Emperor performs ritual to report abdication to Shinto gods

April 18, 2019

TOKYO (AP) — Emperor Akihito prayed at a Japanese shrine Thursday in a ritual to report his upcoming abdication to the Shinto gods. The 85-year-old emperor will retire on April 30 in the first abdication in 200 years and a rarity in Japan's ancient imperial history.

Crown Prince Naruhito will succeed to the Chrysanthemum throne May 1. Akihito performed the "Shinetsu no Gi" ritual at Ise Shrine in western Japan as part of the succession process. Akihito in a tuxedo headed into the shrine, with palace officials holding up two imperial treasures — sword and jewel. The third, a mirror, is kept at the shrine. The treasures were brought from the palace in Tokyo and traveled with the emperor. The regalia, or three treasures, will be handed to Naruhito after his succession.

His daughter and head shrine priest, Sayako Kuroda, also attended. Ise Shrine was a center of Japan's wartime emperor worship that still attracts political and business leaders today. Japanese emperors were once believed to be direct descendants of the sun goddess Amaterasu, who is enshrined at Ise and who sits at the top of "yaoyorozu," or 8 million gods of all things in Shinto. Rituals at Ise Shrine are intended for the imperial family, and the emperor was the head priest until 1945 while Shinto was the state religion and the emperor was said to be a living god.

Shinto, a religion perhaps as old as Japan itself, is a rich blend of folklore, reverence for all things natural and the Japanese nation.

Hong Kong activists prepare for Tiananmen candlelight vigil

June 04, 2019

HONG KONG (AP) — Pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong were preparing for a candlelight vigil Tuesday commemorating the 30th anniversary of the bloody Tiananmen crackdown, underscoring concern for Chinese human rights in the semi-autonomous territory, even as its own civil liberties are under threat.

Hong Kong is the only region under Beijing's jurisdiction that holds significant public commemorations of the 1989 crackdown and memorials for its victims. Hong Kong has a degree of freedom not seen on the mainland as a legacy of British rule that ended in 1997.

The annual event beginning at 8 p.m. at Hong Kong's Victoria Park near the bustling Causeway Bay shopping district is expected to attract tens of thousands of participants. This year's vigil will feature a replica of the "Goddess of Democracy," a plaster sculpture of a female figure holding a torch that was displayed in Tiananmen Square in the days leading up to the 1989 crackdown, which took place on the night of June 3-4 and is believed to have killed hundreds and possibly thousands of people.

"That statue was crushed by tanks at the June 4 crackdown, the June 4 massacre. So we are rebuilding this here ... to symbolize that we are still continuing to fight for democracy, and continue on the spirit of the '89 democratic protests," said Chow Hang Tung, vice chair of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, which organizes the annual vigil.

Visitor Winnie Ma, a 55-year-old church worker, said she brought her 80-year-old mother out to the park especially to view the statue on the 30th anniversary. "I don't know if she will see it vindicated, but I hope that I will be able to," Ma said.

Meanwhile, at the University of Hong Kong, a dozen students laid flower bouquets at the "Pillar of Shame," a sculpture by Danish artist Jens Galschiot commemorating the crackdown's victims. "Just because I wasn't born then and never experienced the event, there's no stopping me from reminding others like me of this and carrying on the collective memory," said 18-year-old student Donald Chung.

Thirty years ago, the Tiananmen protesters gained widespread support and sympathy from residents of Hong Kong, whose return to Chinese rule had been agreed upon just years earlier. Hong Kong supporters helped sustain the protests with donated funds and equipment and, following the crackdown, mobilized to smuggle wanted student leaders out of the country, sometimes with the assistance of organized crime groups known as triads.

The spirit of political activism has now passed to a younger generation, crystallizing in the 2014 Occupy protests, also known as the Umbrella Movement, which laid siege to Hong Kong government headquarters and paralyzed the city's financial district for 79 days.

The movement fizzled with no concessions from the Hong Kong government for free elections, and the authorities have since cracked down hard on its leaders, sentencing nine in April on public nuisance and other charges.

More recently, activists, as well as business and legal associations, have protested amendments making it easier to send criminal suspects in Hong Kong to mainland China, where they could face vague national security charges and unfair trials.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has been seen as extending his crackdown on civil liberties to Hong Kong, threatening the territory's promised semi-autonomy. A march against the amendments is scheduled for Sunday ahead of the government's expected push for passage on June 12.

Chaotic scenes at Hong Kong legislature over extradition law

May 11, 2019

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong's legislative assembly descended into chaos Saturday as lawmakers for and against controversial amendments to the territory's extradition law clashed over access to the chamber.

At least one lawmaker was taken from the chamber on a gurney after apparently fainting during the morning melee, in which legislators pushed and shoved each other on the floor, amid seats and tables and in an adjoining hallway.

The amendments have been widely criticized as eroding the semi-autonomous Chinese territory's judicial independence by making it easier to send criminal suspects to mainland China, where they could face vague national security charges and unfair trials.

Under the "one country, two systems" framework, Hong Kong was guaranteed the right to retain its own social, legal and political systems for 50 years following its handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997. However, China's ruling Communist Party has been seen as increasingly reneging on that agreement by forcing through unpopular legal changes.

Legislators in the pro-Beijing camp attempted to seat Abraham Razack, also known as Abraham Shek, who had been named earlier in the week through another committee and a contested interpretation of council rules to replace pro-democrat James To Kun-sun as head of the Bills Committee. To had stalled passage of the legislation over two sessions and Razack was seen as the best chance to push it through before the July recess.

However, pro-democracy legislators continued to claim James To is the legitimate chief of the committee guiding discussion of the proposed new law. Both they and their opponents had scheduled rival meetings on the same topic in the same Legislative Council meeting room on Saturday, starting just 30 minutes apart.

The two rival committees both claimed to be in charge of the same process of scrutinizing the new law before deciding on whether to vote on it. At one point, Wu Chi-wai, the Democratic Party chairman who tried to stop Shek from presiding over the meeting, shouted at him, saying "Don't be a sinner for a athousand years! Don't sell out Hong Kong."

The legislator removed by paramedics was identified as Gary Fan Kwok-wai of Neo Democrats. The amendments expand the scope for the transfer of criminal suspects to China and remove the legislature's right to scrutinize individual extradition decisions filed by Hong Kong's chief executive.

They could also open the way for further measures to erode Hong Kong's civil liberties, including the passage of anti-subversion legislation that has been strongly opposed by many. Saturday's legislative scuffle came weeks after a Hong Kong court handed down prison sentences of up to 16 months to eight leaders of massive 2014 pro-democracy protests on public nuisance charges. The harsh sentences were seen as an effort by the Hong Kong government to draw a line under the protests amid pressure from Beijing.

Tens of thousands of people marched against the extradition law amendments in Hong Kong last month and numerous legal, professional and human rights organizations have voiced their opposition. They warn the amendments would undermine not just Hong Kong's legal independence but also its attractiveness as a center for international business.

Hong Kong's Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung said Friday the government would "further explain the proposed fugitive law change to the public," according to the government's press office. "Some citizens and overseas organizations might have misunderstandings about the proposed law amendments," Cheung said.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam has said the amendments must be passed to close a "loophole" under which the government has been unable to extradite a Hong Kong man, Chan Tong-kai, accused of killing his girlfriend in Taiwan last year. Lam was chosen in 2017 from among a slate of candidates approved by Beijing and elected by a 1,200-member pro-China electoral body.

However, self-governing Taiwan has firmly ruled out signing any extradition agreement with Hong Kong unless it is treated as an equal, a condition Beijing, which claims the island as its own territory, is certain to reject. That would appear to undermine one of the government's major justifications for the amendments.

Taiwanese officials have also warned that Taiwanese detained in Hong Kong could be sent to China for their political activities if the amendments are passed. A Taiwanese activist, Lee Ming-che, is currently serving a five-year sentence in China after being convicted by a Chinese court in November 2017 on charges of subverting state power for holding online political lectures and helping the families of jailed Chinese dissidents.

Lee disappeared into the custody of the security services in March 2017 after crossing into China from Macau to meet with a friend. His arrest was seen as a sign the ruling party intends to extend its intolerance of criticism even outside its borders.

The Hong Kong government will continue to liaise with Taiwan over the homicide case, Cheung said.

Xinjiang crackdown at the heart of China's Belt and Road

By Christopher Rickleton with Laurent Thomet in Beijing and Gohar Abbas in Islamabad
Khorgos, Kazakhstan (AFP)
May 3, 2019

Traders travel freely through the bustling Khorgos special economic zone that straddles the Kazakhstan-China border, but signs on the Chinese side bear a blunt warning -- no veils or long beards allowed.

It's a stark reminder of the severe security policies that China has imposed on mostly Muslim ethnic minorities in its vast border region of Xinjiang, which it considers crucial to the success of President Xi Jinping's cherished Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The gateway to Central Asia and key project partner Pakistan, Xinjiang is at the heart of the globe-spanning trade infrastructure program.

A series of riots, bombings and stabbings blamed on ethnic Uighurs over the years prompted authorities to launch a massive security crackdown in the far western region.

"The BRI is an important factor behind the central government's urge to bring the restive region of Xinjiang once and for all under its control," said Adrian Zenz, an independent German researcher specializing in Xinjiang.

The drastic measures have included placing as many as one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim Turkic-speaking minorities, including ethnic Kazakhs and Kyrgyz, in internment camps that Beijing downplays as "vocational education centers".

Uighur wives of Pakistani traders have also been swept up in the dragnet.

The crackdown has put the leaders of Central Asia and Pakistan, who attended a Belt and Road summit in Beijing last week, in an awkward position.

Key recipients of BRI projects, they have refrained from publicly criticizing China's Xinjiang approach despite discontent within their own countries.

"Frankly, I don't know much about that," Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan told the Financial Times in March when asked about China's treatment of Uighurs.

Although Kazakhstan has stated that the wellbeing of ethnic Kazakhs in China is an "important factor" in ties with Beijing, it has also voiced support for China's battle against terrorism, extremism and separatism.

Kazakh authorities are holding an activist on suspicion of inciting inter-ethnic hatred after he highlighted the treatment of ethnic Kazakhs in Xinjiang, while an escaped Chinese national who described conditions in an internment camp has been denied asylum.

"Fundamentally for these countries it's quite difficult because they have this economic partner which is only going to become bigger and more powerful," said Raffaello Pantucci, director of international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute.

"They need to try to manage that relationship while at the same time make sure that they are representing their people to some degree," Pantucci said.

- Trade hub -

Xi picked Kazakhstan's capital to launch his pet project in 2013, a symbolic choice highlighting Central Asia's historic place on the ancient Silk Road.

Beijing has invested $410 million in 16 projects including a highway connecting China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, a railway tunnel in Uzbekistan and a regional natural gas pipeline, according to the Xinjiang government.

China's investments in Central Asia pre-date BRI as Beijing has long seen development in the region as key to pacifying Xinjiang, Pantucci said.

"From China's perspective, the long-term answer to problems -- separatism, unhappiness in Xinjiang -- is basically economic prosperity," he said.

Kazakhstan and China share the massive, special trade hub in Khorgos, where traders can shop for clothes, kitchenware and other goods without needing a visa to go through security checkpoints.

"The goods are cheaper there. Every day we can come to the border without it (feeling) like a border," said Aida Massimzhanova, a resident of Kazakhstan's largest city Almaty.

But Khorgos is also a reminder of China's tightening stance on the Muslim faith that is dominant in Kazakhstan.

A Kazakh journalist on a press tour was told by Kazakh officials that she would not be able to pass through the Chinese security check if she kept her hijab. She chose to stay back.

On the Chinese side, journalists were prevented from approaching a sign showing Muslim veils are prohibited -- an apparent violation of an agreement on a common law governing the special trade zone.

Authorities have banned a number of Muslim practices in Xinjiang, including wearing "abnormal" beards.

- Public anger -

Gaukhar Kurmanaliyeva associates the special economic zone on the border with the long arm of Beijing after her cousin Asqar Azatbek was allegedly snatched by unknown Chinese people on the Kazakh side in December 2017.

The Kazakh foreign ministry raised the case with Beijing and told Kurmanaliyeva that Azatbek, a Chinese-born Kazakh passport holder, was jailed for breaking Chinese citizenship laws.

"We don't know where he is (being held) or how he is," Kurmanaliyeva told AFP.

In Kyrgyzstan, a committee was formed by relatives of those vanished in Xinjiang's security sweep.

Marat Tagayev, who joined the committee over fears for friends living in China, said the foreign ministry reported that most Kyrgyz have left the internment camps.

"But how many still remain in the camps?" Tagayev said.

In statements to AFP, the Xinjiang government said Azatbek's case "doesn't exist" and it denied having any foreign nationals in the camps, while the Chinese foreign ministry said Belt and Road "has become the main line of cooperation between China and Central Asian countries."

In Pakistan, which hosts the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor linking Xinjiang to the port of Gwadar, traders have protested over the detention of their Uighur wives in the Chinese region.

Ali Ibrar, a 39-year-old trader from northern Pakistan married to a woman from Xinjiang, has been involved in a push to bring abuses there to the attention of Islamabad.

"Pakistan is not only silent about the plight of Uighur Muslims but is also aiding and abetting China by forcing people like me to silence," he said.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Xinjiang_crackdown_at_the_heart_of_Chinas_Belt_and_Road_999.html.

China's spreading influence in Eastern Europe worries West

April 11, 2019

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Coal-powered plants, mobile networks, major bridges, roads and railways: Chinese investments have been booming throughout Central and Eastern Europe's cash-strapped developing countries, even as European Union officials scramble to counter Beijing's mounting economic and political influence on the continent.

EU member Croatia is hosting a summit Thursday between China and 16 regional countries — the 8th so far — that focuses on expanding business and other links between China and the region, which Beijing sees as a gateway into Europe.

The gathering in Dubrovnik of the so-called 16+1 initiative consists of Central and Eastern European countries that have endorsed China's ambitious global "Belt and Road" investment project, which has triggered concerns among some key EU states about increased Chinese political and economic clout in the region.

China has already invested billions of dollars in various infrastructure projects in Central and Eastern Europe. Western leaders worry that further investment in the states that are EU members — or those hoping to join — could mean lower environmental and other standards than those in the rest of the bloc.

Thorny issues include the flouting of EU competition rules, potential over-borrowing by some of the states, the quality of constructions, and security concerns over high-speed 5G network technology supplied by Chinese companies. Critics also say that in return for allowing Chinese expansion into the region, Beijing should give better reciprocal access for European companies to Chinese markets.

Top Chinese officials have sought to alleviate EU fears of unfair competition from Chinese state-controlled companies, which benefit from the government's financial backing. Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed during a recent visit to Paris to work with European leaders to seek fairer international trade rules.

Of the 16 participating countries — Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia — 11 are EU member states, and the remaining five want to join.

Beijing has marketed its expanding initiative as a way to give some of Europe's neediest countries a financial boost, helping them gain access to more trade and investment. That has been mostly welcomed by the Central and Eastern European nations.

Linda Tjia, an expert on Chinese development strategy at the City University of Hong Kong, said there is no evidence to support concerns that Beijing is harboring "neo-colonial" goals to exploit Eastern Europe, Africa and other developing economies.

European leaders "have to somehow show their people they are trying to protect national interests," Tija said. Major Chinese-led infrastructure projects in the region include a planned high-speed railway from the Hungarian capital, Budapest, to Belgrade in neighboring Serbia. The line will link up with the Chinese- controlled port of Piraeus in Greece as an entry point for Chinese goods to Central and Eastern Europe.

The project has drawn scrutiny from the EU because Chinese state-owned banks would provide financing, and Chinese companies would supply technology and the actual building. That conflicts with EU rules requiring public works to be broken into segments small enough to attract multiple bidders.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose own government often has been criticized for anti-democratic policies, says Hungary's relations with China should be based on "mutual respect." Hungary last year did not sign an EU report criticizing China's human rights record and business policies.

In Serbia, an EU membership candidate, Chinese companies are building major bridges and highways. They are also constructing a large coal-powered electricity plant even as China is trying to curb pollution at home by implementing renewable energy projects and reducing the use of lignite, by far the most polluting fossil fuel.

Serbian analyst Mijat Lakicevic said the strategically-located Balkan country situated between East and West is a perfect place where "China can realize its economic concept, the way it wants to enter (Eastern European) markets," without much concern over fair bidding processes or pollution standards.

Bosnia, a potential EU candidate, is at odds with the bloc over its decision to issue a public guarantee for a 600-million euro ($676 million) loan from China's Export-Import Bank to expand Bosnia's largest coal-fired power plant.

EU's energy watchdog has warned that the move could eventually harm Bosnia's bid to join the EU because the agreement violates EU's subsidy and environment rules. Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn has said the issue "raises serious questions" about the Balkan country's "commitment to international treaties (and) European rules."

Chinese companies are also involved in the construction of a $380-million Peljesac bridge in Croatia, which links two coastal parts over the Adriatic Sea, as well as a highway linking the Adriatic in Montenegro to neighboring Serbia.

In the Czech Republic, the National Cyber and Information Security Agency followed U.S. authorities' warning against the use of hardware or software made by Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE. That, however, did not change Czech President Milos Zeman's positive stance toward Huawei.

Zeman publicly criticized the Czech watchdog, saying it harms the Czech Republic's business interests as it could affect Huawei's plan to invest $370 million in 5G networks in the Czech Republic. U.S. officials mounted an international campaign to keep Huawei gear out of any foreign 5G network that might carry sensitive U.S. intelligence.

Associated Press journalists Joe McDonald in Beijing; Karel Janicek in Prague; Pablo Gorondi in Budapest, Hungary; Sabina Niksic in Sarajevo, Bosnia; and Jovana Gec in Belgrade, Serbia; contributed to this report.

Tribunal Hears Evidence on Forced Organ Harvesting in China

April 8, 2019

An independent people’s tribunal in London has heard evidence concerning the mass killing of prisoners of conscience for their organs in China.

From April 6 to 7, two dozen witnesses, including researchers, medical professionals, journalists, and survivors from around the world, gave testimonies before the tribunal on allegations of state-sanctioned organ harvesting targeting persecuted groups in China, including practitioners of the spiritual practice Falun Gong and the Uyghur ethnic minority.

The tribunal follows a three-day hearing that took place last December, when tribunal members passed a draft interim judgment concluding that forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience has taken place in China “on a substantial scale.”

Chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice, QC, who previously led the prosecution of former Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic at the International Criminal Tribunal, the panel consists of seven experts tasked with conducting the world’s first ever independent analysis of forced organ extraction in China.

According to legal counsel Hamid Sabi, the tribunal invited representatives from the Chinese regime, including top health officials and Chinese embassy officials in London, to participate in the hearings, but did not receive a response.

Widespread Blood Testing

Refugees who have escaped persecution in China gave evidence at the tribunal, recounting that they had received blood and medical testing during their detention.

Mihrigul Tursun, a Uyghur who last year testified before a U.S. congressional committee about being tortured and abused at an internment camp in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, told the tribunal via video on April 7 that camp detainees underwent detailed health checks, including blood tests and ultrasounds.

The U.S. Department of State and other international experts estimate that the communist regime is holding more than 1 million Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, and other Muslim minorities in a vast network of internment camps in Xinjiang, as part of a purported campaign to combat “extremist threats.”

Tursun said she was tortured under interrogation for three days in April 2017, after which she was transported—while hooded, cuffed, and shackled—to an exam room in a hospital.

“I knew that they took blood from my arm twice, but I don’t know how much blood was drawn,” Tulsun said through an interpreter.

She said she also received blood pressure tests and medical tests to check her heart condition.

Tulsun said she was then led to a dark room in what she suspected was the basement of the hospital. In that room, the handlers removed her hood and restraints, and then all her clothes. They then attached equipment onto her chest area and used a machine to examine her body.

Her handlers then put liquid on Tursun’s forehead, shoulders, just below her heart, and both legs, and placed her into a glass machine, where she was made to circle inside while shouting numbers from one to 10.

Tursun could not hear anything while inside the machine.

“I became terrified after I was placed into that machine. I thought they may be taking my internal organs and that I might die that day,” she said through the interpreter.

Ethan Gutmann, China analyst and investigator, testified on April 7 about the Xinjiang crisis.

“You have maybe a million and a half people who have all been blood tested and they’re in detention, and their families have lost sight of them,” Gutmann said.

He said that recent evidence indicates the Chinese regime is targeting this group for organ extracting, including accounts of DNA testing being conducted at the homes of Uyghurs in Xinjiang and the known construction of regional crematoriums and a dedicated lane for transferring organs for transplant surgery at a local airport.

Organs Mainly Sourced From Falun Gong Practitioners

In 2016, Gutmann co-authored, with Canadian human rights lawyer David Matas and former Canadian Secretary of State (Asia-Pacific) David Kilgour, an in-depth report that found a huge discrepancy between China’s official transplantation figures and the number of transplants performed in hospitals

By analyzing the public records of 712 Chinese hospitals that carry out liver and kidney transplants, the report showed that roughly 60,000 to 100,000 transplants are being conducted each year, far outstripping the officially reported number of 10,000 to 20,000 per year.

The shortfall, the report concluded, is made up by organs forcibly harvested from prisoners of conscience in China, primarily from practitioners of Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa), while Uyghurs, Tibetan Buddhists, and some house Christians also have been targeted.

Several Falun Gong practitioners gave evidence during the December and April hearings, speaking of their experiences of being detained for their faith in China.

Aside from personal accounts of torture they experienced inside China’s labor camps and prisons, all spoke of undergoing physical examinations during detention.

Feng Hollis, who was arrested in 2005, said in her December testimony that at the time, she wondered why she was given a medical test despite being frequently tortured in prison.

Suspicious Data

Two researchers who conducted an unprecedented study of China’s official voluntary donor transplant data told the Tribunal on April 7 that according to their analysis, the official data curiously aligned with a basic mathematical equation, suggesting that it was manufactured.

“We found many anomalies that are difficult, if not impossible, to explain without concluding that the data had been manipulated manually,” said Matthew Robertson, study co-author and doctoral student at the Australian National University.

In their study, Robertson, along with statistician Raymond Hinde and professor of surgery at Tel Aviv University Jacob Lavee, examined data from the China Organ Transplant Response System (COTRS), as well as local Red Cross figures, and found that the numbers conformed to a quadratic equation that produced a particular type of curve.

“It would be unexpected to happen, [that the numbers conformed to] such a smooth rate as that,” said Hinde.

One example of anomalous data suggesting possible manipulation, Robertson said, was that the total number of registered organ volunteers published by China’s Red Cross increased by exactly 25,000 from December 30 to 31, 2015.

“We can’t say a lot more than it looks a bit suspicious,” he said.

The tribunal is due to release its final judgment on June 17, to determine whether international crimes have been, and continue to be committed with regard to forced organ harvesting in China.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: https://www.theepochtimes.com/uk-tribunal-hears-evidence-on-forced-organ-harvesting-in-china_2870357.html.

China, Arab states eye closer cooperation on satellite navigation to build "Space Silk Road"

Tunis, Tunisia (XNA)
Apr 03, 2019

Chinese and Arab officials and experts on Monday envisioned building a "Space Silk Road" through closer cooperation on wider application of China's indigenously made BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) in the Middle East.

Speaking at the second China-Arab States BDS Cooperation Forum held in the Tunisian capital Tunis, the officials and experts agreed that increased application of the BDS in the region could elevate the China-Arab strategic cooperation to a higher level to benefit both sides.

"The BDS cooperation is the best example for the strategic cooperation between China and Arab states, as satellite navigation integrates many hi-tech areas, including telecommunication and space technologies," Slim Khalbous, Tunisian minister of higher education and scientific research, told the audience at the forum.

"This is an important opportunity for Tunisia, while the BDS cooperation also means the further upgrade of the China-Arab relations," the minister said, noting that Tunisia strongly supports its cooperation with China on the BDS application.

He hailed Tunisia's cooperation with China, suggesting that the two sides conduct more exchanges between universities and enterprises, and implement more projects on the BDS application to boost the bilateral ties.

Mohamed Ben Amor, secretary-general of Arab Information and Communication Technologies Organization (AICTO), said that the establishment of the China-Arab States BDS/GNNS Center in Tunis in 2018 was an important step in deepening the mutually beneficial China-Arab cooperation.

He pledged to boost the China-Arab cooperation on the application of satellite navigation technology, which has been widely used in land surveying, environmental monitoring, precision agriculture, disaster-reduction, and maritime transportation.

"Satellite navigation has provided many conveniences and benefits for us, and we are determined to push forward with our cooperation," Amor said in his speech at the opening ceremony.

Kamal Hassen Ali, assistant secretary general of the Arab League (AL) in charge of economic affairs, lauded China, which made important contribution to building the ancient Silk Road, for establishing an excellent mechanism for cooperation and exchanges with Arab states.

Under the theme of "Cooperation, Application and Service," this year's forum focused on increasing BDS application in the Middle East region.

"The size of our cooperation will grow bigger, as the China-Tunisia cooperation has borne many fruits, and it will achieve greater progress in other countries in the region too," Ali said.

Wang Zhaoyao, chairman of Chinese Satellite Navigation Committee, called for jointly building a China-Arab "Space Silk Road" which he said will help Arab states share more benefits from the China-made navigation satellite system.

He noted that the BDS has been already applied in many Middle Eastern countries, including Tunisia, Algeria, Kuwait and Sudan in areas such as precision agriculture, telecommunication, maritime monitoring and disaster relief.

Li Chengwen, the Chinese ambassador for China-Arab States Cooperation Forum Affairs, said that a "Space Silk Road" is taking shape as the BDS becomes a new engine for pushing forward the fruitful China-Arab cooperation, especially in the hi-tech area.

At the forum which was attended by more than 200 officials, experts and business people from China and Tunisia, several agreements were inked on furthering cooperation on the BDS application.

Many of the attendees also watched the demonstration of the application of BDS for precision agriculture at the China-Arab States BDS/GNSS Center, during which a self-driving tractor equipped with the BDS smartly averted obstacles and drove along the planned routes through the remote control.

The center, the first overseas BDS center, was set up in Tunis in 2018 by China and the AICTO to showcase the BDS technology and promote international exchanges and cooperation on the field.

The BDS, which went into trial operation in 2011 and started global service in later 2018, is a navigation satellite system independently developed by China.

It is compatible with other similar positioning systems, including the American GPS, Russian GLONASS and European Galileo systems, but it also boasts its unique advantages such as providing messaging service, which can be especially useful in making emergency calls at time of disaster or loss of direction in remote places.

The China-Arab States BDS Cooperation Forum is a multilateral platform for promoting cooperation and exchanges between China and Arab states in the field of satellite navigation within the framework of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum. The first forum was held in Shanghai, China in May 2017.

Source: GPS Daily.
Link: http://www.gpsdaily.com/reports/China_Arab_states_eye_closer_cooperation_on_satellite_navigation_to_build_Space_Silk_Road_999.html.

China says 13,000 Xinjiang 'terrorists' arrested since 2014

March 18, 2019

BEIJING (AP) — China has arrested nearly 13,000 people it describes as terrorists and has broken up hundreds of "terrorist gangs" in Xinjiang since 2014, the government said in a report Monday issued to counter international criticism of its system of internment camps and other oppressive security in the traditionally Islamic region.

The lengthy report said the government's efforts have curbed religious extremism but as in past statements, gave little evidence of what crimes had occurred. The far northwestern region is closed to outsiders, but former residents and activists abroad say Muslim identity itself is punished.

Criticism has grown over China's internment of an estimated 1 million members of the Uighur (WEE-gur) and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups. China describes the camps as vocational training centers and says participation is voluntary. Former detainees say they were held in abusive conditions, forced to renounce Islam and swear allegiance to China's ruling Communist Party.

The camps sprang up over the past two years at extraordinary speed and on a massive scale, as monitored by satellite imagery. China maintains a massive security presence in Xinjiang and efforts to independently verify claims by Uighur activists are routinely blocked.

The new report said "law-based de-radicalization" in Xinjiang has curbed the rise and spread of religious extremism. It said 1,588 terrorist gangs have been crushed and 12,995 terrorists seized since 2014. Over that time, 2,052 explosive devices were seized and more than 30,000 people punished for taking part in almost 5,000 "illegal religious activities," the report said. It added that 345,229 copies of "illegal religious publicity materials," were also seized.

It has spent decades trying to suppress pro-independence sentiment fueled in part by frustration about an influx of migrants from China's Han majority. Beijing Authorities say extremists there have ties to foreign terror groups but have given little evidence to support that.

Despite the region's religious, linguistic and cultural differences with the rest of country, China says Xinjiang has been Chinese territory since ancient times. In addition to their answering concerns about violence, experts and Uighur activists believe the camps are part of an aggressive government campaign to erode the identities of the Central Asian groups who called the region home long before waves of Han migrants arrived in recent decades.

Monday's paper sought to underplay Islam's role in the region's historical makeup, saying that while it "cannot be denied that Xinjiang received the influence of Islamic culture," that did not change the "objective fact" that Xinjiang's culture is merely a facet of Chinese culture.

"Islam is not the natural faith of the Uighurs and other ethnicities, nor is it their only faith," the report said. China has sought to defend itself in the media and at international forums against charges of cultural genocide, painting its critics as biased and seeking to smear China's reputation and contain its rise as a global power.

Despite those efforts, its reputation for taking a hard-line against religious minorities and Muslims in particular has drawn global attention. The man arrested in the New Zealand mosque attacks said in his online manifesto that China is the nation that most aligns with his political and social values.

In November, China rejected criticism of its treatment of ethnic Muslims, telling the United Nations that accusations of rights abuses from some countries were "politically driven." At a U.N. review of the country's human rights record, China characterized Xinjiang as a former hotbed of extremism that has been stabilized through "training centers" which help people gain employable skills.

More recently, a U.S. envoy on religion last week called for an independent investigation into the detentions and for the release of those being held, calling China's the situation in Xinjiang "horrific."

Sam Brownback, U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, said China has done nothing to assuage concerns from the U.S. and others over the detention of Uighurs, Kazakhs and members of other Muslim minority groups.

Brownback appeared undeterred by Beijing's complaints over his earlier comments, describing China's explanation of the reasons behind the camps as "completely unsatisfactory answers." China is already listed by the U.S. among the worst violators of religious freedom, and Brownback held open the possibility of sanctions and other punitive measures "if corrective actions aren't taken."

While making no commitments, Brownback held open the possibility of action toward individuals involved in the internments under The Global Magnitsky Act of 2016.

China's Xi to make 3-nation Europe visit starting Thursday

March 18, 2019

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Italy, France and Monaco from Thursday to March 26, the foreign ministry said Monday. Italy's coalition government has sent mixed signals over whether it will sign a proposed agreement to join China's trillion-dollar Belt and Road infrastructure investment drive. The initiative aims to expand commerce by building ports, railways and other infrastructure across more than 60 countries from the South Pacific through Asia to Europe and Africa.

Projects under the initiative have faced complaints that they leave host countries with too much debt, and with too little work going to local companies. Italy's Undersecretary of State Guglielmo Picchi tweeted earlier this month that Italy should not sign the agreement.

The foreign ministry's statement did not give details of Xi's schedule during the trip.

Israel faces new elections after parliament dissolves

May 30, 2019

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel embarked Thursday on an unprecedented snap election campaign — the second this year — after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition and instead dissolved parliament.

In what seemed an improbable scenario just days ago, Israel's newly elected Knesset dissolved itself in an early morning 74-45 vote and set a new election date for Sept. 17. The developments were a shocking setback for Netanyahu, who had appeared to secure a comfortable win in last month's election. But he was unable to build a parliamentary majority needed to rule because a traditional ally, Avigdor Lieberman, refused to bring his Yisrael Beiteinu faction into the coalition.

Netanyahu, who has led Israel for the past decade, now faces another challenge to his lengthy rule. It comes as he prepares for a pre-indictment hearing before expected criminal charges against him in a series of corruption cases.

Assuming they would sweep into power again, Netanyahu's allies in the ruling Likud Party had already begun drafting a contentious bill aimed at granting him immunity from the various corruption charges awaiting him. He was also looking to push legislation limiting the power of Israel's Supreme Court and paving his path to many more years in office.

But it was a separate issue that sparked the unprecedented crisis, and for the first time in history thrust Israel into a repeat election before a new government was even formed. Lieberman — a veteran nationalist and secular politician — demanded that current legislation mandating that young ultra-Orthodox men be drafted into the military run its course.

Years of exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men have generated widespread resentment among the rest of Jewish Israelis who serve. The ultra-Orthodox, backed by Netanyahu, refused to bend and the showdown quickly devolved into a full-blown crisis that imploded the perspective government.

"The public chose me, and Lieberman, unfortunately, deceived his voters. From the beginning he had no intention to do what he said," Netanyahu said after the vote, accusing Lieberman of aligning with "the left."

Lieberman, a former top aide to Netanyahu who has alternated between a close alliance and bitter rivalry with his former boss, retorted that the new election was a result of Netanyahu caving into the ultra-Orthodox.

"This is a complete surrender of Likud to the ultra-Orthodox," he said. A new election complicates Netanyahu's efforts to pass the proposed bills to protect himself from prosecution. Even if Netanyahu wins the election, it is unlikely he will be able to form a government and lock down the required political support for an immunity deal before an expected indictment. That would force him to stand trial, and in turn put heavy pressure on him to step aside. No one in Likud has yet challenged him publicly.

The political uncertainty could also spell trouble for the White House's Mideast peace efforts. The U.S. has scheduled a conference next month in Bahrain to unveil what it says is the first phase of its peace plan, an initiative aimed at drawing investment into the Palestinian territories. The Trump administration had vowed to unveil its plan after the Israeli election and it's unclear how the current political shakeup will affect that rollout.

Putin: No intention to deploy Russian troops in Venezuela

June 06, 2019

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — President Vladimir Putin has told reporters that Moscow has no intention to deploy its troops or set up military bases in Venezuela. He added that Russian experts have been in Venezuela to service Russian-made weapons bought by Caracas.

Putin, who was meeting Thursday with the head of international news agencies, was responding to a question about a tweet by U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this week that said Moscow had informed Washington it had pulled out its personnel from Venezuela.

"We aren't creating any bases or sending troops there," Putin said. "But we will be keeping our obligations in the sphere of military and technical cooperation." The Russian leader said the U.S. sanctions against Venezuela have hurt ordinary people and warned Washington against using force.

Prague Zoo sends 3 pelicans to London's St. James's Park

May 30, 2019

PRAGUE (AP) — Three great white pelicans are on their way from Prague Zoo to Britain to join a famed flock that has made London's St. James's Park home since the 17th century. Keepers were carefully carrying the birds one by one Thursday morning to transport cages on of a van will take them on the 17-hour drive to the British capital.

It is for the third time the zoo has sent its pelicans to the park. It started with four birds in 1995 when the zoo was one of the few in Europe capable of breeding them. Three others followed in 2013.

Two males, Sun and Moon, and a female, Star, who were born in February, will join the current colony of three in London. The pelicans were first introduced to the park near the Buckingham Palace in 1664 as a gift to king Charles II from a Russian ambassador.