Studies / Reports: February 2008 Archives

By RADIO FREE ASIA
February 25, 2008

When Chinese troops suppressed a nationalist uprising in Tibet's capital city Lhasa in 1959, a curtain came down over Tibet. Thousands were killed in fighting across the country or vanished into labor camps and jails--where many died from illness, overwork, or starvation.

Now, a Tibetan survivor of those events has released an account of them in English translation.

Tubten Khetsun's Memories of Life in Lhasa Under Chinese Rule, published in 2008 by Columbia University Press, details the author's experiences in Chinese prisons and as a forced laborer on state-run construction sites and farms from 1959-79.

Written and published originally in Tibetan, the book was translated into English by Matthew Akester, an Australian scholar of Tibetan studies.

"It's very important to have a written record of what took place," said Khetsun, speaking at a private gathering in Virginia to mark the book's release. "My generation suffered a lot, and I wanted to talk about the truth so that future generations will know what happened."

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By WALT BODANICH and JAKE HOOKER | The New York Times
February 16, 2008

A Chinese factory that supplies much of the active ingredient for a brand of a blood thinner that has been linked to four deaths in the United States is not certified by China's drug regulators to make pharmaceutical products, according to records and interviews.

Because the plant, Changzhou SPL, has no drug certification, China's drug agency did not inspect it. The United States Food and Drug Administration said this week that it had not inspected the plant either -- a violation of its own policy -- before allowing the company to become a major supplier of the blood thinner, heparin, to Baxter International in the United States.

Baxter announced Monday that it was suspending sales of its multidose vials of heparin after 4 patients died and 350 suffered complications. Why the heparin caused these problems -- and whether the active ingredient in the drug, derived from pig intestines, was responsible -- has not been determined.

The plant in Changzhou, west of Shanghai, appears to fall into the type of regulatory void that American and Chinese health officials are trying to close -- in which chemical companies export pharmaceutical ingredients without a Chinese drug license.

China provides a growing proportion of the active pharmaceutical ingredients used in drugs sold in the United States. And Chinese drug regulators have said that all producers of those ingredients are required to obtain certification by the State Food and Drug Administration. However, some of the active ingredients that China exports are made by chemical companies, which do not fall under the Chinese drug agency's jurisdiction.

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By BBC Sports | BBC World News
February 14, 2008

But that has not stopped some sportsmen and women registering their unhappiness with the country's involvement in war-torn Sudan.

Thousands have been killed and millions more affected by the conflict in the western region of Darfur - and the finger of blame has been pointed at countries like China for not doing enough to stop the suffering.

China responded to the growing criticism on Thursday, with its foreign minister saying it was "understandable if some people do not understand the Chinese government policy on Darfur, but... that some people may have ulterior motives".

Here, British badminton player and former Olympian Richard Vaughan , a member of pressure group Team Darfur, explains why he felt it was right for him to speak out, and why he thinks GB athletes should be allowed to do so in the build-up to the Beijing Games.

WHY THE CONCERN OVER CHINA?

In my mind, China has an indifferent political record internationally, be it in Darfur, Burma, or many other nations in Africa they do business with.

This, mixed with human rights issues within China itself, and the lack of a free press, means there are always going to be issues with the decision to stage the Olympics in Beijing.

I think the IOC and the Chinese government would have expected some opposition to a certain degree.

IS IT IMPORTANT FOR SPORTSMEN AND WOMEN TO SPEAK OUT?

I believe free speech is very important for everyone.

If athletes feel strongly about a humanitarian topic, they have the right to comment on it, as does any member of the public.

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By RADIO FREE ASIA
February 06, 2008

Chinese curbs on the traditional Muslim culture of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region have left Uyghur youth in crisis, according to experts and Uyghurs at home and overseas.

According to exiled Uyghur businesswoman Rebiya Kadeer, for many years the Uyghur people were able to preserve their identity and way of life under Chinese rule, which began after the demise of a short-lived East Turkestan republic in the late 1930s and 1940s.

"We never heard of Uyghurs stealing, picking pockets, or robbing people," said Kadeer, who came to the United States in 2005 after serving a prison term in Xinjiang for attempting to meet with a human-rights delegation of the U.S. Congress.

But she accused Beijing of beginning a concerted attack on Uyghur traditions in 1987, saying the authorities began to move "common criminals" into the region from other parts of China.

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