Xinhua Network News Xinjiang Channel 新华网新疆频道

• 18 November 2008: The Regional Health Department has announced the launch of the “Peaceful Hospitals” campaign. The Xinhua article mentions that in the past few years there has been an unacceptable deterioration of doctor-patient relationships in Xinjiang, with a few incidents resulting in medical workers receiving injuries (the article does not elaborate on these curious events). In order to rectify a “lack of proper confidence and understanding between doctors and patients,” the Health Department a small committee to coordinate efforts aimed at “strengthening medical service principles, improving the quality of medical treatment, establishing harmonious doctor-patient relations, resolving doctor-patient disputes, strengthening the hospital security systems, safeguarding order in hospitals, launching reform efforts, and building an overall healthy hospital environment.”
• 18 November 2008: A dramatic armed carjacking occurred in Urumqi on the 16th. This incident, which took place in broad daylight at the Xingguang Market （星光夜市）on Mashi Lane （马市巷）involved 3 carjackers stealing a white automobile after forcefully removing the driver and one occupant. According to eye-witness reports and testimonies from the victims, as the victims were waiting in their vehicle, one carjacker entered the car through the side door and sat in the passenger seat, while the other two opened the two rear doors and sat down in the backseats. One brandished a gun as the others handcuffed the occupant in the back. Eventually, they ejected the occupants and began to drive off, whereupon the victims decided somehow that the best course of action would be to try to stop the carjackers by standing in their vehicle’s path. They became the first and only casualties of the carjacking after the vehicle collided with them, though the victims’ intervention efforts did cause the carjackers to crash into two other vehicles on their way out. The two victims were immediately sent to the hospital for minor injuries, and the robbery is being intensively examined with special fervor by the police’s criminal investigation unit because of the involvement of firearms.
• 19 November 2007: The Regional Forestry Department announced renewed planning efforts to prevent and control desertification in Southern Xinjiang, specifically in the region known as the “Three Prefectures,” Khotan Prefecture, Kashgar Prefecture, and Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture. The goal of these efforts is to raise further funds for the ongoing biological and non-biological projects aimed at staving off the continuing encroachment of the Taklamakan Desert into these areas.
• 19 November 2007: China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan have jointly submitted a list of “Silk Road” cultural sites to the UNESCO as candidates for this year’s selection of World Heritage Sites. China’s candidates are: Jiaohe Ancient City, Gaochang Ancient City, Bezekilk Grottoes, Astana Tombs, Tuyuk Grottoes, and Taicang Tower in Turpan; the Ancient City of Loulan in the Bayingholin Prefecture; Subash Ruins, Kizil Grottoes, Kumutala Grottoes, and Senmusaimu Grottoes in Aksu Prefecture; Mahmut al-Kashgari’s tomb in Kashgar Prefecture; and the ancient ruins of Niya in Khotan prefecture. The final inspection committees for UNESCO will visit these sites next August.
• 19 November 2007: According to the latest observations, there are 13 pregnant mares among the wild horses in the Qaramay Wildlife Preserve.
• 19 November 2007: The first batch of over a thousand demobilized soldiers of the Xinjiang Military Region departed from Urumqi to return to their original hometowns. Xinjiang’s Vice-Chairman, Gupaer Abibula , along with the Vice-Chairman of Daily Affiars and several of the Xinjiang Military Region’s top brass all saw the soldiers off and thanked them for the work they did in developing and stabilizing Xinjiang.
• 19 November 2007: Urumqi’s Labor and Social Security Bureau began a special investigative program that will examine the income and pay situations of migrant workers employed in the metropolitan area. The investigation, which started on the 16th and will last until January 16th will look into the hiring and processing of migrant workers and how companies meet the workers’ basic needs such as food and drink. The investigation will focus on the construction and coal mining industries, and will also handle the reporting, fining, and punishment of companies that do not meet the proper standards.
• 19 November 2007: According to statistics published by Urumqi’s Municipal Government General Office, of the “10 Western Provincial Capitals,” Urumqi ranks 4th in per capita disposable income, after Hohhot, Chengdu, and Xi’an. Urumqi’s per capital disposable income was calculated at 8701 yuan (vs. 12,024 Hohhot, 10,833 Chengdu, and 9723 Xi’an).
• 19 November 2007: According to China’s National Observatory, one of the best places to observe August 1, 2008 total eclipse will be the grasslands of Barkol Kazakh Autonomous County in northeast Xinjiang (See in Google Earth). The local government has already begun planning for huge festivities in the grasslands on the day of the eclipse. Bring your own tent.
• 20 November 2007: A 220 thousand kilowatt power grid was opened at Kashgar on the 16th. XUAR Chairman Ismail Tiliwaldi was present at the opening ceremony and pressed the button activating the grid himself. The power grid represents yet another node in an ongoing high-level construction product started in 1988 with the goal of supplying a steady source of electric power to all of Xinjiang.
• 21 November 2007: The 34th meeting of the 10th National People’s Congress Regional Standing Committee opened on the morning of the 20th. Three lectures were heard, one on how XUAR can implement national flood control measures, another on promoting the use of a different type of walling material (??), and the third on the preservation of non-matierial culture in Xinjiang. Many affirmations were made to implement the policies established at the 17th National Congress.
• 21 November 2007: Ever wonder why Urumqi’s air is infamous for its pollution? Perhaps its been the coalfield fire that has been blazing away for the last several years! A small article on Xinhua states that a fire in the coal fields of Sulfur Valley (delightful name, 硫磺沟 – its a small township located just southwest of Urumqi. See Sulfur Valley in Google Earth) was finally extinguished recently. Soon afterwards, Xinjiang’s second largest coalfield fire in Tielieke township, Aksu prefecture (See in Google Earth), also was extinguished on the 19th of this month, after four years of vigilant management. At its largest extent, the fire at Tielieke covered over 923 thousand square meters. The fire is estimated to have destroyed 1.8 million tons of coal.
• 21 November 2007: Starting from December, all public toilet signs in Urumqi will fall under one integrated system of standards. Apparently, due to the lack of standards, public toilet signs all over Urumqi are hung in inappropriate or hidden places with vague and unhelpful directions (anyone from Urumqi who wants to testify to this situation, by all means, comment and share). In order to rectify this unacceptable situation, the Urumqi Municipal Scrap Management Center (any volunteers for a better translation of 废弃物管理中心?) held several discussion meetings and finally came up with a standardized system of signs that is eagerly expected to raise the overall standards of public toilets all over Urumqi. Urumqiliqs, prepare to say au revoir to the quaint British rendition of 公共厕所 to “WC.” Now it’s all rendered as the much less flattering “toilet.”
• 22 November 2007:Urumqi’s Political and Law Department has publicized a rising trend over the past year of pregnant and breastfeeding women selling and trafficking drugs. Currently the courts are examining 20 drug cases involving women which altogether involve 33 female suspects, 10 of whom are either pregnant or breastfeeding. The article notes that this trend is just one part of a larger, alarming growth of drug trafficking in general in Urumqi, particularly of heroin. The relevant governmental departments are currently holding discussions on how to handle these unprecedented criminal cases, particular in regards to the handling of the suspects’ children.
• 22 November 2007: The National Safety Supervision Head Office has published a list of 28 Xinjiang coal mines that will be closed by the end of the year for failure to comply with safety standards.
• 22 November 2007: The Meteorological Bureaus of Kashgar and Khotan have recently resolved two cases of international meteorological mystery and intrigue. Right after the resolution in August of a case of illegal weather monitoring by the Japanese in Hami Prefecture, two illegal atmospheric monitoring stations were discovered, one in Tuopuluke Village (Yengisar County, Kashgar Prefecture) and one in Luopu County (Khotan Prefecture), this time built by an American company, the Xinjiang-Pacific Agricultural Resources Development Corporation (新疆太平洋农业资料开发). According to the article, automatic weather monitoring equipment had been operating for over year when discovered by authorities in September 2006. Though the equipment was built on land owned by the company, the monitoring was conducted without the proper permission and certifications. The Meteorological Burueaus of the two prefectures have concluded their investigation and will confiscate all illegally obtained data from the XPARDC, tear down their facilities, and fine them Y10,000. The article notes that unique weather data acquired in the vicinity of the Tibet-Qinghai Plateau is valuable in thermal-conductivity research and thus provides incentives for clandestine monitoring by foreign firms.
• 22 November 2007: Xinjiang’s Flying Tigers continue their unprecedented performance in the CBA. After suffering an away defeat to the number 1 Guangdong Tigers in Zhongshan on the 16th (93-104), the Flying Tigers slipped past the Dongguan Cheetahs in an away game on the 18th (107-100), then defeated Shanxi on the 21st (114-88) and the Beijing Ducks on the 23rd (105-73) in Urumqi. The Flying Tigers are still ranked 3rd in the league after the Guangdong Tigers and the Jiangsu Dragons, although all three of these teams have a record of 10 victories and 2 defeats (I give mad props to whoever named the Beijing team… good sense of humor).
• 22 November 2007: China Southern Airlines will begin regular flights between Urumqi and Ashgabat on 12/18. Flight CZ6015 leaves Urumqi every Tuesday and Saturday at 22:10 Beijing Time, arriving at Ashgabat 3.7 hours later. Flight CZ6016 leaves Ashgabat every Wednesday and Sunday at 3:40 Beijing Time. Once this route opens, Xinjiang will be connected to all five Central Asian states.
• 22 November 2007: A lengthy special report lauds the XPCC’s efforts in building and protecting “green ecologies” in Xinjiang’s arid climate. The report is divided into three sections. The first describes a string of Bingtuan Farms that form a “green belt” between the Taklamakan Desert on the West and the Kumtag Desert on the East. The second section describes similar efforts along the Tianshan Mountains at the southern edge of the Gurbantunggut Desert and the northern edge of the Taklamakan. The final section discusses the XPCC’s most recent efforts to employ high-tech equipment to convert arid and semi-arid ecologies into irrigated, farmable land.
• 22 November 2007: Adelihan, a 62 year-old Kazakh herdsman from Fuhai County, Altai Prefecture, lauds the local Pastoral Settlement Program as a blessing which “has broken up the difficulties our people have faced for thousands of years.” Last year, Adelihan received 26 thousand yuan worth of subsidies and was able to use the funds to construct a house, a place to store fodder, and a winter enclosure for his livestock, thus obviating the need to perform the arduous annual migrations he undertook as a youth. Local governments receiving funding from the Pastoral Settlement Project and the Earthquake-Proof Low-Income Housing Project and in turn distribute them to eligible herders. In Altai, 8114 Kazakh households enjoy benefits similar to Adelihan. The project aims to settle 60% of the Kazakh herders in the Altai region before the end of the 11th 5 year plan.
• 23 November 2007: The “Bright Future for the Silk Road Construction Project,” jointly funded and carried about by the Netherlands and China, has been completed over five years since the projects inauguration in January of 2002. The project was designed to resolve the lack of electricity for many families living in Xinjiang’s more remote agricultural and pastoral regions by providing and installing solar power equipment in these areas. The project’s funds totaled over 22.9 million euros, 60% of which was provided by the Dutch government and 40% of which was provided by China. The project successfully supplied electricity to over 65,000 families. XUAR Chariman Ismail Tiliwaldi and the Dutch ambassador to China attended a ceremony celebrating the completion of the project.
• 23 November 2007: The remains of Chen Xifu, who according to the article was “an outstanding member of the communist party, [and] an ardent warrior for the principles of communism,” were honored in a ceremony in Urumqi. Many prominent figures in the regional government and party attended. Chen joined the CCP in 1939 at the tender age of 15. Chen’s participation in wartime and revolutionary activities eventually brought him to Xinjiang, where we would eventually serve a number of increasingly important administrative roles, from the Kashgar Military District’s Confidential Affairs Vice-Section Chief to the Vice-Director of the Regional Standing Committee. Chen passed away in Beijing on the 16th at the age of 83. More information on Chen can be found in Mandarin at the link.
• 23 November 2007: The Kizilsu Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecture experienced 3 earthquakes in rapid succession on the 22nd, at 8:16, 8:18, and 8:22. These three earthquakes registered as a 3, 4.1, and 3 on the Richter Scale, respectively. Although there were no casualties, the earthquakes were easily noticed by people in the vicinity.
• 23 November 2007: Thanks to an intricate network of high-tech weather station, the Xinjiang Oil Company has prevented over 200 million yuan worth of losses to weather-related calamities in its Qaramay Oilfields. Before the 1990s, the Qaramay Oilfields would lose 8000 tons of oil every year to disasters caused by adverse weather conditions, particularly lightning striking oil refining equipment at inopportune times, causing explosions and fires. After installing an interconnected system of weather monitoring systems throughout its oilfields, however, the company’s annual oil losses have been reduced to less than 3000 tons every year, since weather conditions around the fields are now being actively monitored and the proper precautions are taken when dangerous weather threatens facilities.
• 24 November 2007: The Urumqi Police Department resolved 3 major criminal cases in the past few weeks.
  • The first occurred at noon on the 16th, when three suspects posing as policemen subdued and “arrested” three shoppers with fake guns after accusing them of using counterfeit money. After forcing the victims into their vehicle, the suspects demanded a Y10,000 fine from each. While waiting for the first victim to retrieve the money from his apartment, the other two victims managed to escape the vehicle, upon which the three suspects also decided to flee. Five days after the victims reported the incident to the real police, all three perpetrators were arrested.
  • A 15 year-old girl was kidnapped on the 20th and was held hostage for a Y30,000 ransom. After the police were contacted, a rapid investigation revealed that the perpetrators were holding their hostage in a Changji hotel. The next day, the hotel was raided, the hostage was safely retrieved, and the three kidnappers were arrested.
  • A woman was murdered and robbed after withdrawing money from the bank on the 21st. The perpetrator tailed the woman after she withdrew the money, eventually shooting her and stealing the 10,000 yuan and other items the woman had with her at the time. The police conducted a rapid investigation, and on the second day the perpetrator was arrested along with a homemade pistol (!!!!), 4 bullets, and the woman’s stolen items
• 24 November 2007: As part of its spirited campaign to reduce unacceptably high levels of pollutions plaguing the metropolitan area, Urumqi has decided to ban outdoor barbecue vendors in four city center neighborhoods. That’s right, folks. Incomplete but already conclusive investigations have revealed that the impure byproducts of the barbecuing process (e.g. soot and smoke?) constitute a significant part of Urumqi’s air pollution problem. Starting from the 22nd, barbecue vendors in the above-mentioned neighborhoods will, with the assistance of authorities, begin to migrate their equipment indoors. In the future these vendors are also expected to install soot-minimizing equipment to their barbecues or switch to alternate sources of heat such as natural gas or liquid gas. A limited number of outdoor barbecues will be permitted in these neighborhoods, but only in certain authorized areas and with equipment meeting emission standards.

Other News

• 21 November 2007: More coverage of the historical victory of the epic coal fire mentioned above can be found here at China View and here at the Times Online. These English-language articles add more juicy tidbits to the firefighting saga. For example, the fire at Tielieke had been burning since the 1950s, has released more than 70,000 tons of toxic gas annually since it started, and was finally vanquished by drilling holes to the underground fields and stuffing them with water and slurry.
• 23 November 2007: An article written by a Times Online correspondent in Khotan describes the effect of the recently instated mandatory background checks for Muslim candidates interested in joining the Haj. Interested participants must now demonstrate a personal history free of criticism of the PRC and separatist tendencies before being permitted to journey to Mecca.

Blogs

• 21 November 2007: Michael at The Opposite End of China wonders if criticism of the annual ritual of cotton-picking students in Xinjiang is valid or is a knee-jerk criticism of a genuine character-building activity.