A Year Marking Lots of Anniversaries

Students gathering to mourn reformer Hu Yaobang's death in 1989

 This year, 2019, is full of anniversaries for China, many of them are ones the government would like to avoid. That means spiriting away dissidents on "forced trips" and cleaning streets to get rid of homeless people, and those lovely security checks in subway stations will be stepped up even more.

The Dalai Lama fled to India 60 years ago

Coming up on March 10 is the 60th anniversary of the failed uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet. Since this month, the government has banned foreign visitors from traveling to Tibet so that they don't even have a chance to cause trouble during this "sensitive time"; they may be allowed back in from April 1.

March 17 is also the 60th anniversary of when the Dalai Lama fled Tibet for India. Will His Holiness come out to say something about what a travesty it is to be exiled from his homeland for six decades?

This year is the 100th anniversary of the May 4 Movement

Then April 15 will be another sensitive anniversary -- 30 years since the death of ousted reformer Hu Yaobang, that sparked students to gather at Tiananmen Square, and then we all know what happened less than two months later.

However, the government will be happy to mark the May 4 Movement -- the 100th anniversary. There will probably be pomp and circumstance to celebrate this event where students led the call for anti-imperialism because at the time China could not or did not stand up to foreign powers. It led to the surge of nationalism and to the founding of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921.

Sad remembrance: It is three decades since June 4, 1989

Hard to believe the June 4 anniversary is 30 years on... the candlelight vigil in Hong Kong's Victoria Park will probably be the same, but the significance is greater. The Chinese government doesn't even want to talk about what happened during the Cultural Revolution, so how can it even begin to touch the subject of 1989? The silence is deafening.

Ten years ago I was in Xian when the Urumqi riots broke out. Suddenly state media turned into overdrive, writing tons of articles of how the Han Chinese in Xinjiang were attacked, how horrible it was, and how those attackers should be punished severely. It was a very tense time. Given the current situation in Xinjiang, the Chinese government may use the anniversary as further justification for putting Uighurs into "education camps"...

Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the PRC 70 years ago

But to cap the year off will be the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1. There will definitely be a lot of fanfare (and cleaning the streets) for that celebration. The government will probably spare no expense to have a stunning fireworks display while enforcing lots of road blocks and security checks...

There won't be a dull moment in China this year!

No ID, No Subway Ride in Urumqi

Some passengers got to try out the new subway in Urumqi yesterday

Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang will have its first metro system up and running by the end of the year and already the government has stated that Uyghurs need to produce their identification cards before they can buy tickets.

This is in addition to other regulations that Uyghurs need to produce their ID when buying train tickets and long-distance bus rides (since last March).

If you are caught using someone else's ID card, you can be fined between 50 to 200 yuan (US$7.90-$31.70).

Uyghurs need to show ID to buy subway tickets

Maya Wang, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch, says the requirement is "part of an ever tightening web of surveillance and control in Xinjiang".

The government claims violence is rooted from Islamic extremists and separatists, but Uyghur advocates say it's the government's repression of religious freedom and unfair ethnic policies in the region that have resulted in resentment and violence.

Han Chinese authorities have been increasing security and surveillance measures throughout the region since 2016, including thousands of newly installed street-corner police stations.

These days Urumqi residents often have to provide their ID or undergo facial scans at the city's numerous security check points.

"Think of how many checkpoints an Urumqi resident must go through every day," Wang says. "And you are already required to use your real name for intra-city travel."

Security continues to be very strict in Xinjiang

All this monitoring using the latest technology coupled with heavy policing has resulted in what critics describe as a "massive police state".

It's so extreme that in some stations, no liquid, not even water is allowed, according to one resident who wished to remain anonymous.

"I think everyone is already mentally prepared for how strict the subways will be," he said.

It really doesn't have to be this extreme, but the heightened security measures in that region just make tensions between Han Chinese and Uyghurs even worse. When will the mistrust end?

Silk Road: Something's Wrong

One of the side streets near Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar, days before October 1

 There were already signs that my dad wasn't doing well. He was walking slower and slower, and his brisk steps were down to a shuffle. Many of our tour members were getting concerned. "Is your dad OK?" they asked.

At first we thought it was exhaustion -- we were on a 17-day tour and we were waking up at 6am to getting out the door by 7.30 to drive three to four hours to the next destination. He was napping on the bus at every opportunity, but he didn't want to miss out on any sightseeing opportunities either.

Kashgar is the furthest west city in China and Xinjiang

The first sign of trouble was at Urumqi airport, day 12 of the tour. I was the last one of the group to get my boarding pass because I had mistakenly checked in a battery charger in my luggage. Of course my dad chastised me for this, but he wasn't his usual fiery temper which was unusual.

Then the two of us went through security, me first, him behind. As I was packing up my stuff, I heard a cry for help and turned around to see my dad being caught by a young security officer who was trying to get him onto a bench and then help him put on his shoes. The young man asked me if I knew him and I said he's my dad.

The officer politely explained he had to go back to work and I thanked him for helping out. I asked dad what was going on, and he said he thought he sat down, but missed the bench.

I thought it was strange, but helped him get all his things together and we walked slowly to the gate. Mentally he was fine, but physically there was something wrong.

After we arrived in Kashgar and got off the tour bus to go to the restaurant for dinner, dad had trouble getting off the bus and luckily the tour guide caught him and steadied him.

Later that evening back in the hotel, my mom asked a doctor friend who was on the tour with us to see if my dad was having a stroke.

The doctor friend observed my dad carefully and he was a compliant patient; perhaps he also knew something was wrong. The doctor ruled out a stroke because my dad didn't have slurred speech and was still mentally fine, but that something was wrong with his motor skills.

He suggested we see how he was in the morning and then perhaps go to the hospital to get a CT scan of dad's brain.

Silk Road: Friendly Reminder

Who says the Chinese aren't considerate of others?!

 

After visiting Tianshan Lake near Urumqi, we we to the loo and when we closed the stall door we saw this sign.

I have never seen such a friendly reminder before which is why I had to take a photograph of it!

All bathrooms around the world should have them!

Silk Road: The Massage Report

Just around the corner of the hotel on the left side is the massage place

On our Silk Road trip, we did quite a bit of walking everyday, and my mom and I (and some other tour members) were keen to take advantage of any massages we could get in the evenings.

We managed to get a few -- with some interesting stories in between.

In our first stop Lanzhou, we were unable to get one -- the place that other tour members had gone to, all their staff were busy by the time we arrived. The receptionist asked us to wait for 20 minutes or half an hour and since it was already late and we would have to wake up early the next day, we didn't want to wait another minute.

But then when we arrived in Wuwei, we discovered our hotel had a massage place on the third floor and my mom and I decided to check it out.

When we expressed interest in a massage, they took us down to the basement floor. The staff asked us if we wanted new slippers for 10 kuai or just clean ones for free. Excuse me? I had never heard of that before. We opted for the clean ones. They basically took our shoes hostage.

Then we had to decide on a 260 kuai massage for 80 minutes or 298 for 90 minutes. We pick the former and then we are led down to a changing room that has some lockers and the staff patiently wait outside while we change into some clothes they gave us.

After we're done, they take us back up to the third floor where we passed by a massive room filled with chairs (and smoke) and we entered a room for two people. There weren't any massage beds, but a raised platform for us to sit on.

We waited for a long time before two girls dressed in black short shorts and high heels come in. Obviously they are dressed for the opposite sex and were disappointed we're women.

While soaking our feet in very warm water, they massaged our heads, and then they moved onto the shoulders, neck and legs. She even used her feet to massage my inner thighs -- how creative.

One interesting move was me putting my feet on her knees and holding onto her hands and she was able to lift me up! Another was pulling me up from behind! Crazy.

At Jiayuguan, we spied some massage places near our hotel and checked one out after dinner. It was on the second floor of an old building that was quite dark, but since there were five of us we thought it would be OK. A Chinese woman followed us up because she was scared to go up on her own.

It turns out the place was run by a group of women and our first impression was seeing a half naked little boy running around. How professional.

They seated three of us in one room, two in another and the masseurs chatted among themselves while we stared at the TV.

At one point they started talking to us, asking us where we were from and even asking my mom's age. They were shocked to find out she was older than they thought because for them, someone who turns 60 is old.

The massage was done on a massage chair that could be flattened for us to lie on our stomachs, but it wasn't too comfortable. But for 108 kuai, what do you expect?

Our best massage was in a place in the same building as the Hilton Urumqi but around the corner, above or below a karaoke place. The massage place was very classy, the staff very polite and gave us the clean slippers for us to walk into a room big enough for five of us.

They gave us pink outfits to wear that looked like pyjamas and we could have slept there too it was quite comfortable. We were given tea and fruit, and our clothes stored in a Chinese cupboard while we sat in giant lounge chairs with mini duvets too.

Each of the young women had strong hands to give us really good massages working out our individual tight spots. They even gave us heated bean bags to put around our necks. Premium service. We were all in massage heaven.

Silk Road: Chinese Hotels' Version of "International"

The Hilton Urumqi -- the gold standard in hotels along the Silk Road

During our Silk Road trip, we checked in and out of a number of hotels and I can barely remember their names. These local hotels claimed they were at least four star with "international" in their names, but they were far from western standards.

"Slip Carefully" in a hotel in Lanzhou

Many of them were relatively new hotels, but inside the rooms they looked dim (not enough electricity for the lights), the water pressure was very low, and in many cases things were installed crooked.

And what's with this obsession with having a glass window in between the bedroom and the bathroom! We don't need to see what the other person is doing in the loo...

Here are a few observations with photographic evidence of these hotels missing the mark.

One of the first hotels we stayed at in Lanzhou tried really hard to give clear explanations in the bathroom. The glass shower door had a sign that said: "Jog gently pull", and nearby a sign that read: "Slip carefully". Yikes! How does one "slip carefully"?

The lever on the left wasn't installed straight

Another fancy hotel had a marble bathroom which was impressive, but the lever to turn the water on for the shower was installed crooked. And in the room by the bed there was a sign instructing guests not to smoke in bed, but next to it was an ashtray... how about advising guests not to smoke at all? It was supposed to be a non-smoking room anyway.

On the tour I was the odd person -- I didn't have a travel partner to share a room with. Usually I had a single king-sized bed. But in Zhangye, in this impressive-looking resort in the new part of town, I was given a suite! It was massive complete with a living room and one and a half bathrooms. My mom insisted on staying with me that night to have some space...

At Jiayuyuan, after our trip to the Great Wall, we settled into a hotel that again looked flashy with new fixtures, but the markings were still there on where exactly to install them, and the plastic not taken off the frame of the shower door...

Our best hotel on the entire trip was in Urumqi where we spent the night before flying to Kashgar -- it was the Hilton Urumqi.

Markings were left after mirror was installed

The room was clean, the towels weren't damp -- some hotels didn't have completely dry towels -- the water drained from the shower and didn't flood the bathroom, light switches were in English and Chinese,

Our breakfast buffet spread the next morning was also top notch. Usually the Chinese hotels had only Chinese dishes -- various vegetables that were mostly spicy, along with congee, millet congee, fruits, boiled egg, salad, yoghurt in plastic cups and steamed buns.

But at the Hilton Urumqi there was all the above and western-style food, like bacon, eggs fried how you wanted, noodles cooked a la minute with garnishes of your choice, even waffles. Needless to say we loaded up.

Finally in Kashgar, our hotel room was quite nice, two large double beds, with a big bathroom that included a shower and a bathtub. We were given a fruit plate once a day, though a complaint about the toilet paper rolls is that they were so small -- one third the size of a usual toilet paper roll. On top of that they were thick so they ran out very quickly. We went through at least three rolls per day.

Hmmm the button for the 8th floor is missing

And in the elevator, the buttons on the left side worked, not the ones on the right. Some elevators even had holes where numbers should have been that was further evidence they were a facade and didn't work!

Chinese hotels still have a ways to go in reaching international standards. They really need more exposure to Western ones and understanding where the gaps are and fixing them. As more Chinese travel within the country, they are going to expect better facilities and service. It's a challenge that should be tackled the sooner the better.

Silk Road: Urumqi Diwopu International Airport

Urumqi Diwopu International Airport with very strict security measures

Going to the airport in Urumqi -- or any airport in Xinjiang -- is an experience.

We were forewarned not to have any battery charging equipment in our luggage, all electronic equipment in our carry-on, no liquids exceeding 100ml and no sharp objects at all.

When we were checking in, our luggage was screened at the same time so that if there was a problem, we were pulled aside to open the suitcase for inspection. In my case I completely forgot about a mobile phone charger I had in my luggage.

Only after this was sorted by putting it in my hand carry bag was I finally given my boarding pass.

Anyone want a lavender squirrel?

Then we went through rigorous security checks. One tour member was found to have a pocket knife in their bag -- they forgot to pack it in their luggage. It was confiscated.

And we were definitely patted down -- practically everywhere. We even had to take off our shoes and lift our feet off to be wanded in case there might be explosive powder or something on them.

But admittedly after going through this rigorous process I did feel rest assured that our flight would be safe, otherwise these security officers would surely get into trouble...

The airport looks new, but the design is so counter intuitive. Gates are down a flight of stairs -- why not make them all the same level? And all the shops sell the same things at the same prices... it got boring very quickly. How many more dried dates can I buy? And purple squirrels with a lavender smell?

Or how about a book on Jack Ma?

Or you could go to the bookstore (all in Chinese) and get a book on how Jack Ma Yun of Alibaba became a billionaire. Just in case you wanted to know.

You could tell which restaurant was the best just by seeing how many people were there; if there was a line-up that was the one to go to. The others were either too expensive or didn't taste good.

Our flight from Urumqi to Kashgar was about an hour and a half, and when we arrived, we had to walk down the stairs to a shuttle bus that drove us to the terminal. When we got there, there was only one baggage claim. Guess that was ours.

Another Uyghur Setback

What are the chances of Ilham Tohti getting a fair trial on separatism charges?

On the same day it was announced there was an investigation into Zhou Yongkang, there was also news that Uyghur academic and rights activist Ilham Tohti was formally charged with separatism and that his trial could start within weeks.

The prosecutor's office in the Xinjiang capital Urumqi made a brief online statement yesterday.

Tohti has been detained since January and through his lawyer Li Fangping, has vigorously denied accusations of instigating separatism, a charge that if convicted could lead to several years in prison or even the death penalty.

His wife Guzaili Nuer is upset hearing about the charges. "He only did research and wrote articles about the people of Xinjiang," she said. "I'm feeling ill and sad now."

Li wrote on his weibo account last night, criticizing government prosecutors for not notifying him about the indictment. He also said prosecutors had yet to accede his repeated requests for copies of the evidence against Tohti.

"I am shocked by how the Urumqi procuratorate has trampled on lawyers' right of defense," he wrote.

The formal charges against Tohti come as the authorities further crackdown on violent attacks in the region and a pro-Beijing imam named Jume Tahir was stabbed on Wednesday. It is believed the killing was a targeted attack.

The charges against Tohti will be another blow for for Uyghurs who was their moderate spokesperson, trying to explain to the Chinese government and the world what the ethnic minority wants -- respect of their Muslim religion, language, and way of life.

They feel they are being repressed and losing their identity as more of the younger generation speaks Putonghua than the Uyghur language. They are also being sidelined for jobs because of their ethnicity, limiting their job prospects which leads to them being marginalized financially.

Does the Chinese government realize its policies are provoking Uyghurs to resort to violence?

Tohti was their moderate voice, but now that he's been incommunicado, radical Uyghurs don't seem to see any way out except through brandishing knives and setting off homemade explosive devices.

His daughter Jewher is studying in Bloomington, Indiana -- her father was supposed to go with her on a one-year visiting scholar position at Indiana University, but was detained at Beijing International Airport in February 2013.

"I am angry about this, they have not followed the legal path," she said. "My father was only trying to foster a dialogue. What they have charged him with is untrue."

Now that Tohti will be tried for separatism, Jewher and her family need to step up the campaign to rally the rest of the world to protest her father's innocence. International pressure is needed now to show Uyghurs they have not been forgotten.

He was the winner of the 2014 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. More information about Tohti here.

Exposing Vulnerability

Pictures from Weibo of the aftermath of the knife attack in Guangzhou

The knife attack at Guangzhou Railway Station yesterday that wounded at least six people is the third assault in two months in China.

It calls into question the amount of money spent on domestic security, which is believed to be much more than 209 billion yuan, far exceeding the military budget.

If so much money is being spent on security, why are these attacks happening?

For example in Guandong, police have been patrolling with guns since 1994, and since May 1 there have been more than 4,000 gun-toting police officers and 10,000 auxilary police officers patrolling Guangzhou streets.

There are also SWAT teams and plainclothes police patrolling popular destinations, and 397,000 security cameras installed in the busy southern Chinese city since May1.

One of the six injured being carried away

It is a good illustration of how China has the hardware but not the software.

Even with all the equipment and manpower, the country isn't secure because it has poor intelligence gathering and local government capabilities to deal with these kinds of crises.

The just released 2013 China National Security Studies annual report features articles by scholars from various institutions who warn of "grave" challenges.

"Terror attacks in China have become more active than in previous years in both the number and seriousness of the attacks. The anti-terrorism condition facing China is grave," the report said.

So far this year there was an apparent suicide bomb and knife attack in Urumqi that left two assailants and a bystander dead a week ago, and a knife attack in Kunming train station in March that killed 29 and injured dozens. And now the incident in Guangzhou.

The report claims the main issue is Uyghur separatists from the East Turkestan Islamic Movement are to blame, expanding its attack targets from Xinjiang to other areas.

But are all these violent incidents really attributed to Uyghurs?

The Chinese government is not being transparent about this and all state media must carry Xinhua stories on any sensitive incidents so we may not be entirely sure of their conclusions.

But in any case, the lack of intelligence proves that having hardware is not enough to stop impending attacks. You need to know what is going on on the ground.

The more the government represses people like the Uyghurs, the more isolated they become, and the more secretive they are. As not many Chinese know the Uyghur language and culture, how can they even begin to understand this ethnic minority and their motives, let alone get some inkling of attacks being planned?

The string of attacks clearly shows heavy-handed repression does not bring security, but vulnerability.

Is this what China really wants to expose?

More Unrest in Xinjiang

Soldiers surveying the scene of the explosion at a railway station in Urumqi

Tonight there was an explosion at a railway station in Urumqi, Xinjiang with some 50 people reported injured so far. It is the eve before the three-day Labour Day holiday with many people traveling around the country.

The blast happened around 7pm where some suitcases were left on the ground between the station exit and the bus stop outside.

Reports say the explosion was so powerful, some people nearby thought it was an earthquake.

This incident happened just as Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up his four-day visit to the region. It was not clear if he was still in Xinjiang at the time.

Ironically he had called Kashgar  the "front line against terrorism".

He visited a military unit and and armed police squad and then he was pictured touring a police station in Kashgar and watched an anti-terrorism drill.

"You must have the most effective means to deal with violent terrorists," Xi was quoted as saying by Xinhua. "The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in wartime."

Ominous words...

At least 100 people have been killed in violence in Xinjiang over the past year, and over the past two months Xi has publicly discussed battling against terrorism 15 times.

Two days before he toured Kashgar, Xi vowed in a Politburo meeting to "resolutely crack down on terrorism and separatism with high intensity to safeguard national security".

And then in a strange twist, Xi visited a school and urged ethnic Han teachers to master the Uyghur language and to help Uyghur students become fluent on Putonghua.

"It's important to [have] bilingual education for minority children. [They] will be able to find jobs easier in the future by mastering the Chinese language, and more importantly they will contribute more to national unity," he said.

His comments just add to the frustration that he and Beijing don't understand what the real issues are in Xinjiang, why there are terrorism incidents in this restive region.

Already he is calling Uyghurs "terrorists" and "separatists", and how he wants to crush them for the sake of national security without realizing why these people have resorted to violence. It is because of the Central government's own policies of forcing the ethnic minority not to learn its own language and practice its culture and religion of Islam. The government has also destroyed their native homes and put them in sterile apartment blocks.

By not allowing them to do what is indigenous to them, the Uyghurs feel repressed and frustrated. The pro-Han economic policies make things worse, leaving Uyghurs behind in the race for riches.

Which is why it shouldn't be surprising that the desperate feel they have no choice but to voice their anger through violence, a bloody protest that makes things worse for everyone.

And on top of that, detaining the one clear rational voice for Uyghurs, Ilham Tohti, the academic who could have helped bridge the divide, is a major step backwards in Beijing's dealings with this ethnic minority group.

We are not surprised this explosion happened... but will Xi really get to the heart of the matter to end the violence?

Trying to Crush Civil Society

Xu Zhiyong on the cover of Esquire in 2009

We are not surprised but very disappointed to see Chinese President Xi Jinping crushing any kind of development of civil society.

This morning lawyer Xu Zhiyong was sentenced to four years in prison for "gathering a crowd to disturb order in a public place".

His crime? Calling for transparency and accountability of the Chinese government, that the country should be governed by rule of law.

The government likes to say that is is, and hopes the more times it says it, the more it becomes fact.

But the government's claims are far from the reality.

In fact Xu's own case was hardly an exercise in the rule of law.

His lawyers were not allowed to cross examine the prosecutor's witnesses, who only had to give written testimony and not appear in court;

His lawyers were not allowed to bring in their own witnesses; and they unsuccessfully challenged the legality of holding separate trials for Xu and the other activists, as it would have helped them in their defense.

As a result Xu and his lawyers did not speak during the one-day trial and in the end he tried to read out a manifesto calling for democratic change, freedom of speech and rule of law. After 10 minutes he was cut off by the judge, but the entire speech was put online.

After the verdict was read out and Xu said, "The court today has completely destroyed what remained of respect for rule of law in China," according to his lawyer Zhang Qingfang.

There is no rest for the wicked because the Chinese government has arrested another mild-mannered, rational activist, a Uighur professor by the name of Ilham Tohti.

Ilham Tohti lecturing to students in 2009

The authorities have accused him separatism and inciting ethnic hatred, and to indite him further, have suggested he has links to the terrorist group ETIM (East Turkestan Islamic Movement).

Tohti has been detained since January 15 when he was escorted out of his apartment on the campus of Minzu University of China by police. They took some 15 bags of documents, computers and cell phones while his wife and two children watched.

The Urumqi State Bureau of Security accuses the academic of inciting violence against the Chinese authorities and recruiting people to join the movement for an independent East Turkestan nation.

"Ilham Tohti exploited his status as a teacher to recruit, entice and coerce people to form gangs, and to collude with 'East Turkestan' leaders in planning, organizing and assigning people to go abroad to join in separatist activities," the statement said.

However, interviews with Tohti and his writings couldn't be further from these claims.

Ever since the Urumqi riots in 2009 that claimed almost 200 lives, he has been trying to explain that Uighurs feel repressed thanks to pro-Han Chinese policies in Xinjiang. Much of Tohti's academic work is about the high unemployment of young Uighurs who cannot compete for jobs with Han Chinese migrants.

He was advocating that the Chinese government revisit its economic policies in Xinjiang as well as its heavy-handed presence there.

But there continue to be eruptions of violence -- though we are not quite sure to what extent because foreign journalists are not allowed in the area. We are dependent on Xinhua reports that are not always accurate or spin a news story into opinion...

Officials say last Friday 12 people were killed in a town near Xinjiang's border with Kyrgyzstan in a clash involving explosive devices. State-run media said police shot six people in Aksu prefecture and six others died from three explosions with no further details.

Exile Uighur groups claim the clashes are caused by aggressive police tactics, while the police describe them as "terrorists" armed with knives and farming tools.

Tohti, who is fluent in both Mandarin and Uighur, has been trying to be the voice of reason, the middleman who is trying to diffuse the tensions between the two ethnic groups.

But the government deems him as unacceptable and in fact wants to brand him a terrorist.

What has he done wrong? What has Xu Zhiyong done wrong?

Both are trying to gently push the government in a direction towards greater harmony and less tensions, but yet the authorities see these two as a threat.

At this rate the hope for a flourishing civil society has been set back for the next few years. Meanwhile Xi's main goals are to further consolidate his power and the power of the Party.

Rule of law has become a metaphor for what the Party wants, not the People.