Salem-News.com China articles

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.

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.

Tight Security After Deadly Xinjiang Clash

The weekend clashes left at least 156 dead and hundreds injured.

(HONG KONG) - Residents of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) report a heavy police and paramilitary presence inside and outside the regional capital, Urumqi, where deadly clashes erupted at the weekend following a protest by ethnic minority Uyghurs, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reports.

"The situation in Gulja is so intense right now. I saw armed police everywhere when I went out to buy oil this morning. I saw five armored vehicles patrolling the streets..."

American Journalists Investigating Human Trafficking Sentenced to 12-Years in North Korean Gulag

One of the last nation's to hold onto hardcore Communism takes another step in the wrong direction.

(SALEM, Ore.) - Two Asian/American journalists associated with former Vice President Al Gore have been sentenced to 12-years in North Korea's notorious prison camps. North Korean Communists charge that Laura Ling and Seung-eun Lee entered the country illegally and are spies.

Sources close to the two journalists say they didn't even enter North Korea, and that they were snatched by North Korean border guards while on Chinese soil.

Salmonellosis Outbreak Traced to Pepper Spices; Break Came in Testing at a Portland Restaurant

The contaminated pepper was packaged under the “Lian How” and “Uncle Chen” labels and sold to restaurant suppliers and markets – much of it going to Chinese and Vietnamese establishments.

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - Public health officials in Oregon and three other western states have tracked a multi-state outbreak of salmonellosis to ground pepper imported, packaged and distributed by a California company.

Union International Food Co. of Union City, Calif., immediately announced a voluntary recall of ground black pepper and white pepper as well as a number of other products that could have been cross-contaminated in its manufacturing facility.