Salem-News.com China articles Page 11

Amnesty International Says China`s Censorship of the Internet Must Stop

"...censorship measures adopted in China are not in the best interests of their customers and do not help promote freedom of expression or the right to information" -Roseann Rife, Amnesty International

(BEIJING) - Amnesty International has again urged the Chinese authorities to end censorship of the internet.

The matter hit the news after online firm Google raised concern about the hacking of human rights activists’ email accounts.

China Jails Tibetan Filmmaker

The India-based Tibetan government-in-exile estimates that 220 Tibetans were killed and 7,000 were detained in a subsequent region-wide crackdown.

(HONG KONG) - Authorities in the northwestern Chinese province of Qinghai have handed down a six-year jail sentence to a Tibetan filmmaker who returned from exile to make a documentary about his homeland, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reports.

The Xilin People’s Court handed down the sentence to Dhondup Wangchen, the producer of the documentary “Leaving Fear Behind,” in a secret trial that found him guilty of “splitting the motherland,” Tibetan sources told RFA’s Tibetan service.

Chinese Activist`s Family Gets US Asylum

It is reported that Guo has been constantly abused while serving his current sentence.

(HONK KONG RFA) - The wife and two children of a jailed Chinese rights lawyer have been granted political asylum in the United States, Radio Free Asia reports.

Zhang Qing, the wife of jailed Chinese rights lawyer Guo Feixiong, and their two children were notified of their status on Nov. 19, she told RFA's Mandarin service in her first interview since arriving in the United States in early April.

Discovery Suggests Humans didn`t Evolve from Chimpanzee-Like Ancestors (VIDEO)

Scientists said the findings suggest that hominids and African apes have each followed different evolutionary paths, and that we can no longer consider chimps as "proxies" for our last common ancestor.

(Washington D.C. Xinhua) - An international team of scientists reported Thursday that the skeleton of an early human who lived 4.4 million years ago shows humans did not evolve from chimpanzee-like ancestors.

The 17-year investigation into the discovery of the extremely fragile remains of the small "ground ape" found in the Afar region of Ethiopia will be described Friday in a special issue of the journal Science. The journal will also contain 11 papers about the discovery.

China Clamps Down on Minority Populations During Anniversary

China marks the 60th anniversary of Communist Party rule with major festivities, and curbs on everything from kites to knives and foreign TV.

(HONG KONG RFA) - Chinese authorities have clamped tight security curbs on the capital, Beijing, blocking off major tourist spots and taking precautions against possible unrest, ahead of a huge parade marking 60 years of Communist Party rule.

Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, along with some hotels, restaurants, and shops in the city center closed ahead of the celebrations on Thursday, Oct. 1, aimed at showcasing the rise of the world’s largest country from war-torn poverty to economic superpower.

China Wants to Build Military Relations With US

Despite 60 years of Communism, an international relationship between the US and China may be at hand.

(BEIJING Xinhua) - China on Tuesday urged the United States to create conditions for the stable development of military-to-military relations.

"We hope the US cautiously handles issues of arms sales to Taiwan and vessel and plane surveillance," said Ma Xiaotian, Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA).

In a meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, Ma said the two sides should "respect each other's core interests" and "properly handle differences and sensitive issues."

Election Call From Former Aide in China for Full Democracy

"All of the great mistakes at a national level with far-reaching consequences were committed under the planning and leadership of the Communist Party" - Bao, a former aide to disgraced late Communist Party chief Zhao Ziyang.

(HONG KONG RFA) - A former top official in China's Communist Party has called on patriotic Chinese to "return power to the people" and push for full democracy ahead of the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reports.

Sixty years after peasant leader Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China from Tiananmen Square on Oct. 1, 1949, former top Party aide Bao Tong said the Party has never admitted its mistakes.

CIA, Mossad Take Major Hits in Asian Covert Operations

Roll-up of arms caches results in Chinese-Burma border trouble.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Israeli criminal gangs operating methamphetamine labs in northern Burma (Myanmar), under the protection of a sizeable Israeli security and intelligence presence in the country, infiltrated the United Nations poppy eradication program.

The program seeks to convince ethnic Wa and Kokang's in the "Golden Triangle" region famous for opium production to change to other legal crops and turn in their weapons, mostly Chinese-made AK-47s, for cash.

Over a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Morakot Strikes East China

More than 300 houses have collapsed, and 16,200 hectares of farmland were inundated. The city's airport was closed and 56 roads were cut off by rainstorms.

(FUZHOU, China ) - Typhoon Morakot slammed into Chinese provinces on the eastern coast on Sunday, causing casualties, destroying houses and inundating farmlands.

Morakot made landfall in the coastal areas of Beibi Town, Xiapu County in Fujian Province, at 4:20 p.m., packing winds up to 118.8 kilometers per hour in its eye, the province's meteorological bureau said.

Outspoken Uyghur Economist Presumed Detained After Urumqi Clashes

An outspoken economist from China's Uyghur ethnic minority, whose blog was cited for allegedly instigating deadly ethnic clashes in Xinjiang, has gone silent and his whereabouts are unknown after he reported police had summoned him from his Beijing home, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reports.

(HONG KONG RFA) - "Police have been watching my home for two days now," Ilham Tohti, an economics professor at the Central Nationalities University in Beijing, said July 7th in a telephone interview, two days after deadly clashes in the northwestern city of Urumqi killed at least 156 people.

"They are calling me now, and I have to go. I may be out of touch for some time," he told RFA’s Uyghur service.