Contact is taking a holiday!

Contact is taking a break after 25 years of bringing you news of Tibet and Tibetan issues. We are celebrating our 25 years by bringing you the story of Contact and the people who have made it happen, and our archive is still there for you to access at any time, and below you can read the story of Contact, how it came into being and the wonderful reflections of the people who have made it happen over the years.

When and how Contact will re-emerge and evolve will be determined by those who become involved.

International Headlines

Apr 23: Genocide!

The British Parliament has recognised that the atrocities perpetrated by China against the ethnic minority Uyghurs living in East Turkestan [Ch: Xinjiang] as genocide. Parliament discussed evidence including the allegations of mass killings, mass incarceration in camps, torture and abuse, including rape and sexual violence, separation of children from their parents, forced sterilisations, forced abortions, forced labour. China has responded, saying that Britain should "immediately right its wrong moves".

Apr 8: Olympics Ban Considered

The United States has announced that it, along with allies, are considering a joint boycott of next year’s Winter Olympics scheduled to take place in Beijing because of the human rights abuses inflicted by China on the people under its regime. A coalition of 180 human rights groups from around the world, including Tibetans, have been lobbying for a boycott of the Olympics.

Mar 30: UN to Visit Xinjiang?

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the UN is negotiating with China for a visit "without restrictions" to East Turkestan [Ch:Xinjiang] to observe the treatment of the Uyghur Muslim population there. At least one million Uyghurs and other Muslims are being held in camps where there are allegedly suffering forcible sterilisation of women and forced labour. Guterres quotes the Chinese as saying "they want that mission to take place."

Mar 24: Sanctions

Chen Quanguo, as the Party Secretary of East Turkestan [Ch: Xinjiang] and formerly the senior official in Tibet, is the person responsible for initiating many atrocities there. Now, after sustained campaigning, the United Kingdom, European Union, United States and Canada have all placed sanctions on four senior officials directly linked to Chen, sending a clear message to China that their actions will not be tolerated.

Mar 23: Swiss Call

The Swiss government has announced its intention to be more critical of China, and more outgoing on human rights issues in a “policy shift” for its new China strategy. Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said that a clear violation of minority rights was taking place there and Switzerland had made its concerns clear to Beijing.

Mar 22: Confucius Institute Closed

Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts in the United States has become the 70th American Institution to close its Confucius Institute. Billed by the Chinese as promoting cultural ties, CIs are known to be a propaganda tool for China with policies that do not comply with freedom of speech. The closure follows a campaign by Tibetan, Uyghur, Hong Konger and Taiwanese activists.

Mar 19: EU Sanctions China

The European Union is sanctioning Chinese officials over human rights abuses. Reuters has reported “EU ambassadors approved the travel bans and asset freezes on four Chinese individuals and one entity”, the first sanctions against China since 1989 in the wake of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. The sanctions were sparked by human rights abuses against China’s Uighur Muslim minority.

Mar 15: Myanmar Troubles Escalate

Myanmar’s main city Yangon saw at least 21 protestors killed in riots when politicians ousted by the military coup there called for "revolution". Protests have been ongoing since the coup which took place on February 1. Protestors believe China is supporting the Burmese military, and attacked Chinese businesses, leading to a declaration of martial law.

Mar 11: US Calls Out China

A new report by the United States think tank Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy, and ratified by more than 50 global experts in international law, genocide and China, has stated that the Chinese government’s alleged actions in East Turkenstan [Ch:Xinjiang] have violated every provision in the United Nations’ Genocide Convention. The report makes reference to the abuses suffered by the occupants of the detention centres there.

Mar 9: Fire Devastation

A fire in a migrant detention centre in Sanaa, the capital of war-torn Yemen, has left many of its hundreds of Ethiopian residents dead. A nearby air strike may have caused the fire. The Yemen conflict was caused by Houthis, backed by Iran, who seized control of much of the country and are now at war with a Saudi-led coalition fighting to restore government rule, leading to a major humanitarian crisis.

Mar 5: Hong Kong Activists Jailed

Fifteen Hong Kong pro-democracy activists who were charged with subversion last month have been granted bail, but remain in custody pending an appeal alongside the rest of the 47 activists arrested alongside them. They face life imprisonment on a charge of conspiring to commit subversion under a new national security law imposed by Beijing.The new law is seen as Beijing’s way of controlling dissent in Hong Kong.

Mar 4: New Training Facility

Details of a new training facility in Tibet for China’s People’s Liberation Army border defence troops are emerging, reports the Tibetan Review, citing Chinese state television reports. The Tibetan Review says the new facility’s exact location is unknown but is believed to be close to the border with India to facilitate the deployment of trained troops along the border, where tensions are running high.

Mar 4: Fake Vaccines

In a crackdown on the supply of counterfeit Covid-19 vaccine, 80 arrests have been made at a factory in China where over 3,000 doses were found and 2,400 doses were found at a warehouse in Gauteng, South Africa where three Chinese nationals and a Zambian were detained. Interpol reports that other fake vaccine rings exist and have stressed that any vaccines sold online will be fake.

Mar 3: Ethnic Manipulation

China is transferring hundreds of thousands of their ethnic Muslim Uighur population from their homes in East Turkestan [Ch: Xinjiang] to work in other parts of China, reports the BBC, saying this is a deliberate move to thin out the Uighur and other ethnic minority populations. The BBC has evidence of coercion, and says the policy aims to "transform their thinking" and assimilate Uighurs into China's majority Han culture.

Mar 2: Syrians Missing

A new United Nations report says that tens of thousands of Syrian civilians are missing following arbitrary detentions during the last ten years of civil war. The report, which gives details of alleged war crimes by all parties, says that thousands of people have been killed and tortured in custody with witnesses describing "unimaginable suffering", including rape of girls and young boys.