chinese region of Xinjiang this summer that left nearly 200 dead. They were put on a plane from Phnom Penh to Beijing on Saturday under heavy pressure from China, despite strong protests from the U.S. and the United Nations.

China has called the Uighurs suspected criminals, and on Monday defended the forced returns, saying it was in line with immigration law.

"The Chinese side received the above-mentioned people according to usual practice," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a faxed statement. Jiang refused to say where the Uighurs are being held and whether they had been charged with any crime.

Cambodia said it expelled the Uighurs because they had illegally entered the country. It has since been publicly censured by the U.S., which warned the deportations could hurt their bilateral relations.

But it may have helped cement Cambodia's ties with China, a key ally and major donor to the impoverished Southeast Asian nation. On Monday, China signed over $1.2 billion in aid to Cambodia during a visit there by Vice President Xi Jinping. The assistance, including 14 agreements for grants and loans, ranges from help in building roads to repairing Buddhist temples.

Several of the Uighurs had told the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR, in Cambodia, that they feared lengthy imprisonment or even the death penalty if they were returned to China because they had been involved in the summer's ethnic unrest.

Their written statements, which had been provided to the U.N. to support their asylum applications, were obtained independently by The AP Monday. Their names are not being published for fear of retaliation by the government. The statements describe the bloodshed that broke out after security forces cracked down on protesting Uighurs. The unrest, in which Uighurs also clashed with ethnic Han Chinese residents, was widely regarded as the worst ethnic violence in the region for decades.

One man, a 29-year-old from Kashgar, said he had taken photos and videos of the chaos on July 5 in the Xinjiang capital of Urumqi. He told of watching and filming from a roof at night as military police clashed with and shot at protesters, and Uighurs fought back with rocks. He said he saw bloodied bodies in the streets.

"I felt like I was in a battlefield. Looking down at the streets full of Uighur bodies, I thought that I was going to die," he said in his statement.

Four days later, he met a foreign reporter on the streets and agreed to turn over the photographs and video footage.

"If I am returned to China, I am sure that I will be sentenced to life imprisonment or the death penalty for my involvement in the Urumqi riots," he said in his statement.

Another 29-year-old witness, from Aksu, who had sold cell phones for a living, said he had joined some 300 protesters in the main square before hundreds of police arrived and began beating them.

"I heard shots fired and became very scared ... The next morning, I went into the street after praying. I saw blood on the streets," he said in his statement.

A third man, a 27-year-old teacher from Aksu, said that before the summer unrest he had been pressed to act as an informant by state security officials who wanted to know if his students were anti-Chinese. They asked him to monitor Uighur communist Web sites. He spent more than a year being tortured and beaten in a re-education camp.

"I can tell the world what is happening to Uighur people and the Chinese authorities do not want this. If returned, I am certain I would be sent to prison," he wrote in his statement.

The group of Uighurs had made the journey from China's far west through to Vietnam and then Cambodia with the help of a network of missionary groups. Two Uighurs fled before the group was forced to return on a special plane sent to Phnom Penh Saturday.

The European Union said Monday it was "deeply concerned" about Cambodia's decision to return the group of Uighurs to China and urged Beijing to respect the rights of the returnees.

"The (Cambodian) government's action shows a worrying disregard for Cambodia's obligations under international law, as well as for specific undertakings given to UNHCR in this case," said a statement from the EU's Swedish presidency.

Earlier, the United States voiced similar concerns, while human rights groups say they fear the Uighurs will be harshly persecuted.

Overseas Uighur groups say Uighurs in China have been rounded up in mass detentions since the summer's violence. China has handed down at least 17 death sentences over the rioting.

Associated Press Writer Isolda Morillo in Beijing contributed to this report.

UNHCR deplores deportation of asylum-seekers before claims heard

Geneva, Saturday 19 December 2009
Source: UNHCR

The UN refugee agency expressed deep concern today about the involuntary return of asylum seekers before their claims have been heard. A disturbing pattern of such cases is increasingly evident around the world.

States are bound by the principle of non-refoulement, which applies to both those recognized as refugees and those seeking asylum.

The forced return of asylum-seekers without a full examination of their asylum claims is a serious breach of international refugee law.

UNHCR is deeply distressed at today's forced return of some 20 ethnic Uighurs from China who had filed asylum claims in Cambodia but whose cases had not yet been assessed.

On Friday, UNHCR communicated to the Royal Government of Cambodia its concern at reports of imminent deportation.

China defends deportation of Uighur asylum-seekers

Monday, December 21, 2009
AP

BEIJING — China's foreign ministry on Monday defended the repatriation of 20 Uighurs who had fled to Cambodia, saying the move was in line with immigration law and usual practice.

The ethnic Uighurs sought asylum in Cambodia following deadly ethnic riots this summer in China's far western region of Xinjiang. China says they are suspected criminals.

They were deported back to China on Saturday despite protests from the U.S. and the U.N. There are fears the Uighurs, a Muslim ethnic minority, may be mistreated in China.

"In line with immigration law, Cambodia has in recent days deported 20 Chinese citizens who illegally entered their country," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a faxed statement. "The Chinese side received the above-mentioned people according to usual practice."

Jiang added that China is strongly opposed to and cracks down on illegal immigration and hopes the international community can work together to jointly fight such crimes. She did not say where the Uighurs were or whether they had been charged with any crime upon their return to China.

The U.S. State Department said Sunday it was "deeply disturbed" by the move, which may have violated Cambodia's international obligations to asylum-seekers. The U.S. also says it is concerned about the welfare of the Uighurs.

State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said the incident would affect Cambodia's relationship with the United States and its international standing.

The ethnic rioting in July between Uighurs and the majority Han Chinese was China's worst communal violence in decades. The Chinese government says the violence left nearly 200 people, mostly Han, dead.

Overseas Uighur groups say Uighurs have been rounded up in mass detentions since the violence. China has handed down at least 17 death sentences over the rioting.

China pats Hun Xen's head for being its good henchman?

China praises Cambodia as Uighurs deported

Sun Dec 20, 2009

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will deal with 20 ethnic Uighurs who were deported from Cambodia over the weekend as illegal immigrants, praising relations with the Southeast Asian country as a model of good cooperation.

The comments came as a top Chinese official began a visit to Phnom Penh to boost commercial ties.

The Uighurs, a Turkic Muslim minority involved in rioting in western China that killed nearly 200 people in July, were smuggled into Cambodia in recent weeks and applied for asylum at the United Nations refugee agency office in Phnom Penh.

They were deported for breaking immigration laws, the Cambodia government said.

"Recently, Cambodia deported 20 Chinese citizens in accordance with immigration laws for illegal entry into Cambodia. China received these people in accordance with usual practices," China's Foreign Ministry said in a brief faxed statement.

"China is resolutely opposed to and will crack down hard on people smuggling, and believes the international community should step up cooperation to combat these crimes together," it added.

Human rights groups have said they feared for the lives of the Uighurs if they were deported to China. The U.N. refugee agency also condemned the deportations.

The case coincides with a visit to Cambodia by Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping, seen as frontrunner to succeed President Hu Jintao. Xi is expected to sign 14 pacts related to infrastructure construction, grants and loans.

On Sunday evening, Xi praised ties with Cambodia.

"It can be said that Sino-Cambodia relations are a model of friendly cooperation," the Foreign Ministry paraphrased Xi as saying, in a statement on its website (www.mfa.gov.cn).

China is Cambodia's biggest investor, having poured more than $4 billion in foreign direct investment into the country.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

DECEMBER 21, 2009.The Uighurs Have Nowhere to Flee

Beijing is using its growing clout to persecute Uighurs outside China's borders.

DECEMBER 21, 2009
By REBIYA KADEER
OPINION ASIA
Wall Street Journal

The Cambodian government must be held accountable for its act of complicity with the Chinese government. Cambodia is a signatory of the 1951 Refugee Convention, but turned a deaf ear to the entreaties of the U.S. and other democratic countries on behalf of these Uighur asylum seekers. Phnom Penh's decision was no doubt influenced by enormous Chinese pressure, backed by hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and a reported $1 billion in foreign direct investment. Prime Minister Hun Sen has labeled China as Cambodia's "most trustworthy friend," and Cambodian officials were loathe to disappoint Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping on the eve of his Dec. 20 visit to Phnom Penh.

On Saturday night under cover of darkness, a special Chinese plane departed from the military section of the Phnom Penh airport carrying 20 Uighur asylum seekers. For this group of men, women and children, this was the end of their failed effort to seek freedom from the Chinese regime.

Cambodia's decision to deport the asylum seekers, who were in the process of applying for refugee status at the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, is a reminder that Beijing's oppression of the Uighurs does not stop at China's borders. The Uighurs are a predominantly Turkic, Muslim people who live in East Turkestan (also knows as the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region). For decades they have been the victims of systemic human-rights abuses at the hands of the Chinese government.

Fearing further persecution, these 20 Uighurs had fled to Cambodia in November with the assistance of Christian aid groups. The Cambodian Foreign Affairs Ministry initially declared it would cooperate with the UNHCR regarding the asylum interview process, but, in an about-face with tragic consequences, two days later issued a proclamation of "illegal entry" by the 20 Uighurs. UNHCR officials had yet to finish reviewing their cases when the Uighurs were handcuffed and forcefully taken from UNHCR protection by Cambodian authorities. China's track record of mistreating repatriated Uighur refugees leads us to fear that they can expect even worse on Chinese soil.

There's little hope these deportees will receive fair trial: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesmen have already declared them to be criminals without offering any evidence to back up their claims (and despite the fact two of the Uighurs are children). China's insistence on the guilt of these Uighurs in the absence of proof is consistent with its treatment of other Uighurs detained after the July unrest in Urumchi, whom Chinese officials declared to be criminals prior to the start of any criminal trials.

Beijing leaned hard on Phnom Penh to secure the deportation of these Uighurs, because once free they would no doubt contradict the official version of the events of July 5, when security forces cracked down violently on Uighur protestors and unrest spread through the city of Urumqi. The government has portrayed the unrest solely as a criminal act carried out by a small group of violent Uighurs, ignoring the security forces' killings of Uighur protestors, the mass arbitrary detentions of Uighurs and the systemic human-rights issues that led Uighurs to engage in a peaceful protest on the afternoon of July 5. At least two of the recently deported Uighurs reported having witnessed security forces beating and killing Uighur protestors on July 5.

The Cambodian government must be held accountable for its act of complicity with the Chinese government. Cambodia is a signatory of the 1951 Refugee Convention, but turned a deaf ear to the entreaties of the U.S. and other democratic countries on behalf of these Uighur asylum seekers. Phnom Penh's decision was no doubt influenced by enormous Chinese pressure, backed by hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and a reported $1 billion in foreign direct investment. Prime Minister Hun Sen has labeled China as Cambodia's "most trustworthy friend," and Cambodian officials were loathe to disappoint Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping on the eve of his Dec. 20 visit to Phnom Penh.

The deportation of the Uighurs in Cambodia is a sign of China's increasing ability to resist international pressure regarding its human-rights violations. As China's economic influence grows throughout Asia and the world, so too does its diplomatic clout. Economies in Central, South and Southeast Asia are increasingly dependent on cooperation with China, as the Chinese market seeks to feed its ravenous need for the natural resources available in these nations. Governments of countries neighboring China are reluctant to take any action that would displease Chinese authorities, leaving Uighurs nowhere to flee.

The United States and other nations committed to the preservation of human rights must call upon China to provide the 20 repatriated Uighurs with due process of law and must continue to express concern about their situation despite China's protestations over what it terms "interference in its domestic affairs." During my time in a Chinese prison, my jailers often told me the world did not care about me or the Uighurs' struggle for freedom, but my treatment did improve when officials from the U.S. and other democratic countries campaigned for my release. If there is to be any hope for the safety and well-being of these Uighur asylum seekers, it is vital that world powers continue to press China regarding their welfare.

Ms. Kadeer is the president of the World Uighur Congress and the Uighur American Association.