China has stepped up repression in its ethnic Tibetan regions to prevent any protests during the Beijing Olympics, an activist group said yesterday.
“To prevent potentially embarrassing protests inside Tibet, China has turned large parts of Tibet into a virtual prison for the duration of the Games,” Matt Whitticase, spokesman for the Free Tibet Campaign, said in a statement.
China poured security forces into its Tibetan areas after riots in March to quell the unrest, and the Free Tibet Campaign said the military build-up was accompanied by policies aimed at punishing activist monks and monasteries.
China’s Foreign Ministry did not have any immediate comment.
But an editorial in the state-run China Daily said foreign countries had been unfairly critical of Beijing’s treatment of its ethnic minorities: “Many should feel ashamed of their groundless accusations once they know what the Chinese government has done for ethnic minorities.”
China is planning to build six new railway lines in and around Tibet that will go into operation before 2020, the Ministry of Railways said in an announcement on its Web site on Saturday.
It said two of the new lines would run from Lhasa to other areas in Tibet, while the other four would be built in other provinces on the Tibetan plateau.
In other developments, the government received 77 applications from 149 people who wanted to hold protests during the Olympics, but all were withdrawn, suspended or rejected, Xinhua news agency said yesterday.
The complaints ranged from labor and medical disputes to inadequate welfare, it said.
Citing a spokesman for the Public Security Bureau, Xinhua said 74 of the applications were withdrawn because the problems “were properly addressed by relevant authorities or departments through consultations.” Two other applications were suspended because they did not provide sufficient data and one was rejected because it violated laws against demonstrations and protests, the spokesman said.
Human rights groups and families of people who have applied for permits to protest say some were taken away afterward by security agents, prompting critics to accuse officials of using the plan as a trap to draw potential protesters to their attention.
Wang Wei (王偉), vice president of the Beijing Olympics organizing committee, yesterday defended the protest plan to journalists.
“Many problems have not been solved, not even by the United Nations, and some want them to be solved during the Olympic Games, putting pressure on the International Olympic Committee and the Beijing Olympic Committee,” Wang said. “This is not realistic ... We think that you do not really understand China’s reality.”
A
China has stepped up repression in its ethnic Tibetan regions to prevent any protests during the Beijing Olympics, an activist group said yesterday.
“To prevent potentially embarrassing protests inside Tibet, China has turned large parts of Tibet into a virtual prison for the duration of the Games,” Matt Whitticase, spokesman for the Free Tibet Campaign, said in a statement.
China poured security forces into its Tibetan areas after riots in March to quell the unrest, and the Free Tibet Campaign said the military build-up was accompanied by policies aimed at punishing activist monks and monasteries.
China’s Foreign Ministry did not have any immediate comment.
But an editorial in the state-run China Daily said foreign countries had been unfairly critical of Beijing’s treatment of its ethnic minorities: “Many should feel ashamed of their groundless accusations once they know what the Chinese government has done for ethnic minorities.”
China is planning to build six new railway lines in and around Tibet that will go into operation before 2020, the Ministry of Railways said in an announcement on its Web site on Saturday.
It said two of the new lines would run from Lhasa to other areas in Tibet, while the other four would be built in other provinces on the Tibetan plateau.
In other developments, the government received 77 applications from 149 people who wanted to hold protests during the Olympics, but all were withdrawn, suspended or rejected, Xinhua news agency said yesterday.
The complaints ranged from labor and medical disputes to inadequate welfare, it said.
Citing a spokesman for the Public Security Bureau, Xinhua said 74 of the applications were withdrawn because the problems “were properly addressed by relevant authorities or departments through consultations.” Two other applications were suspended because they did not provide sufficient data and one was rejected because it violated laws against demonstrations and protests, the spokesman said.
Human rights groups and families of people who have applied for permits to protest say some were taken away afterward by security agents, prompting critics to accuse officials of using the plan as a trap to draw potential protesters to their attention.
Wang Wei (王偉), vice president of the Beijing Olympics organizing committee, yesterday defended the protest plan to journalists.
“Many problems have not been solved, not even by the United Nations, and some want them to be solved during the Olympic Games, putting pressure on the International Olympic Committee and the Beijing Olympic Committee,” Wang said. “This is not realistic ... We think that you do not really understand China’s reality.”
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
CHIP EXCEPTION: An official said that an exception for Taiwanese semiconductors would have a limited effect, as most are packaged in third nations before being sold The Executive Yuan yesterday decried US President Donald Trump’s 32 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods announced hours earlier as “unfair,” saying it would lodge a representation with Washington. The Cabinet in a statement described the pledged US tariffs, expected to take effect on Wednesday next week, as “deeply unreasonable” and “highly regrettable.” Cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said that the government would “lodge a solemn representation” with the US Trade Representative and continue negotiating with Washington to “ensure the interests of our nation and industries.” Trump at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday announced a 10 percent baseline tariff on most goods
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats
RSS