Putin’s capitulation in the “gas war” with Ukraine may be motivated by fears that his intransigence was reviving impetus for the Nabucco pipeline, an EU-backed project that would bypass Russia.
Finnish officials are deliberating on whether to offer asylum to former terror suspects detained at the US military prison at Guantánamo Bay. The US has proposed that Finland take in Uighur prisoners, members of the Turkic minority in western China…. Read moreFinland, Sweden consider asylum for Gitmo Uighurs
China’s official media reported the arrest of 59 Tibetans Dec. 25 on charges of inciting protests during the March unrest in the region. Reports cited Xin Yuanming, deputy director of the public security bureau of Lhasa, as saying “some people… Read moreTibet: more arrests, forced relocations
This weekend, the Dalai Lama told his followers he has lost hope of reaching agreement with China on the future of his homeland. The future course of the Tibetan movement—including the possibility of an historic switch from demanding autonomy towards… Read moreTibet: Dalai Lama “loses hope” for settlement with China
At least 20 members of Turkmenistan’s security forces were killed in clashes in the capital Ashgabat Sept. 12, according to to media reports and diplomatic sources. Police battled “a religious group, possibly radical Islamists,” according to a diplomatic source quoted… Read moreArmed struggle breaks out in Turkmenistan?
When Russia’s President Dmitri Medvedev formally recognized Georgia’s separatist enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, activists in the Russian autonomous region of Tatarstan reacted quickly. The All-Tatar Civic Center published an appeal for Moscow’s recognition of Tatarstan’s independence. Rashit Akhmetov,… Read moreNext: Free Tatarstan?
Hundreds of Tibetan exiles Aug. 24 staged a peaceful march in Kathmandu to protest China’s rule in Tibet, coinciding with the concluding ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. There were heavy deployment of riot police in the area, but no arrests… Read moreTibetan exiles march in Nepal as Olympics close
From the Uyghur American Association (UAA), Aug. 22: The Uyghur American Association (UAA) believes that recent comments made by Wang Lequan signal an upcoming period of fierce repression against Uyghurs across the People’s Republic of China (PRC), particularly in East… Read moreChina: Uighurs warn of “fierce” post-Olympic repression in Xinjiang
With the Olympics in Beijing in full course, three security officials were killed Aug. 12 at a road block 30 kilometers from Kashgar, Xinjiang. The official Chinese press agency Xinhua said assailants jumped from a vehicle passing through the checkpoint… Read moreChina: another Xinjiang attack amid growing repression
Chinese police shot and killed five people who hurled homemade bombs at a police station and the office of industry and commerce in Kucha, Xinjiang, early Aug. 10. Two police officers and a security guard were reportedly wounded in the… Read moreChina: more terror and repression in Xinjiang
Four Tibetan youth in Drokshog township, Nangchen county, Qinghai province, were arrested July 26 by the Chinese Public Security Bureau (PSB) agents for protesting against the local Summer Festival planned by the government to celebrate the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games…. Read moreTibetans arrested for protesting Olympic celebrations
Attackers identified as two Uighur men killed 16 members of a special border police unit in Kashgar, Xinjiang, Aug. 4. The assailants crashed a dump truck and tossed two grenades as a group of 70 police were jogging past in… Read moreChina: crackdown in wake of Xinjiang attack
