March 27:
Out of 74 major Chinese cities, only Haikou, Zhoushan, and Lhasa have managed to meet minimum official air quality standards, the Ministry of Environmental Protection announced. The dirtiest cities were in northern China, where coal-burning industries including electricity generation and steel manufacturing are concentrated. Last year the north, which includes -- Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei -- met air quality standards on only 37 percent of days. Beijing did so on only 48 percent of days. Awareness of toxic air has risen sharply since January 2013, when severe pollution led to widespread outrage and forced officials to allow the media to report on it. This month Premier Li Keqiang “declared a war against pollution,” the New York Times reports.
March 28:
In a televised speech marking the 55th anniversary of “Serfs’ Emancipation Day,” Losang Jamcan, the Communist Party chairman of Tibet, pledged, “to resolutely safeguard national unity and security, and maintain stability in the plateau region.” According to Losang Jamcan: “The hostile forces from the west and the Dalai clique not only ignore the massive development and progress in Tibet, but also strongly attack and refute the development path of Tibet. We cannot have any illusions on the Dalai clique. We should crack down on any separatist and sabotage activities.” On January 19, 2009 the CPC authorities in Tibet selected March 28 to “commemorate Tibetan democratic reform that ended the feudal serf system in 1959, which freed one million Tibetan serfs,” the officialPLA Daily reports.
April 1:
Under Chinese, pressure Nepal restricts its Tibetan refugees’ political freedoms and subjects them to abuse, harassment, and spying by its security forces, the New York Times reports. A new report by Human Rights Watch, “Under China’s Shadow: Mistreatment of Tibetans in Nepal,” documents the repression Tibetans face after they flee into Nepal. It accuses Katmandu of forcibly returned Tibetans to China, which would violate a “gentleman’s agreement” between Nepal and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which runs a transit center for Tibetans in the Katmandu Valley. Tibetans caught by Chinese authorities fleeing to Nepal or returning to Tibet are detained for weeks or months and interrogated. There are about 20,000 Tibetans in Nepal.
April 3:
Municipal officials from Maoming, Guangdong have denied reports that police killed 15 people and injured 300 during protests against a planned petrochemical plant. Officials addressed a press briefing including a few select participants, while about 20,000 people and more than 2,000 police were gathered outside the building, Kyodo reports. Maoming’s Vice Mayor said public order was restored after two days in which people “wrecked havoc on the city, damaging private cars, government facilities and public properties, and attacked police officers.” Officials said police detained 44 for disturbing public order and 15 were injured, including four police officers. Maoming’s deputy police chief admitted: “Police officers mistakenly injured some bystanders and I offer a sincere apology.” Officials had said the petrochemicals project would not proceed if opposed by a majority in a public vote, but the vote was not mentioned at the briefing. In recent years, citizens have protested against petrochemical projects in several Chinese cities, including Xiamen, Dalian and Ningbo.
April 4:
Israeli President Shimon Peres has kicked off an official visit to China, the first visit of its kind in a decade, Yisra’el Hayom reports. The three-day trip includes a dinner with President Xi Jinping and meetings with the heads of some of China’s largest companies in the media, high-tech and innovation sectors. Peres called for the strengthening of bilateral economic and political relations. He told the Jerusalem Post that he regards China as a modern economic miracle, with which Israel has a special relationship. “We are equal in age, but different in size.” Both peoples have been blessed with miracles: “Millions of people in China emerged from poverty and we emerged from slavery.” As part of his effort to court China, Peres started a Weibo account to publish posts on Israeli achievements in science and technology.