Social Stability - 179. page

Hundreds of thousands of college students in Hefei, Anhui Province, have been ordered to stay on campus according to Boxun. On April 18, 2008 tens of thousands of students took to the streets protesting outside the French chain store Carrefour in Hefei. The momentum continued on April 19. On April 20, the authorities ordered that students must not leave campus, except for in the case of an emergency and with the permission of their instructors.

Earlier, President Hu Jintao reportedly directed the Minister of Public Security to rein in student protests following the showing of Paris residents’ support for the Dalai Lama and Tibetan monks. Hu’s move was viewed as signs of his concerns that the protests might get out of hand, as happened during the June 4th student movement in 1989.

Source:
Boxun.com, April 22, 2008
http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2008/04/200804220005.shtml
Aboluowang.com, April 20, 2008
http://www.aboluowang.com/news/data/2008/0420/article_46711.html

Dr. Wang Juntao, a prominent democracy activist in the United States, warned that the current tour of the Global Human Rights Relay may lead to an unprecedented crisis for the Communist Party, surpassing the Tibetan protests. Wang stated. “According to statistics published by the Party, experts estimate every year there are about 100,000 group protests and 2.6 million petition visits by victims of government abuses in Mainland China.  They are potential participants in the China tour of the Global Human Rights Torch Relay. Their emotions can be easily ignited by the Torch. … The crisis triggered by the Human Rights Torch Relay will be the ultimate test of the ruling party.”

Source: Boxun, April 9, 2008
http://www.peacehall.com/news/gb/china/2008/04/200804090850.shtml

Boxun reports on April 14 that various Chinese organizations in Australia are being organized to circulate an urgent letter calling on Chinese in various Australian cities to help [Chinese people in] Canberra and support the April 24 Olympic Torch relay in Canberra. The report published the whole letter issued by the Australian Chinese Youth Exchange Promotion Association. The letter claims that there will be several hundred protesters composed of “Tibetan Independence” and other “anti-China” forces trying to sabotage the event. “These people rehearsed to humiliate China using the torch to light cigarettes and toilet paper, and using extinguishers to put out the Torch,” says the letter. The letter detailed the schedules for free transportation from various locations and promised to provide free meals. The report questions who pays for the free meals and free transportation.

Source: Boxun, April 14, 2008-4-15
http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/intl/2008/04/200804141107.shtml

Protests by nearly 1, 000 people broke out recently in the City of Khotan (Hetian), East Turkestan (Xinjiang), 500 seized and total information blackout in effect, reported Taiwan based China Times on March 30, 2008. 

World Uyghur Congress spokesman Dilixiati told China Times that the protests occurred on March 23 and 24 and that 80% of the protesters were women.  He said that the protesters made several demands, including the cessation of the torture of the Uighur people, the release of political prisoners and the return of unmarried women that the authorities forcibly took away as cheap labor.

Source: China Times, March 30, 2008
http://news.chinatimes.com/2007Cti/2007Cti-Rtn/2007Cti-Rtn-Content/0,4526,110109+112008033000357,00.html

On the morning of March 25, the second day of the protest, over 300 retirees from Ha Er Bin Insulation Material Factory in Heilongjiang province continued to gather in front of the Electric Motor Factory to demand the settlement of their overdue winter benefits package. The two-day protest was held in rainy and cold weather conditions. No factory officials came out to speak to the protesters.

Source: Chinese Human Rights Defenders, March 25, 2008 http://crd-net.org/Article/Class71/200803/20080325175518_8185.html

Xinhua reported today that more countries have expressed their support for China’s actions in handling the “severe and violent criminal incident” in Tibet. The governments of Sudan, Mauritius, and another eleven countries are among the latest, according to Xinhua. “A government has the responsibility to take necessary action to maintain social stability and security when facing violent incidents created by domestic separatists who are incited by foreign forces,” the report said. Xinhua also cited a statement from the government of Sudan openly expressing support of China’s “necessary actions."

Source: Xinhua, March 23, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008-03/23/content_7840257.htm

A Thai Chinese woman who had witnessed the protests in Tibet has identified a Tibetan shown holding a knife in a picture released by the Chinese government as a policeman, according to a spokesperson for the Dalai Lama on March 18, 2008. This Thai Chinese woman was detained with other foreigners at the Bajiao Street police station on March 14, when a group of Tibetans were detained and escorted into the station. She saw one of them, a man with a knife in his hand, take off his Tibetan robe and change into a police uniform. She was later forced to leave Lhasa and went to India via Nepal. Once in India she identified the person she had seen change into a police uniform as the same person in a picture released by the Chinese government as evidence of violence during Tibetan protests. The picture was also broadcasted by the BBC.

Source: Sound of Hope, March 20, 2008
http://soundofhope.org/programs/162/88669-1.asp

According to the  Hong Kong-based Apple Daily, as of March 15, the second day of reported protests in  Tibet, Mainland Chinese news media outlets were mostly silent about it. The official Xinhua news agency only reported on the protests on its English site.  At one point, Xinhua reported shooting by local police on its English site, but soon took the notice down.

Chinese Central Television (CCTV) aired some video footage about Tibet on its evening news on March 15, which only contained scenes of a group of young people burning stores or attacking civilians. It did not mention an earlier peaceful demonstration or the arrest of protesters by the local police. CCTV’s evening news called the protest “a riot that was carefully organized by Dalai Lama with the intention of damaging social stability.”

In the afternoon of March 15, major mainland Chinese websites and newspapers started to carry an article by Xinhua titled “Q&A issued by officials of the Tibet Autonomous Region about a small group of people creating social disorder” but the web link for posting comments was disabled.

Source: Boxun, March 16, 2008
http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2008/03/200803161002.shtml