中国Power !!!

[TIEPILOT]

Chinese man executed for murdering family

Xinhua, October 17, 2014

A Chinese man was executed Thursday for killing his pregnant wife, his parents-in-law and grandparents-in-law, and his wife's nieces, a court in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region said.

According to the court files, Ma Yongdong, a farmer in Honghe Town of Pengyang County, murdered seven people after his wife, Lan Xiuying, went back to her parents' home because of a quarrel with Ma.

Police said Ma brought a knife to the house of his parents-in-law to demand his wife return home. When she rejected him, Ma stabbed his pregnant wife, the wife's two nieces, parents-in-law and grandparents-in-law to death.

Ma confessed to the crimes during the investigation, according to the police.

The Intermediate People's Court sentenced Ma to death in March. Ningxia High Court rejected Ma's appeal in later rulings.

 

[Pfizer]

deleted...

 

[Zlatan Ibrahimovic]

Can a Swede check out a Chinky thread?

 

[Yuan Shao]

This thread is dedicated to Chinks so angmohs including Swedes and Russians stay out!

 

[Hypocrisy]

Gizmo fans

Source: CFP Published: 2014-10-18 0:43:01

​

People wait in line for the official launch of the iPhone 6 in China at an Apple store in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province on Friday. Fewer people lined up than at previous launches, where queues often began in the early morning. A poll by the Beijing-based The Mirror newpaper found that 80 percent of 400 respondents had no plans to buy the new phone immediately, and over half were put off by reports of the phone bending. Photo: CFP

 

[Hypocrisy]

Mistresses exposed

By Zhang Hui Source: Global Times Published: 2014-10-19 21:38:01

Public shaming photos spread online, leave victims feeling cheated

Actors perform a scene in a Taiwanese TV drama where a mistress begs for the forgiveness of a wife. Photo: Wow News

Graphic photos of alleged mistresses being stripped naked by mobs of angry women seeking to publicly humiliate the accused are increasingly circulating on Chinese social media.

In a most recent case, images of a group of women photographed ripping the clothes from an unidentified woman on the streets of Puyang, Henan Province have gone viral since being uploaded on October 10.

The unedited photos show onlookers standing by as the victim was attacked by the gang.

The photos continue to circulate online despite local public security bureau officers requesting that websites remove them over concerns of privacy violations, according to the Zhengzhou Evening News.

A local policewoman, requesting anonymity, confirmed the incident with the Global Times. "The gang of four women attacked and sexually assaulted the victim on a street Friday morning," she said.

A criminal case has been filed and the case is under investigation, said the insider, without providing further details.

The incident is but one of many recent recorded assaults on alleged homewreckers circulating online, in which women are beaten, kicked and stripped by multiple assailants in public.

A three-minute video, titled "Mistress beaten and stripped at a mall in Heze, Shandong Province," was posted across multiple video-sharing websites in May. Three people - two men and one women - hurl verbal abuse, pull the victim's hair and forcibly take off her pants before dragging an alleged mistress into the street.

The video has received 620,000 views on popular video site iqiyi.com.

The majority of online comments praise the attack as a welcomed form of vigilante justice.

In many cases, blame is cast almost exclusively on the single woman while the infidelity of the married husband is largely overlooked.

Nude Internet celebs

A majority of Net users support the attacks, calling the actions "righteous" and the assaults "deserved."

On news website sina.com.cn, the Puyang spectacle garnered more than 13,700 comments since October 13, topping the website's "hot news list."

"Mistress who knows the man is married but enter in a relationship anyway deserve to be insulted and beaten," Web user Shuaiqide Langge commented on Sina's news page.

Perhaps a reason why authorities turn a blind eye to such attacks is that the idea of public shaming was, until recently, also a tactic frequently used by Chinese police.

In 2006, Shenzhen police officers paraded 100 prostitutes and their clients on the streets, attracting thousands of gawkers, according to a Xiaoxiang Morning Post report. The incident was met with criticism from the public and lawyers for privacy violations.

However, it seems the same consideration does not extend to mistresses. According to a recent Sina Weibo survey, 79 of the total 97 respondents voted that "mistresses deserved to be stripped."

Experts believed that the increased number of exposed affairs, especially among government officials, also contributed to the current general disdain for mistresses as purveyors of immoral behavior.

Forty eight of the total 241 government officials that have stepped down since 2012 were accused of having extramarital affairs, the Beijing Times reported in September.

The report also implicated the mistresses as a main motivators behind their corruption.

Legal action

Not only does mistress shaming receive widespread support online, but also its victims are unlikely to press charges, experts say.

One of the reasons such incidents continue is because the victims are reluctant to pursue any legal action as it would attract more negative attention to themselves, said Liu Weizhao, a lawyer at Beijing Anbo Law Firm.

In addition, those that do decide to press charges may encounter authorities that in part weigh the case based on moral values, Liu said.

"In determining fault and punishment, police also consider whether the victims have wronged the attackers. So when the victims are found to be homewreckers, the attackers may be handed reduced penalties," Liu said.

Experts also suggested that another reason behind the increased mistress attacks is because the legal system also provides those wronged within the marriage few avenues for legal action.

Mo Shaoping, a law professor at the Central University of Finance and Economics, said that unfaithful spouses could once be charged with adultery, but that law was repealed shortly after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

The only other punishable offense is bigamy, which according to the Marriage Law, is defined as co-habitating or having children with someone other than one's legal spouse, Mo said.Such cases are punishable by up to two years in prison or detention.

"However, bigamy does not extend to those who have extramarital affairs and still primarily live with their legal spouse," Mo said.

During the Second Plenum of the 11th CPC Central Committee in 2009, a CPC representative, Ma Lan, offered a proposal that would allow victims of adultery to seek compensation from the third party, according to the Nanfang Daily.

Those who upload and spread images of mistress shamings and the websites that host them also face punishment.

"If the accusations are proven false, those who posted the images can be fined or detained for spreading rumors. If the facts are verified, they could be charged with violating the victim's right to privacy," said You Chao, a Beijing-based lawyer.

The same charges also would apply to websites, he added.

According to the Criminal Law and its judicial interpretation on Protecting Internet Security, anyone suspected of spreading false information online that is reposted more than 500 times or receives over 5,000 clicks can be charged with defamation of character and jailed for up to 10 years.

 

[Pfizer]

Men sentenced for bride-smuggling

China Daily, October 20, 2014

Five people were imprisoned for smuggling women from Vietnam and selling them to Chinese bachelors, Zhejiang-based Today Morning Express reported.

The gang began taking single men from Taizhou of Zhejiang province to Yunnan in 2011 to date women they claimed were ethnic Miao in the presence of their "parents". But, the brides-to-be turned out to have been abducted from Vietnam.

They earned more than 300,000 yuan ($48,985) from the matchmaking service for which they were sentenced to between six and 12 years in prison.

 

[Pfizer]

Police pursue fleeing officials

By Zhang Hui Source: Global Times Published: 2014-10-21 0:53:02

China, Australia cooperate to extradite embezzlers

Chinese police will cooperate with their Australian counterparts to extradite corrupt Chinese officials who have fled to Australia with embezzled public funds.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) together with the Chinese police will take action in the coming weeks, according to Bruce Hill, manager of the AFP's operations in Asia, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Hill said that the two forces had agreed on a priority list of alleged fugitives who have taken residence in Australia with embezzled funds amounting to hundreds of millions of Australian dollars, and the country was identified by Beijing as one of the most popular destinations for corrupt officials hiding their ill-gotten gains, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Among the suspects identified by the AFP are naturalized Australian citizens and permanent residents who for years have laundered stolen public money under the guise of being legitimate investment migrants, Hill said.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on October 14 that China is eager to cooperate with Australia to seize the assets of corrupt Chinese officials who have escaped to the country.

Caijing, a financial magazine, has estimated that at least seven high-level officials have fled to Australia with embezzled public funds totaling more than $1 billion.

The joint Australian-Chinese police operation forms part of an ongoing and wide-ranging campaign named "Operation Fox Hunt," set up by Chinese authorities to pursue corrupt officials who have fled China.

Between the launch of the campaign on July 22 and the end of September, police arrested 102 suspects in 40 countries and regions, according to a press release by the Ministry of Public Security.

Chinese police have cooperated with Australian law enforcement bodies in pursuing corrupt officials over recent years. The first such case was in 2011, when former Foshan real estate company manager Li Jixiang was sentenced to 26 years in prison for money laundering at a Queensland court, the Beijing Times reported.

The Australian federal government has announced that it will introduce a "Premium Investor Visa" that allows foreign investors who invest A$15 million ($13.15 million) in the Australian economy to be granted permanent residency, Xinhua said.

Hu Xingdou, a political science professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology, said that this reform of the Australian visa system may encourage greater numbers of corrupt officials to flee to Australia.

Both China and Australia have signed the UN's anti-corruption treaty, which allows China to file requests for the extradition of embezzlers. However, officials who have fled to Australia can also ask for asylum in accordance with Australia's immigration law to avoid facing trials in China.

Liu Guofu, an expert on immigration law at the Beijing Institute of Technology, told the Global Times that it is difficult to arrest suspects who have become citizens of other countries.

 

[Pfizer]

China Hooked on Mideast's Favorite Drug

The Daily Beast
By Brendon Hong 20th October 2014

It’s a common sight in this city, as it is in Yemen, Somalia or Ethiopia: idle men plucking leaves out of a flimsy plastic bag, grinding them into mush between their teeth, filling every crevice with bits of green.

A few local women warned me about the qat chewers. “They’re dangerous,” one of them said. “There was a news report that said they are robbers. If they eat qat, they do bad things.” Privately, the qat chewers didn’t seem dangerous. Nobody was strung out. Hours passed before they felt a mild buzz. “Like coffee,” one man said, a familiar line repeated the world over.

That wasn’t in Sana’a or Addis Ababa. It was in Guangzhou, a southeastern trade hub in China with the largest African community in Asia. Ever since the 1990s, many African and Middle Eastern businessmen have flocked to the city in hopes of striking gold, and some found a second home here. But China has a qat problem, and it’s because of these outsiders—or so the government would have you believe.

The Chinese government banned qat earlier this year, and classified the plant as a dangerous narcotic. Chinese media has blitzed the airwaves with public service announcements and special features on news programs to warn their viewers about the dangers of qat. They call it “Arab Tea.” Some presenters claim that qat is like heroin, a depressant. Others say it’s like meth, a stimulant. Some say it is used as a date-rape drug by dark-skinned men. Others say it’s sold as amaranth, a common vegetable that is served as a side dish in Chinese homes, to get unsuspecting shoppers hooked.

The contradictions and outlandish claims are never challenged, because drug education in China is virtually nonexistent.

Where does this “Arab Tea Leaf” come from, according to the talking heads? For the most part, Chocolate City, as locals call it. It’s a neighborhood in Guangzhou where migrant workers and traders have settled semi-permanently, and in the process sculpted those street blocks with their own character. Its nickname is borrowed from the skin color of the many Arabs and Africans who live there, but there are plenty of Uighurs from Xinjiang and Han-Chinese factory workers who share the space as well. Migration doesn’t just move people; cultures and habits follow. It’s true that some traders brought the habit of chewing qat with them to China. Smugglers supply those who demand fresh batches. Others drink it as a tea made from dehydrated qat, packaged in powder form like instant coffee or locally popular milk tea.

Despite its illegal status, as long as there is a demand for qat, someone in hypercapitalist China will sell it. Chinese women have been spotted on the street hawking qat. But since the crop is not grown domestically, it needs to be imported. Chinese customs officers do manage to seize some of the shipments, in one instance confiscating over 3,500 kilos of qat, and made hey of their success in the fight against foreign-born vices.

China, like the U.S., has long waged a war against drugs, for good reason. In the 1800s, sales of opium in Qing dynasty China by the British East India Company led to two armed conflicts between the Qing Empire and the United Kingdom (later joined by the French Empire and the United States). Nowadays, Northeastern China has a meth problem, where smugglers move North Korean meth, home cooked and ready to be distributed throughout the country. There is no doubt that meth is destructive, and a clampdown is justified. But minor offenders are caught in the storm as well, and can face hefty punishment. Jackie Chan’s son, Jaycee, was arrested earlier this month alongside a Taiwanese actor, Ko Chen-ting, for marijuana possession. Ko was released, and while Chinese law states that Jaycee Chan could face the death penalty, he has been formally charged with a crime that carries a penalty of up to three years in prison.

Offenders who don't have celebrity status are sent to detox centers where they do factory work, even though China supposedly abolished its labor camps last year. Beijing’s night owls have also faced random urine tests conducted by police in bars and nightclubs, a new procedure implemented since August. While America is currently liberalizing marijuana laws, China is tightening its grip on all users of all drugs, including marijuana and qat.

At a drug awareness event held in Guangzhou last April (link in Chinese), doctors claimed to be treating 716 qat “addicts” in methadone clinics. Multiple attempts to reach out to medical professionals in Guangzhou to find out more about methadone treatment for qat users have yielded no responses.

The legality of qat varies geographically. It is a controlled substance in the U.S., Canada, and much of Western Europe, as well as China. But it is legal in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya. It is used openly in Yemen, and can be bought in several markets in Israel. The “Khat Fast Facts” issued by the U.S. Department of Justice says that qat abuse can lead to psychological dependence, behavioral changes, and mental health impairment. It goes on to say that “clinical symptoms include manic behavior with grandiose delusions, violence, suicidal depression, and schizophreniform psychosis.” The handout paints a dire picture, but the qat users of Guangzhou are successful businessmen. Watching them chew qat for several hours seemed more like laid-back relaxation, with a few friends socializing over an alternative to drinks.

Most medical studies that have taken closer looks at qat say that it is addictive, and giving it up after prolonged use can lead to withdrawal symptoms. But if its effects are like coffee—as cognizant, long-time qat users suggest—then imagine what would happen if coffee was banned tomorrow. Those who are used to drinking a pot a day would feel terrible. The same goes for cigarettes. But qat is alien, both in the West and in China, and that makes it an easy target. For the Chinese government, it's another way to hassle the Arab and African communities that live and work in Guangzhou. Men with darker skin aren't always welcome in China, and many face routine harassment.

Beijing's drive to maintain a drug-free society is admirable, but the community in Chocolate City is vibrant, and flippant disregard of its inhabitants’ lifelong habits only exacerbates the existing tensions between Chocolate City and the rest of Guangzhou. Qat users don’t pose a threat to the “harmonious society” that China obsessively maintains. And yet the hunt is on and China's war on qat will continue to target intercontinental travelers who once saw China as a land of opportunity.

 

[Abramovich]

Do not insult Russians !! :oIo:

 

[Rossi]

Ex-Boyfriend Demands Back Hair Conditioner and....... Sperm

Oct 20, 2014

30-something year old Miss Yuan recently had an awkward ending to a short relationship : after breaking up with her boyfriend, he proceeded to demand back his sperm.

Following their second meeting, Mr Fu proposed cohabitation, which Miss Yuan felt was inappropriate so she declined. However, following the rejection, Mr Fu was really not very happy, and he beat Miss Yuan, after which she broke up with him.

This aggravated Mr Fu even more, and he continued texting her and scolding her, calling her all sorts of inappropriate names, and demanding back the things she owed him : hair conditioner she had used while staying at his, 300 RMB for a perm that he paid for, and a month’s worth of sperm.

 

[Rossi]

福建一女子海沧大桥上驾车“遛马”被治安拘留

2014-10-15 10:47:00
来源：中国新闻网

中新网厦门10月15日电 (记者 龙敏)近日，有女子在海沧大桥驾驶汽车“遛马”，引发社会关注。厦门警方14日晚间披露，经过多方调查，于14日下午找到该名女子并带回钟山派出所进一步调查。目前，该女子已被警方处以治安拘留5日的行政处罚。

[热点]12岁女孩被撬窗抱走杀... | 女子遭电梯夹断头

据介绍，10月12日下午，有群众向警方举报海沧大桥进岛方向一名女子驾驶汽车“遛马”，严重影响交通安全。

虽然警方赶到现场未曾发现该女子身影，但通过调取沿途数十个视频监控，调取近2个小时的监控录像，最终确认汽车“遛马”的行驶路线，并确认该辆汽车的车牌和车主等具体信息。

14日下午，厦门警方将“遛马”当事人邱某赟(女，25岁，漳州人，现住厦门海沧)带回并进一步调查。

经查，邱某赟近期购买了一匹刚满月的小马驹，当天下午因要到仙岳山观音寺朝拜，遂开车带小马驹进岛。在行至海沧大桥时，邱某赟驾车在应急车道，让小马驹在车旁行走，待下桥后在路人帮助下将小马驹抱回车内。返程途中，邱某赟再度在海沧大桥将小马驹抱出，让其走回海沧。

另外，经过调查，邱某赟的汽车前有车牌后无车牌系因车牌在半月前的交通事故中被碰掉，目前正在申领中。

目前，邱某赟因扰乱公共秩序，被处以治安拘留5日的行政处罚。

 

[Mandzukic]

The owner should have made the donkey tow his car.

 

[Fellaini]

Mainland tourists save US$100 buying iPhone 6 in Taiwan

Hung Chao-chun and Staff Reporter
2014-10-20

Shoppers at a mall Oct. 17 in Shanghai, the day the iPhone 6 went on sale in China. (Photo/Xinhua)

Mainland Chinese tourists have been flocking to duty free stores at Taiwan's airports to buy the iPhone 6 as the smartphone is reportedly at least 1,000 yuan (US$163) cheaper than in China.

Even in general stores, the smartphone is sold at around US$770, which is about US$100 less than the average price in China.

The iPhone 6 was finally released in mainland China last week and has done well, if not as well as previous generations of the smartphone, with the larger iPhone 6 Plus proving especially popular.

Previous optimistic market speculation for iPhone 6 sale drove opportunists to buy the smartphone abroad and resell it in China on the grey market. The price of these parallel imports fell swiftly, however, after it became apparent that the device would be approved for sale in China sooner than anticipated.

 

[AnotherOneBitestheDust]

Tour-group toddler pees in bottle at Taipei Din Tai Fung

Staff Reporter
2014-10-21

The Din Tai Fung branch at Taipei 101. (File photo/China Times)

A Chinese tourist let her three-year-old stand on a chair and urinate in a plastic bottle during a meal at Taiwan's famous Din Tai Fung restaurant even though there was a toilet a short distance away.

According to Taiwan's Apple Daily, some of the urine spilled out of the bottle on to the group's dishes. The 37-year-old mother immediately demanded the restaurant replace the tainted food with new dishes but refused to pay for them.

"I paid a lot to travel already, why should I pay more for these [tainted dishes]?" she said. Finally she gave in and paid.

The incident took place when the group of five Chinese tourists had their lunch at Din Tai Fung's Taipei 101 store on Oct. 2. The mother of the child reportedly refused to listen to advice from the serving staff, who told her to take the toddler to a restroom just 100 meters away, and took out a plastic bottle for the child to urinate in.

The spectacle and the accompanying odor soon drew attention from other customers in the restaurant. The group left after the meal, leaving their apologetic guide in the restaurant.

The group of five belonged to a higher-end group tour from China's Shanxi province, at US$2,800 a head for the eight-day tour. They reportedly left Taiwan on Oct. 8.

According to a spokesperson for the restaurant, a member of staff at the scene at the time of the incident had pointed out the direction of the nearest toilet to the tourist and advised her to take the child there. The restaurant will put a greater emphasis on contingency training in the future, and it apologized to other guests who were there at the time.

The restaurant was immediately sanitized after the incident, said the spokesperson.

Din Tai Fung, the best known dumpling restaurant in Taiwan, was rated sixth among Asia's top 101 restaurants by thedailymeal.com, a US food and cuisine website. The restaurant has branches in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, the United States and Thailand.

This is not the first time that excretions from Chinese children caught short abroad has made the headlines; in April of this year there was a public outcry in Hong Kong when a man filmed a mainland couple encouraging their child to urinate on the street in the city.

 

[AnotherOneBitestheDust]

Woman takes apart ATM

Chinadaily October 21, 2014

A middle-aged woman broke a cash machine with her bare hands after failing to withdraw her card from it, reported southcn.com.

The woman, who is reportedly suffering from a mental disorder, was seen destroying the ATM and then leaving it in a mess at a shopping mall in Dongguan in South China's Guangdong province on Monday afternoon.

 

[Pfizer]

Al-Qaeda magazine calls for Xinjiang to be ‘recovered by the Islamic Caliphate’

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 21 October, 2014, 12:28pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 21 October, 2014, 1:40pm

James Griffiths [email protected]

An anti-terrorism force including public security police and the armed police attend an anti-terrorism joint exercise in China's restive Xinjiang region. Photo: AFP

A new English-language magazine released by al-Qaeda describes China’s restive Xinjiang region as an “occupied Muslim land” to be “recovered [into] the shade of the Islamic Caliphate”.

Produced by the jihadist organisation’s As-Sahab media wing, the 117-page debut issue of Resurgence includes a feature titled “Did You Know? 10 Facts About East Turkistan,” referring to the name for Xinjiang used by those who advocate independence from China.

While much of the article is inaccurate – it claims, for example, that teaching the Quran is illegal in China (Islam is one of the country’s five recognised official religions) – it shows how China’s actions in the region, such as encouraging the migration of Han Chinese into Xinjiang and restricting religious dress, are being used by jihadist organisations to confirm their belief that Muslims are under threat.

“Did You Know? 10 Facts About East Turkistan", in al-Qaeda's Resurgence magazine, claims that China carries out ethnic cleansing against Muslims.

Al-Qaeda is not the only jihadist organisation which has expressed an interest in the situation of Muslims in Xinjiang. In July, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-styled caliph of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, spoke of Muslim rights being “forcibly seized” in China in a call for Muslims around the world to pledge allegiance to him.

“Your brothers all over the world are waiting for your rescue, and are anticipating your brigades,” Baghdadi told his followers.

“In recent years [jihadist organisations] have expressed an interest in the alleged oppression of Xinjiang Uygurs by the Han Chinese,” Ahmed Hashim, a terrorism expert and associate international studies professor at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, told the South China Morning Post. “China is being seen as an oppressive power as it grows in strength.”

“The contact between Uygur separatists and jihadists has been rather limited but is increasingly facilitated by Uzbek jihadists in recent years in remote regions of Pakistan,” he said.

China has long maintained that separatist groups in Xinjiang have links to foreign jihadist organisations. After the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, Beijing lobbied for the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) to be placed on the United States’ terrorist watch list.

Paramilitary policemen with shields and batons patrol near the People's Square in Urumqi, Xinjiang region. Photo: AP

ETIM – which experts say is more of an umbrella term used by the Chinese government for a number of different groups, including the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP), than an actual cohesive organisation – has been accused by Beijing of involvement in a number of terrorist incidents in recent years, including the Kunming Railway Station massacre in March which left 31 people dead and injured 141.

While leaders of TIP, believed to be based in Pakistan’s lawless tribal region, have voiced support and even claimed credit for some attacks in China, some have questioned the group’s ability to carry out terrorist plots thousands of kilometres away.

The influence of foreign jihadist organisations on events in Xinjiang has also been questioned. While al-Qaeda and Islamic State have begun using the situation there in their propaganda, experts argue that the roots of the unrest ultimately lie in China’s policies in the region.

“Identifying external ‘provocations’ remains important to the narrative about Uygurs perpetuated by the Chinese state,” Sean Roberts, director of international development studies at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, told Vice News last month.

Beijing, Roberts argues, believes its policies are “gracious and generous to the Uygurs and immune to criticism. Thus, if Uygurs are resisting the Chinese state, it must be due to external forces seeking to destabilise what is harmonious and prosperous.”

“When the approach taken by the Chinese government is a total clampdown then people will go in more extreme directions, that’s a natural response and we’ve seen it in a number of other situations,” Raffaello Pantucci, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute focusing on counter-terrorism and radicalisation, told the Post.

“Historically though, extremist Uygur groups have never been able to get the global [jihadi] movement to do much more than talk about their problems,” he said. “There’s a lot of rhetoric but it doesn’t translate into action.”

“The Chinese government has a tendency to say that any incident that takes place in China is affiliated to a foreign group, but it rarely goes into the particulars of who is behind and directing these plots," Pantucci added.

Policemen from the SWAT team practice during a drill in Urumqi, Xinjiang region. Photo: Reuters

“China’s ongoing security crackdown in Xinjiang has forced the most militant Uygur separatists into volatile neighbouring countries, such as Pakistan, where they are forging strategic alliances with, and even leading, jihadist factions affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Taliban,” wrote Philip Potter, an assistant professor of public policy and political science at the University of Michigan, in a paper published earlier this year.

The allure of jihadist organisations – particularly the Islamic State, which has proven itself adept at waging online propaganda and recruitment campaigns – is strong for disillusioned young people in countries all over the world.

The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King’s College London estimates that around 74 nationalities are fighting under the black flag of the “Caliphate”, including more than 500 British militants.

In July, China’s former special envoy to the Middle East, Wu Sike, said that around 100 Chinese citizens are fighting with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

In an article last month, the state-run Global Times quoted an unnamed “anti-terrorist worker” as saying that Xinjiang militants who joined the Islamic State “not only want to get training in terrorist techniques, but also to expand their connections in international terrorist organisations through actual combat to gain support for escalation of terrorist activities in China.”

Uygur exile groups complain that Beijing already exaggerates the threat posed by terrorism to justify harsh crackdowns in Xinjiang.

Uighur academic Ilham Tohti sits during his trial on separatism charges in Urumqi, Xinjiang region. Photo: CCTV

The concern for many observers is that as more and more moderate groups and intellectuals are silenced – such as Ilham Tohti, an economics professor and advocate for Uygur rights who was jailed for life by a Xinjiang court in September – foreign jihadist organisations, acting outside of China and more difficult to control and suppress, become the only option for those frustrated by Beijing’s policies.

In a recently released annual report by the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China – tasked to monitor human rights and legal developments in the country – the authors found that “overly broad security measures and crackdowns, restrictions on peaceful religious activists, and constraints on expressions of Uygur cultural identity have heightened tensions in [Xinjiang]”.

 

[BalanceOfPower]

China 'executed 2,400 people last year', rights group reveals

Figure from a knowledgeable source marks a fall of 20 per cent in executions, but China retains world lead in using death penalty

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 21 October, 2014, 1:46pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 21 October, 2014, 7:02pm

Agence France-Presse in Beijing

A man convicted for killing a child is escorted by guards to a Beijing court. He was later sentenced to death. Photo: Xinhua

The world’s top executioner, China, put 2,400 people to death last year, a US-based rights group said on Tuesday, shedding rare light on a statistic Beijing considers a state secret.

The figure was a fall of 20 per cent from 2012, the Dui Hua Foundation said, and a fraction of the 12,000 in 2002.

China is so reticent on the issue that it has done nothing to publicise the long-term decline in its use of the death penalty. But it still executes more people than every other country put together, rights groups say.

The total for the rest of the world combined was 778 people last year, according to campaign group Amnesty International’s annual report earlier this year. It does not give an estimate for Chinese executions.

Dui Hua said that it obtained its figures from “a judicial official with access to the number of executions carried out each year”.

But the recent annual declines were “likely to be offset” this year, it said, due to factors including the “strike hard” campaign in the violence-wracked largely Muslim region of Xinjiang.

Hundreds of people have been convicted of terrorist offences in the area, and last week a court condemned to 12 to death in connection with an attack in July.

The People’s Intermediate Court in Kashgar area of Xinjiang condemned the 12 people to death for the July 28 attack on a police station and government offices in Shache county, also known as Yarkand. Thirty-seven civilians and 59 “terrorists” were killed and another 13 civilians wounded.

“China currently executes more people every year than the rest of the world combined, but it has executed far fewer people since the power of final review of death sentences was returned to the [Supreme People’s Court] in 2007,” Dui Hua said.

China’s top court examines all condemnations to death issued in the country, and sent back 39 per cent of those it reviewed last year to lower courts for additional evidence, Dui Hua said, citing a report by the Southern Weekly newspaper.

The Chinese legal system is tightly controlled by the ruling Communist Party and courts have a near-100 per cent conviction rate in criminal cases.

The use of force to extract confessions remains widespread in the country, leading to a number of miscarriages of justice.

China has occasionally exonerated wrongfully executed convicts after others came forward to confess their crimes, or in some cases because the supposed murder victim was later found alive.

In one landmark case in June, the Supreme Court overturned the death sentence for Li Yan, a woman who killed her abusive husband.

 

[Hypocrisy]

400 cabbies caught out for breaking rules

Shanghai Daily, October 21, 2014

A Shanghai taxi driver who charged an American passenger three times the correct fare is among 400 cabbies who have had their licenses revoked or suspended this year, officials said yesterday.

400 cabbies caught out for breaking rules

As well as overcharging, other common offences included taking longer routes, swapping transport cards for ones without credit and lending cabs to other drivers, the Shanghai Traffic Law Enforcement Team said.

A total of 93 cabbies had their licenses revoked for at least five years for serious breaches of regulations, said the enforcement team.

They included a cab driver surnamed Zhu who overcharged an American traveling from Pudong International Airport to Hongqiao Railway Station.

Most cabbies share a taxi, but Zhu wanted to keep working when the other driver was using their vehicle. To get round this, Zhu had borrowed a cab from another cabbie friend who was busy decorating his apartment.

In that vehicle, he picked up the American on April 1 and activated a motor he had fixed to the meter which made it run quicker.

Zhu charged 590 yuan (US$96) for a ride that should have cost around 200 yuan.

As the passenger didn’t have enough cash, Zhu got him to withdraw money from an ATM machine, before presenting him with a fake receipt.

Suspicious by this point, the American passenger noted down the car plate as Zhu drove off and got a Chinese friend to help file a complaint.

The law enforcement team said Zhu had his license taken away for five years, while the driver, surnamed Zhang, who lent Zhu his cab, had his license suspended for 15 days.

Zhang was among 297 cabbies had have had their licenses suspended for 15 days for lesser violations.

During their suspension, they are required to attend traffic law courses.

There are around 50,000 licensed taxis in Shanghai, officials said.

 

[Hypocrisy]

Cosmetic lenses harmful for eyes: CCTV

CRI, October 21, 2014

Several brands of cosmetic contact lenses available in China, especially those sold online or in exclusive stores, were found to be harmful to the eyes, China's state-owned media China Central Television (CCTV) reported in an investigating program.

Cosmetic lenses harmful for eyes: CCTV

Colorful contact lenses are worn especially popular among teenagers and young-women, and are worn as a fashion accessory, even by those without any eye-defect.

The report said that it was not only the poor quality contact lenses with a low price-tag that posed a health risk; expensive brands produced by several renowned companies and popular among young girls were also found to be potentially harmful.

An experiment shows that almost all the contact lenses on the market can wear down a user's cornea over time.

Contact lenses with a longer lifespan or those that are worn for a longer time could pose more serious harm to a user's cornea, while the colorless contact lenses are less harmless.

Some manufacturers produced colored contact lenses by applying a pigment on the lens surface. However, if this pigment comes off, it can cause severe eye diseases, the report said.

CCTV's investigation shows that majority of contact lens users who wear them for over three years suffered from an eye disease.