The 2008 Beijing Olympics: Supporting an Enemy of Democracy

The most basic human rights of the Uyghur people of East Turkistan (also known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region or XUAR) have been denied by the People’s Republic of China (PRC). After September 2001, China has used the “war on terror” as an excuse to crackdown on peaceful Uyghur human rights protesters and supporters of democratic reform in East Turkistan, labeling them as “terrorists.”  Uyghurs face arrests, torture, and executions for all forms of protest against government policies, no matter how peaceful...............

2008 Olympics Dragon in the Limelight

When Beijing won the bid for the 2008 Olympics in 2001, thousands of Chinese citizens flooded Tiananmen Square in celebration of the momentous event. Unlike most people around the world, the Chinese seem unfazed by the scandals that have recently wreaked havoc on the reputation of the Olympics. There is an estimated 95 percent approval rating from the citizens of Beijing for the 2008 Olympics ............

Transfer of Young Uyghur Women into Eastern China

Official Government Policy: One of the most pressing and provoking issues to the Uyghurs in East Turkestan is the recent transfer of young, unmarried and mostly teenage Uyghur girls to ‘work’ in factories located in China’s eastern provinces. Since June 2006, a new policy to recruit and transfer young Uyghur women has been implemented in East Turkestan, especially in the southern area of the region where the Uyghur population is in the majority, in the name of “providing employment opportunities and generating income” for the poor farming families who live there ..........

Olympic Word Games

The Beijing Olympics will launch on Aug. 8, 2008, one year from today. At once a coming-out party for China and a source of great national pride, the games have also raised hopes that Beijing might honor its promises to allow unfettered press freedom and even permit greater freedom of speech for the Chinese people. But as we enter the home stretch before the games, the prospects for media and free expression reform are not good ........