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China police seal off restive Inner Mongolia towns

He he

michael-jackson-mugshot.jpg

lol Try harder, matey.

...err...in fact keep trying, some things are just beyond some people's ken.

..and so MJ is yours.
 
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Ah, that's cruel. Martial law over an accident that's too much.. People should protest else their sufferings will see no end..
 
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@Indian members

Why not open a thread dedicated for negatives news about China and make it sticky, where you guys can post all of these crap, instead of openning a new thread like this every single day?
 
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Thank you India for your concern.

Ejaz isn't an Indian diplomat :P

But just for the sake of the discussion, can you provide some background on the region and any unrests in the past, before this thread gets overun by trolls.
 
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@Indian members

Why not open a thread dedicated for negatives news about China and make it sticky, where you guys can post all of these crap, instead of openning a new thread like this every single day?

No thank you.
 
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20+ posts and not a single one on topic. Please ignore the trolls and report off topic posts to mods.

Report: Some areas in China under martial law after protests - CNN.com

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(CNN) -- In an apparent response to days of protests, Chinese authorities have declared martial law in parts of the northeast's inner Mongolia autonomous region, according to Amnesty International.

The region has long been the scene of ethnic tension between Mongolians, who have lived in the area for centuries, and the Han people, who arrived in larger numbers after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Han people are the majority ethnic group in China.

In the report released Friday, Amnesty International detailed protests in and around the city of Xilinhot.

CNN contacted officials in the affected areas, but they declined to comment.

According to the human rights organization, 2,000 Mongolian students took to the streets Wednesday in Xilinhot, in a show of solidarity with an ethnic Mongolian herder by the name of "Mergen," who was killed earlier this month when he was hit by a coal truck that was driven by ethnic Hans.

Amnesty reported that the drivers of the coal truck are both in custody of Chinese authorities.

In a clip posted to YouTube that purports to show that same demonstration, a large group of people, many of whom are young people wearing school uniforms, can be seen walking through the streets.

The students were marching toward the building that houses the regional government, shouting, "defend our land and defend our rights, according to the New York-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center. The group refers to the area as "southern" -- not "inner" -- Mongolia, and would like to see the region achieve independence or merge with Mongolia.

CNN could not independently verify the authenticity of the clip.

According to Amnesty, the protests, which started Monday, have been largely peaceful, but at least 18 people were reported injured in confrontations with police northeast of Xilinhot, in Right Ujimchin Banner, or Xi Wu Qi in Mandarin.

"The protests are a wake-up call for the authorities. As in other minority areas, authorities must start heeding the message rather than attacking the messengers," said Catherine Baber, Amnesty's Asia pacific deputy director.

Protesters say their culture is under threat as pastoral herders are pushed out from the grasslands and forced to move to the cities, or to places where animal grazing is not possible, according to Enghebatu Togochog, Director of the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center.

He traces the motivation for recent demonstrations to the Chinese central government's efforts, in recent years, to expand coal mining and production in areas that have traditionally been used for grazing.

The demonstrations have been difficult for international media to cover. Jonathan Watts, a correspondent for The Guardian, reported on his Twitter account that police forced their way into his hotel room in Xilinhot "for questioning" at 4:30 a.m. Thursday

"It would be funny if it wasn't for (the) potential hassle for the local people I spoke to. That's (a) major concern," he tweeted later that day.

The next day, he added, "am fine, but still fuming about being woken by two cops standing over my bed at 4:30a.m. Tough to be suitably indignant while naked & groggy."

Watts reported that, as of Thursday, Xilinhot was "not closed," but the site of the Mongolian herder's death was blocked.

On China's social media, talk about the protests was limited. On the popular microblog site Sina Weibo, the search terms "martial law," "Xi Wu Qi" and "Mergen" were all blocked on Friday night.

As is common when sensitive terms are blocked within the Chinese firewall, the result of searching these terms was "in accordance with the relevant laws and policies, the search results cannot be displayed."
 
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Petty point scoring instead of proper debate :disagree:

More demos planned in China's Inner Mongolia

More demos planned in China's Inner Mongolia


By Marianne Barriaux (AFP) – 6 hours ago

BEIJING — Ethnic Mongols are planning more protests in an area of northern China already rocked by unrest, a rights group said Sunday, after the region's leader tried to address simmering anger over Chinese rule.

The spectre of more unrest came as locals in Inner Mongolia reported tight security following a wave of protests triggered by the killing of an ethnic Mongol herder, amid resentment over perceived Chinese oppression.

The US-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Centre, which has many contacts in the region, said a "regionwide demonstration" was planned for Monday and urged people globally to protest in front of Chinese embassies.

The unrest -- which has involved thousands of protesters in different areas over the past week -- erupted after Mergen, the herder, was run over on May 10 by a truck driven by a member of China's dominant Han ethnic group.

In the last reported incident, more than 300 riot police clashed on Friday with hundreds of herders and students in Shuluun Huh banner, or Zhenglanqi in Chinese, the Mongol rights group said.

It urged people around the world to protest on Monday at midday "to demand the government of China respect the human rights, life and dignity of the Mongols in China and to resolve the case of Mergen in a just and fair manner."

China is home to an estimated six million ethnic Mongols who have cultural and linguistic links with the Republic of Mongolia to the north.

Many harbour resentment over alleged Chinese repression and encroachment on pasture lands by Han mining and energy interests, in grievances similar to those reported by minorities in Tibet and the northwestern region of Xinjiang.

In what appeared to be a bid to address the resentment, Inner Mongolia's Communist Party chief on Friday visited a school in one of the restive areas.

Hu Chunhua pointed out that suspects had been arrested in several cases that sparked anger, the local Hulunbei'er Daily reported. One of these cases is thought to be the killing of Mergen.

"Teachers and students, please rest assured that the suspects... will be punished severely and quickly, to resolutely safeguard the rights of victims and their families," he was quoted as saying.

The official People's Daily newspaper on Sunday reported on government efforts to improve people's lives in Inner Mongolia, such as the 4.4 billion yuan ($680 million) allocated for better transport in rural areas this year.

Meanwhile, residents in many areas of Inner Mongolia, including Hohhot, the regional capital, said there was tight security on Sunday.

"There are still many police patrolling near the government building, one every several metres," one local in Xiwuqi, where protests have taken place, told AFP, adding that no further demonstrations had happened at the weekend.

An employee at a hotel near Xinhua Square in Hohhot said all roads around his building had been blocked since Sunday morning.

"This is because police want to prevent students from gathering at the square and making trouble," he said.

Chinese authorities -- already jittery about anonymous online calls for nationwide protests emulating unrest in the Arab world -- also appeared to have clamped down on Internet communications in parts of Inner Mongolia on Sunday.

An employee at a store belonging to telecommunications operator China Unicom said it was not possible to go online in Hohhot using mobile phones, although it was unclear if this was directly linked to the unrest.

A resident in Xianghuangqi, a city to the northeast of Hohhot, said she had received a government notice calling on people not to post messages online and not to "sensationalise" anything.

The Mongol rights group said some bloggers and online users in Tongliao city, where a university has been sealed off, had been summoned by police. In Hohhot, it added, some Internet chat rooms had been shut down.

Authorities are deeply concerned about the potential for the Internet to spark unrest. In 2009, the Chinese government blocked Facebook and Twitter amid fears the social websites helped ignite deadly riots in Xinjiang.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.
 
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Wow ! Just look at em prickly Chinese. One negative news and they're scrambling for cover

One negative news? Make it at least 5 to 6 a day. I don't think Chinese members would've minded if it were only one negative news. Also I don't think I've seen Indian members posting anything positive about China either.
 
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