China riots: 156 dead in ethnic unrest

Peaceful China sitting in the Angels House of the UN,
is killing peaceful protesters back at home where no-one can see...
Why is Satan allowed to sit in the House of Peace?

By John Garnaut

(SMH) - Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region in western China, was locked locked down under curfew last night after being rocked by the deadliest officially-acknowledged violence since the Tiananmen massacres of 1989.

The state news agency Xinhua said the death toll has risen to 156 with more than 800 injured, but it still remains impossible to verify who has been killing who.

The streets of Urumqi were deserted last night. Police road blocks throughout the city ensured the trickle of authorised traffic was confined to main arterial roads.

This correspondent was corralled into a minivan whose driver worked in the local Tourism Bureau, and who took advantage of his privileged road access to charge us more than twelve times the usual fare to get to us downtown.

Foreign journalists have been ushered to the Hai De Hotel, where they can file stories and receive online information at a specially designated press centre.

In contrast to Tibet, when foreign journalists were locked out of the region, The State Council's Information Office has decided to allow foreign journalists into Urumqi under controlled conditions.

But internet connections are unavailable elsewhere across the city while mobile phone and international dialling coverage appears to remain off-limits for most Urumqi locals.

Men in camouflage uniforms loiter on an armoured personal carrier outside the Hai De Hotel. Next to them are troop-carrying trucks including one which is decorated with a huge red banner: "The People's Armed Police Love the People, Stopping Riots for the People". (JEG's: does that mean "killing innocent people to stop the riots?" but who created the riot, it was a peaceful protest, not a riot.)

Elsewhere in Urumqi, it seems, internet connections and many mobile phone services have been cut.

Chinese official media have released only sparse details of the events of the violence and their causes, including television footage of burning vehicles and bloodied and dazed civilians, who appeared to be of the dominant Han Chinese ethnic group.

There are anecdotal reports of gunfire on Sunday night which appears to be corroborated by the background sounds in amateur footage posted on video sharing sites.

Uighur people now make up slightly less than half of the Xinjiang population, but in Urumqi they are a small minority, after waves of Han and Hui (Islamic) Chinese migration from the east.

The city is deeply divided on racial grounds, with Uighurs and Han Chinese often refusing to interact with each other even in commercial transactions.

In September last year, a Han Chinese driver in Urumqi refused to let this correspondent into his taxi before apologising to my Chinese-looking assistant: "I'm sorry, I thought he was Uighur".

Uighurs routinely boycott Han Chinese stores and individuals from both groups frequently categorise the other in offensive racial terms.

Uighurs have largely missed out on the region's recent resource-driven economic boom.

Since 1997 and particularly since March last year China's security apparatus has further inflamed tensions by singling out Uighurs for special restrictions and surveillance.

Uighurs on a plane from Beijing said their Beijing homes had been under constant surveillance yesterday by plain-clothed police, though they have no knowledge of or connection to the Xinjiang violence.

Today Chinese officials have said they will release more information and conduct a guided tour of the riot scene.

As of this morning, however, there remained only fragments of information and a trickle of unverified reports about what may be the deadliest violence to have rocked China in 20 years.

READ MORE---> China riots: 156 dead in ethnic unrest...

Court access for diplomats merely ‘a gesture’

(DVB)–Burma opposition party, the National League for Democracy, have said that allowing diplomats to observe Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial was merely a “gesture” and still falls short of making it an open trial.

In a statement released yesterday, the NLD, whose leader Suu Kyi is facing charges of breaching conditions of her house arrest, denounced the trial and said that proceedings were not consistent with the regulations of the court.

NLD Central Executive Committee Member Win Tin added that allowing journalists and diplomats into the courtroom did not make it a free and fair trial.

“This is merely a thing the government do similar to when they invite foreign diplomats to events where they destroy confiscated drugs in a gesture to convince them they are doing things properly.”

Similarly, the secretary of the Committee Representing the People’s Parliament said that it was a superficial move aimed only at convincing people that the trial is fair.

“In reality, the court should let the NLD and the family members of [Suu Kyi], and reporters from the media inside and outside of the country to enter it and study its procedures, in order to make it an open trial,” said Aye Thar Aung.

One of the diplomats allowed inside the courtroom yesterday, Britain’s Mark Canning, told the BBC that the move was welcomed but did little to alter the reality of the situation.

"All the paraphernalia of the courtroom was there, the judges, the prosecution, the defense,” he said.

“But I think this is a story where the conclusion is already scripted."

Reporting by Aye Nai

READ MORE---> Court access for diplomats merely ‘a gesture’...

Burma bars access to Suu Kyi trial again

(AFP)–Burma's military regime put the trial of opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi back behind closed doors today, after allowing diplomats and journalists to attend the hearing for just one day.

The junta had opened up the proceedings at the notorious Insein Prison near Yangon on Wednesday, in an apparent concession to fierce international criticism of the charges against the Nobel Peace Prize winner.

"The press will not be allowed today (Thursday). Only for one day were diplomats and press allowed," a Myanmar official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Diplomats said on Wednesday that they had been informed they would only be allowed in for one day, but the situation for the media was unclear until the official confirmation on Thursday.

A smiling, healthy-looking Aung San Suu Kyi, 63, had thanked diplomats for coming to the trial on Wednesday and said she hoped to meet them again in "better days."

Authorities allowed one diplomat from each of the 30 foreign embassies in Yangon to attend, while Aung San Suu Kyi met envoys from Thailand, Singapore and Russia.

Five journalists working for foreign news organisations and five from local groups were also allowed into the trial, which had previously only been reported on by the tightly controlled state media.

Aung San Suu Kyi faces up to five years in jail if convicted of charges of breaching her house arrest stemming from an incident earlier this month in which an American man, John Yettaw, swam to her lakeside house.

Myanmar's ruling generals have kept her in jail or under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years.

READ MORE---> Burma bars access to Suu Kyi trial again...

Journalists Attend Suu Kyi Trial

By SAW YAN NAING
The Irrawaddy News

Ten journalists were allowed inside the courtroom on Wednesday to cover the trial of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, said journalists in Rangoon.

Five journalists working for foreign news media were chosen by lot. Three were Japanese journalists and two work for Reuters and Agence France-Presse.

Riot police officers stand guard at a road block near Insein Prison in the northern suburb of Rangoon. (Photo: AP)

The remaining five were chosen by Burmese authorities. Sources believe they represent state-backed newspapers and publications associated with the regime.

A journalist who was chosen to report on the trial said it was not clear whether the authorities will allow the journalists to bring recorders and cameras into the courtroom. In the past, he said, journalists have not been able to use recorders or cameras when covering sensitive events.

A Burmese journalist in Rangoon confirmed that one journalist from the Myanmar Times was chosen to cover the trial.

Associated Press writers, who participated in the draw, lost out to the luck of the draw, sources said.

Wednesday is day three of the trial of Suu Kyi, who has been charged with violating the terms of her house arrest by allowing a US citizen, John William Yettaw, to stay overnight at her compound on Inya Lake. If convicted, she could be sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison.

Yettaw, 53, who allegedly swam across the lake to the compound, which is under 24-hour guard, is also on trial for violating Burmese security laws and immigration laws, along with two housekeepers who live with Suu Kyi.

READ MORE---> Journalists Attend Suu Kyi Trial...

Junta’s concern over foreign media grows

(DVB)–Strict media control enhances spiritual and intellectual nourishment, says an article in Burma’s leading state-run newspaper that speaks of the dangers of foreign media being broadcast into the country via satellite.

An article published today in the New Light of Myanmar newspaper called for the banning of satellite dishes to “protect the people against dangers and harms associated with news”.

“Satellite programmers are specially designed by major nations to wield influence over the international community in the sphere of the media,” wrote Ko Gyi Ngwe Zin Yaw.

The ruling State Peace and Development Council is notoriously fearful of foreign media being circulated inside Burma.

A number of journalists and internet bloggers have been given lengthy prison sentences for publishing material critical of the regime, or communicating with foreign media.

“The military government is always shutting the ears and eyes of people living in Burma,” said San Moe Way, secretary of the exiled Burma Media Association.

“That’s why they don’t want to see or hear foreign media, that’s why they fear the foreign media. "They are afraid of people watching the television or reading or hearing news from the radio.”

A wave of sentencing for journalists occurred following the September 2007 monk-led protests and last year’s cyclone Nargis.

Around 15 journalists are currently imprisoned, some, such as blogger Nay Phone Latt, with sentences of twelve years.

Burma has some of the world’s strictest laws regarding media censorship. The country was ranked 170 out of 173 in a press freedom index published by media watchdog Reporters without Borders in 2008.

Following cyclone Nargis, journalists were denied visas to access the country, although some managed to enter on tourist visas.

One month after the cyclone, the New Light of Myanmar led with a story on the “despicable” reporting of the cyclone by foreign media, under the title ‘The enemy who is more destructive than Nargis’.

San Moe Way believes the situation will get worse in the run-up to the scheduled elections next year.

“The 2010 elections will see more restrictions,” he said.

“They are tightening up on print media. The FM radio stations are being given licenses by government cronies to broadcast propaganda for the military and its own political parties during the elections.”

Reporting by Francis Wade

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Junta attack foreign media ‘fabrications’

READ MORE---> Junta’s concern over foreign media grows...

Junta attack foreign media ‘fabrications’

(DVB)–A leading state-run newspaper in Burma has accused foreign media of manufacturing a story in order to stir up tension between Burma and China.

The New Light of Myanmar newspaper said yesterday that foreign broadcasting stations had aired a story about Burma and attributed the source to a Chinese state-run broadcasting organization, Yunnan Province TV.

The article claimed however that the source was in fact a private-run channel called Phoenix TV, based in Hong Kong, who had broadcast the piece on 28 February and 1 March.

Given that Hong Kong is only a special administrative region of China, the Chinese government have no jurisdiction over its media industry, the article said.

“Anti-government broadcasting stations and groups, taking advantage of news reports aired by Phoenix TV, manufactured a fabrication as if the news about [Burma] was aired by the Yunnan Province TV Station,” it said.

“Actually, the attempt was to jeopardize China-[Burma] friendly ties.”

China has developed strong political and economic relations with Burma, and is a key trading partner. Last month the two countries signed a deal to pump Burma’s vast natural gas reserves to China’s mainland.

Burma’s ruling State Peace and Development Council are notoriously suspicious of foreign media. Following cyclone Nargis last year, journalists attempting to enter the country to report on the situation were denied visas.

Famously, one month after cyclone Nargis, the New Light of Myanmar led with a story on the “despicable” reporting of the cyclone by foreign media, under the title ‘The enemy who is more destructive than Nargis’.

Burma was placed fourth from bottom in international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders’ Press Freedom Index 2008, which examined restrictions on media in 173 countries.

Reporting by Francis Wade

READ MORE---> Junta attack foreign media ‘fabrications’...