What Almas Nizamidin knows of his wife’s arrest and disappearance is second-hand: the harried reports relayed by his relatives as it rapidly unfolded. The police came for Buzainafu Abudourexiti at her home in Ürümqi as she was travelling to a doctor’s appointment on 29 March 2017. Her family called, she cancelled her appointment and hurried home. There, the police shoved a bag over her head, forced her into a car and drove her away. Her husband, her family, and her friends have not seen her since. She remains incarcerated in…
Month: December 2021
Can a ‘Very Confident’ Carrie Lam Salvage Her Legacy in Hong Kong?
HONG KONG — The students sat quietly as soldiers goose-stepped into the Hong Kong high school’s auditorium, hoisting a Chinese flag. The M.C.s spoke in Mandarin, the language of mainland China, rather than Cantonese, the city’s predominant language. Then Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, took the podium, to extol the importance of patriotism in the city’s youth. It was Mrs. Lam’s fourth visit to a school in recent weeks — a striking count for a leader who for two years had barely set foot on a campus. When anti-government…
How Hong Kong’s ‘Patriots Only’ Elections Bolster Beijing’s Grip
Only a few of all the candidates running this year have described themselves as “pro-democracy,” and they share one thing in common: They observe Beijing’s red lines. They have avoided the sort of political stances that could lead to their disqualification or even imprisonment, such as calling for independence for Hong Kong or foreign sanctions against Hong Kong officials. In Hong Kong’s new electoral landscape, the absence of the mainstream opposition has resulted in an odd political twist: Such outside candidates are being given some help by Beijing’s representatives and…
Nearly one-third of suicides in China are by old people
Dec 18th 2021 AS CHINA AGES, worries are mounting about the mental health of its elderly population. Globally, suicide rates among old people tend to be higher than average. In China this is especially true. People there aged 70 and above kill themselves at more than four times the rate of the general population, compared with around a quarter more in America. Loneliness and inadequate health care are among the main reasons. Listen to this story Your browser does not support the <audio> element. Enjoy more audio and podcasts on…
Hong Kong ‘patriots’ election casts doubt over democracy as city enters new era
Days before Hong Kong’s legislative council election, 15 months after it was supposed to be held, former legislator Ted Hui is on the phone from Adelaide railing against the government. In the southern Australian city he is far from the Hong Kong warrants for his arrest and instead in a place where, unlike many of his former colleagues, he can speak freely. “For the Hong Kong people there are not many choices now but to accept illegitimate elections. The parliament is going to be a rubber stamp for Beijing and…
U.S. Olympic Leader: Peng Shuai’s Sexual Assault Charge Must Be Investigated
With seven weeks to go before the start of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, leaders of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee criticized China’s handling of the recent allegations of sexual assault from one of its star athletes. China’s treatment of the three-time Olympian Peng Shuai, one of China’s top tennis players, has become a contentious issue since Nov. 2, when Peng accused a former top government official of sexually assaulting her. Little has been heard from her since. “I think this is a sad situation,” Susanne Lyons, chair…
To ‘Green’ the Belt and Road, China Needs to Set Clear Renewable Energy Targets
Advertisement China could develop as much as 679.69 gigawatts (GW) of solar polar in Belt and Road countries by 2030, and 26.55 GW of wind, which would effectively cut 1.8 billion tons of carbon emissions and create 310,000 new jobs. These figures come from two reports compiled and published in Chinese by my team at Greenpeace East Asia’s Beijing office. This research project also showed, in clear terms, that Chinese investors won’t deliver that impact – which would amount to a 17 percent cut in Belt and Road countries’ 2018…
China States Economic Priorities for 2022, Emphasizing ‘Stability’
Advertisement “Economic work next year must have ‘stability’ as its watchword,” resolved China’s Central Economic Work Conference last week, according to summary notes released by Xinhua. The conference was held December 8-10 in Beijing and chaired by CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping. The conference directed government departments at all levels to “take responsibility for stabilizing the macroeconomy.” “All stakeholders should actively introduce policies that are conducive to economic stability, and policy efforts should be carried out appropriately,” the conference notes stated. China’s economic growth has slowed over the past decade,…
US hits China with new trade curbs and sanctions over forced Uyghur labour
The United States has unleashed a volley of actions to censure China’s treatment of the Uyghur minority, with lawmakers voting to curb trade and issuing new sanctions on Beijing. The United States has been ramping up pressure on China amid a crop of disputes, with president Joe Biden’s administration a day earlier targeting producers of painkillers that have contributed to America’s addiction crisis. The US Senate unanimously voted to make the United States the first country to ban virtually all imports from China’s northwestern Xinjiang region over concerns of the…
U.S. Cracks Down on Firms Said to Aid China’s Repression of Minorities
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration said on Thursday that it would put limits on doing business with a group of Chinese companies and institutions it says are involved in misusing biotechnology to surveil and repress Muslim minorities in China and advancing Beijing’s military programs. In announcing one set of the moves, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said China was employing biotechnology and medical innovation “to pursue control over its people and its repression of members of ethnic and religious minority groups.” The administration said those efforts included the use of biometric…