China warned on Saturday it would step up a controversial ”re-education” campaign for Tibetans after a fresh protest showed a huge security crackdown had failed to extinguish nearly one month of unrest. The statement in the state-run Tibet Daily newspaper called for Buddhist monks to become Chinese patriots.
Further unrest in Tibet’s capital appeared to have been sparked by attempts by police to carry out security checks, indicating the tension and volatility remaining in Lhasa weeks after a deadly anti-government riot. It was unclear exactly what occurred in Lhasa on Saturday but a SMS to residents from police said security checks carried out earlier in the day had ”frightened citizens”.
China said Wednesday at least 660 people had surrendered over deadly protests in and near Tibet as French President Nicolas Sarkozy raised the prospect of boycotting the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. More than 280 people had given themselves up to authorities following deadly protests in the Tibetan capital Lhasa against Chinese rule.
China said 19 people were killed in riots in the Tibetan capital last week and official media warned against the unrest spreading to the north-west region of Xinjiang, where Uighur Muslims bridle under Chinese control. Eighteen were burnt or hacked to death in the Lhasa violence, Xinhua news agency said.
Tibet authorities said on Thursday they had arrested dozens of people involved in a wave of anti-Chinese violence and prompted Beijing to pour in troops to crush further unrest. China’s response to last week’s violence has sparked international criticism and has clouded preparations for the Beijing Olympics.
China ramped up security on Thursday to quell a Tibetan uprising as it expressed concern over British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s planned meeting with the Dalai Lama. Huge military convoys were seen heading towards Tibet, while a build-up of troops took place in nearby provinces after a week of violent protests against China’s rule of the region.
China warned of a ”life and death” struggle with the Dalai Lama’s supporters today, as it sought to underscore its control of Tibet by claiming that over 100 rioters had surrendered to police. Officials had promised ”leniency” for anyone who handed themselves in before midnight on Monday, and warned that others would face harsh punishment.
China insisted on Monday that it had shown massive restraint in the face of violent protests by Tibetans, which it said were orchestrated by followers of the Dalai Lama to wreck Beijing’s Olympic Games in August. Exiled representatives of Tibet in Dharamsala, India, on Sunday put the death toll from last week’s protests in Lhasa, capital of the Himalayan region of Tibet, at 80.
Rioting erupted in a province neighbouring Tibet on Sunday, two days after ugly street protests by Tibetans against Chinese rule in Lhasa that the contested region’s government-in-exile said had killed 80 people. A police officer said that about 200 Tibetan protesters had hurled petrol bombs and burnt down a police station.
China flooded the streets of Lhasa with riot police on Saturday as the international community urged an end to the bloodshed in Tibet that has already claimed at least 10 — possibly dozens more — lives. Thousands of protesters smashed government offices in Xiahe after marching through the streets chanting support for the Dalai Lama.
China set a ”surrender deadline”, listed deaths and showed the first extensive television footage of rioting in Lhasa on Saturday, signalling a crackdown after the worst unrest in Tibet for two decades. Sources suggested China’s official death toll of 10, just months before the Beijing Olympics, may not tell the full story.
Protesters in Tibet’s capital, Lhasa, burnt shops and vehicles and yelled for independence on Friday as the region was hit by its biggest protests for nearly two decades, testing China’s grip months before the Olympics. Peaceful street marches by Tibetan Buddhist monks over previous days gave way to bigger scenes of violence and resentment in the remote, mountainous region.
A Chinese bride burned her new husband to death after he got into bed after a drunken argument without washing his feet. ”Wang and his wife, Luo, were married on February 2. The couple, however, frequently fought over trivial things while still on their honeymoon,” the Xinhua news agency quoted a local newspaper as saying.
No image available
/ 27 February 2008
Pollution turned part of a major river system in central China red and foamy, forcing authorities to cut water supplies to as many as 200 000 people, the provincial government and a state news agency said on Wednesday. Some communities along tributaries of the Han River were using emergency water supplies.
No image available
/ 18 February 2008
A Chinese contractor has won bids to build two railways in Libya worth a combined $2,6-billion as China enhances its economic presence in energy-rich African nations. Under one contract, China Railway Construction, the firm that built part of the railway to Tibet, would construct a 352km west-to-east coastal railway.
No image available
/ 13 February 2008
Freak cold and snow across the southern half of China over the past month killed 107 people and caused ,4-billion in direct economic losses, Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday. The freezing weather downed power lines, triggered a series of road accidents and left millions headed home for the Lunar New Year holiday stranded.
No image available
/ 7 February 2008
The thunder of firecrackers ushered in the Year of the Rat on Thursday, but millions of Chinese spent a cold holiday as teams fought to restore power knocked out by the worst winter weather in a century.
No image available
/ 5 February 2008
Millions of Chinese are likely to spend the biggest holiday of the year without power and water after more than a week of wild winter weather that shut down transport links. Railways and highways were returning to normal across China on Tuesday but millions are still trying to catch trains, planes and buses.
No image available
/ 5 February 2008
China’s prime minister said ”victory” was in sight on Tuesday with the country finally overcoming huge transport and power problems caused by weeks of savage weather. A huge backlog of passengers left stranded at airports, train stations and bus depots by blizzards and icy temperatures in the last three weeks appeared to be clearing.
No image available
/ 4 February 2008
Millions remained stranded in China on Monday ahead of the biggest holiday of the year as parts of the country suffered their coldest winter in a century. Freezing storms have killed scores of people and left travellers stranded before the Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival — the only opportunity many people have to take a holiday all year.
No image available
/ 3 February 2008
Fierce fighting with tanks and helicopter strikes rocked the capital of Chad for a second day on Sunday as rebels surrounded President Idriss Déby Itno in his palace and hundreds of foreigners fled the country. International aid organisations reported bodies in the streets and hundreds of people wounded.
No image available
/ 3 February 2008
Millions of Chinese workers battled for a precious train ticket home on Sunday as authorities struggled to keep order here following a stampede for seats that left a woman trampled to death. Savage winter snows and freezing temperatures that have brought much of the nation to a standstill.
No image available
/ 2 February 2008
Emergency crews struggled on Saturday to restore power to parts of southern China blacked out for a week by heavy snow as forecasters warned of no quick end to the worst winter weather in 50 years. The freak weather has killed at least 60 people and doomed millions to a cold, dark Lunar New Year holiday.
No image available
/ 1 February 2008
Millions of Chinese faced a humanitarian crisis on Friday, as petrol and food reserves dwindled and yet more bad weather was forecast for a country paralysed by record-breaking cold and snow. More than 160 counties and cities in central China were suffering blackouts and water shortages, Xinhua news agency said.
No image available
/ 29 January 2008
Chinese premier Wen Jiabao took a bullhorn in hand to encourage stranded passengers in the snow-bound city of Changsha, as unusually severe winter weather snarled transport throughout the south amidst the country’s worst power crisis.
No image available
/ 29 January 2008
Millions of Chinese shivered through power cuts and water shortages on Wednesday and millions more were stranded by snow that has blanketed parts of central and southern China, raising concerns about their safety. About 50 people have died, including 25 on Tuesday in a bus crash on an icy mountain road.
No image available
/ 22 January 2008
Chinese police have shut down a website selling real-time porn and arrested 33 people, state media said on Wednesday, part of a campaign which led to the shut-down of 44 000 websites and arrest of 868 people last year. Rights groups have said the campaign has been used as a pretext to crack down on dissent.
No image available
/ 17 January 2008
The waters of the Yangtze have fallen to their lowest levels since 1866, disrupting drinking supplies, stranding ships and posing a threat to some of the world’s most endangered species. Asia’s longest river is losing volume as a result of a prolonged dry spell, the state media warned on Wednesday.
Chinese opera, a massive fireworks display and a mystery ending will mark the highly anticipated opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics, media reported on Wednesday. The ceremony’s artistic director, Zhang Yimou, China’s most famous filmmaker, has dropped the first hints on the show’s content.
A pig genetically modified in China to make it glow has given birth to fluorescent piglets, proving such changes can be inherited, state media said on Wednesday. The sow was one of three pigs who had fluorescent green protein injected into their embryos when they were bred in December 2006 by scientists in north-east China.
Millions staged midnight parties at icon landmarks around the world to see in 2008 but bomb attacks and security fears quickly darkened New Year festivities. More than one million people lined Sydney harbour for fireworks that set off the global party and hundreds of thousands packed Hong Kong streets and historic European venues.
No image available
/ 29 December 2007
China on Saturday ruled full democracy in Hong Kong by 2012 but flagged universal suffrage for 2017 in a long-awaited decision on democratic reform for the former British colony, officials said. The decision is likely to upset democrats who had been pushing for 2012 as a deadline for changes in the way the chief executive and the legislature are chosen.