China appoints ethnic affairs head as Xinjiang Communist Party chief
Chen Xiaojiang has also held a vice ministerial role since 2020 in the party's United Front Work Department, his profile on China's Wikipedia equivalent, Baidu's Baike, shows.
The department runs influence operations related to ethnic minorities, religious groups and on the Taiwan issue at home and abroad.
In 2020, he also became the first individual with an ethnic Han majority background to be appointed director of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission since it was re-established in 1978, the Caixin business outlet said.
Xinhua did not say when Chen will officially take up the role.
In 2022, the United Nations reported finding "serious human rights violations" against mainly Muslim Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang under China's national security and counter-terrorism policies, as well as forced labour accusations.
China has repeatedly countered that the rights of all ethnic groups in the region were protected, while denying forced labour. It has dismissed the report as "groundless" and a part of the West's attempts to contain China.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
18 minutes ago
- The Independent
China set to debut new advanced weaponry at massive military parade
China is set to showcase its latest generation of military technology, including advanced unmanned underwater vehicles, during a major parade scheduled for next month. Pictures leaked on Chinese social media showed preparations are already underway in Beijing, where the People's Liberation Army (PLA) will show off a lineup of new land and water-based weapons systems on 3 September to mark the 80th anniversary of Japan's World War II surrender. The parade is likely to be one of the largest in China's history, potentially eclipsing the 2015 parade marking the 70th anniversary. That event involved more than 12,000 soldiers and included international contingents from Russia, Belarus, Mongolia, Cambodia and others nations. Beijing has conducted two large-scale rehearsals this month, on the weekends of 9-10 and 16-17 August, attended by 22,000 and 40,000 people respectively when troops, police and spectators are included. Analysts say next month's parade will be an opportunity for the Chinese government to send a clear signal to its rivals and show off the fruits of an unprecedented programme of military modernisation. Though the event will largely be shunned by Western leaders, many other foreign officials are expected to travel to Beijing to attend after the conclusion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in late August. Xi Jinping, the president and head of the military, will deliver a speech on the occasion, which will feature 'new-type combat capabilities,' including hypersonic weapons and a range of electronic gear, Beijing has announced. Hundreds of aircraft, including fighter jets and bombers as well as ground equipment, some of which have never been seen in public before, will be featured in the parade, military officials said at a press conference. From trucks fitted with devices to take out drones, new tanks and early warning aircraft to protect China's aircraft carriers, military attaches and security analysts say they are expecting China to display a host of new weapons and equipment at the parade. China has the world's largest standing military, with more than 2 million personnel, and an increasingly sophisticated arsenal of missiles, aircraft carriers, and fighter aircraft. Navy power China is likely to display at least two types of extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicles (XLUUVs), according to leaked photos from the parade rehearsals. The vessels, estimated to be around 60ft long, were seen being carried across the city on massive transport vehicles, Naval News reported. Their torpedo-shaped hulls and pump-jet propulsion systems revealed that the underwater vehicles were built to be stealthy. Images showed one of the sea drones being marked as 'AJX002', while another type was photographed only under wraps. Six of the drones were reportedly spotted during the rehearsal. Four matched the AJX002 profile, while two appeared slightly larger. The AJX002 features four lifting lugs along its hull, indicating that it is crane-assisted. China operates the world's largest XLUUV program with at least five distinct types already in the water, Naval News reported. Armoured Vehicles The PLA will showcase its Type 99A main battle tank, which was developed as a replacement for the second-generation Type 88 tank, according to South China Morning Post. The development process for the Type 99 series, also known as the ZTZ-99, began in 1989 based on the design of the Soviet-era T-72 chassis. Weighing at around 55 tonnes, Type 99A tanks are the most advanced variant of the Type 99 series and have been deployed by the PLA since 2011. It features an upgraded 105mm main gun, an enlarged turret, a four-sided radar, and an integrated propulsion system. The main battle tank operates with a crew of three and measures up to 36ft in length. The Type 99A main battle tank is equipped with an advanced targeting system that allows the gunner to engage one target while the commander independently tracks the next, the SCMP reported. Its upgraded fire-control system features a third-generation thermal imager, meteorological sensors, and a ballistic computer—enabling precise engagement of targets at ranges up to 5km. Hypersonic and ballistic missiles A intercontinental ballistic missile system and hypersonic anti-ship missiles are among the advanced weaponry the Communist government will display at the parade. Photos on Chinese social media captured a new anti-ship missile from the YJ series being taken across the city for the parade rehearsals. The new YJ-15 missile was spotted along with the YJ-17, YJ-19 and YJ-20 hypersonic missiles. These sightings indicate China is advancing rapidly in hypersonic weapons technology, a field that has drawn global attention for its ability to evade traditional defence systems. Also visible in the images was a new transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) vehicle carrying a large, tarp-covered missile canister, which could be a new ballistic missile system. The anti-ship missiles and weapons with hypersonic capabilities will be particularly closely watched as the US and its allies prepare to counter China in any future regional conflict. Loyal Wingman An uncrewed combat air vehicle (UCAV), believed to be a Collaborative Combat Aircraft or loyal wingman drone, was spotted on the streets of Beijing during the rehearsals. Experts say the UCAV, which was spotted at the back of a truck, resembles either the Chinese FH-97 or the American YFQ-42A. Andreas Rupprecht, a Chinese military aviation expert, said that the scale of rehearsals alone already exceeds expectations. 'Just focusing on the aviation segment and what China is expected to showcase – the rehearsals for the parade alone are already exceeding everything one could have expected,' he told news outlet Defence Blog. The Victory Lap The 70-minute-long Victory Day parade, comprising 45 contingents of troops, will be surveyed by President Xi at Tiananmen Square alongside Russian president Vladimir Putin, according to reports. Authorities have stepped up security in downtown Beijing since the first rehearsals this month, setting up checkpoints, diverting road traffic and shutting shopping malls and office buildings. In Asia, World War Two ended on 2 September with the surrender of Japan after the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Chinese Communist Party historians say China's casualties in the 1937-1945 Second Sino-Japanese War were 35 million. The Japanese occupation caused the displacement of as many as 100 million Chinese people and significant economic hardship, as well as the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, during which an estimated 100,000 to 300,000 victims were killed.
BBC News
19 minutes ago
- BBC News
Israel calls up 60,000 reservists ahead of Gaza City offensive
The Israeli military says it is calling up about 60,000 reservists ahead of a planned ground offensive to capture and occupy all of Gaza City.A military official said the reservists would report for duty in September and that most of the troops mobilised for the offensive would be active-duty added that troops were already operating in the Zeitoun and Jabalia areas as part of the preparations for the plan, which Defence Minister Israel Katz approved on Tuesday and will be put to the security cabinet later this of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza City are expected to be ordered to evacuate and head to shelters in southern Gaza. Many of Israel's allies have condemned the plan, while the UN and other non-governmental organisations have warned that another offensive and further mass displacement will have a "horrific humanitarian impact" after 22 months of government announced its intention to conquer the entire Gaza Strip after indirect talks with Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage release deal broke down last mediators are trying to secure an agreement before the offensive begins and have presented a new proposal for a 60-day truce and the release of around half of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza, which Hamas said it had accepted on has not yet submitted a formal response, but Israeli officials insisted on Tuesday that they would no longer accept a partial deal and demanded a comprehensive one that would see all the hostages released. Only 20 of the hostages are believed to be alive. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that orders calling up 60,000 reservists were issued on Wednesday as part of the preparations for "the next phase of Operation Gideon's Chariots" - the offensive that it launched in addition, 20,000 reservists who had already been called up would receive a notice extending their current orders, it Israeli military official said senior commanders had approved the plan for a "gradual" and "precise" operation in and around Gaza City, and that the chief of staff, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, was expected to finalise them in the coming divisions are expected to take part in the offensive, according to the Haaretz newspaper quoted Defence Minister Katz as saying on Tuesday: "Once the operation is completed, Gaza will change its face and will no longer look as it did in the past."He also reportedly approved a plan to "accommodate" Gaza City residents in the south of the territory, including the coastal al-Mawasi area, where the military has begun establishing additional food distribution points and field Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the military's objectives are to secure the release of all the hostages held by Hamas and "complete the defeat" of the Palestinian armed IDF also announced on Wednesday that the Givati Brigade had resumed operations in the northern town of Jabalia and on the outskirts of Gaza City, where it said they were "are dismantling military infrastructures above and below ground, eliminating terrorists, and consolidating operational control".It said civilians were being told to move south for their safety "to mitigate the risk of harm".A spokesman for Gaza's Hamas-run Civil Defence agency, Mahmoud Bassal, told AFP news agency on Tuesday that the situation was "very dangerous and unbearable" in the city's Zeitoun and Sabra neighbourhoods, where he said "shelling continues intermittently".The agency said Israeli strikes and fire had killed 21 people across Gaza on news agency Wafa reported that three children and their parents were killed when a house in the Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, was bombed. UN agencies and NGOs have warned of the humanitarian impact of a new offensive."The Israeli plan to intensify military operations in Gaza City will have a horrific humanitarian impact on people already exhausted, malnourished, bereaved, displaced, and deprived of basics needed for survival," they said in a joint statement on Monday."Forcing hundreds of thousands to move south is a recipe for further disaster and could amount to forcible transfer."They also said the areas of the south where displaced residents were expected to move were "overcrowded and ill-equipped to sustain human survival at scale"."Southern hospitals are operating at several times their capacity, and taking on patients from the north would have life-threatening consequences."The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken least 62,122 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health of Gaza's population has also been displaced multiple times; more than 90% of homes are estimated to be damaged or destroyed; the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed; and UN-backed global food security experts have warned that the "worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out" due to food shortages.
Reuters
19 minutes ago
- Reuters
Hong Kong democrat Jimmy Lai's lawyer defends basic rights in trial's final stretch
HONG KONG, Aug 20 (Reuters) - The lawyer for Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai argued on Wednesday that supporting individual rights is not a crime in the final stretch of a closely watched and years-long national security trial. Lai, 77, who founded the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, has pleaded not guilty to two charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, and a charge of conspiracy to publish seditious material. He faces a maximum life sentence. The trial is widely seen as a test for judicial independence in the financial hub under national security laws that were imposed by China in 2020 in response to mass pro-democracy demonstrations. Lai, a longstanding critic of the Chinese Communist Party, is one of the most high-profile figures to face prosecution under the law. His trial has been condemned by some countries like the United States as politically motivated. Hong Kong and Chinese authorities say Lai is being given a fair trial. Lai's lawyer Robert Pang, who began his final legal submission on Wednesday, said Lai had been defending and exercising basic rights. "It is not wrong to support freedom of expression. It is not wrong to support human rights," Pang told the three-judge panel that is expected to deliver a verdict later this year once this current round of final legal submissions is concluded after around one week. "It is not wrong to try to persuade the government to change its policy. Nor is it wrong not to love a particular administration or even the country, because ... you can't force someone to think in one way or another," Pang added. One of the judges, Esther Toh, said that this was not what the prosecution argued. "It's not wrong not to love the government, but if you do that by certain nefarious means, then it's wrong," Toh said. Pang also disputed the prosecution's citing of 161 articles published by the Apple Daily between April 1, 2019 and June 4 2021 as seditious, saying they were "insufficient to draw any inference" of a conspiracy. The prosecution alleges that Lai colluded with overseas officials including those in the first Trump administration to impose sanctions or conduct hostile activities against Chinese and Hong Kong authorities, including trade embargoes. Earlier on Wednesday, the prosecution wrapped up its final submission, saying there was "overwhelming evidence" to show Lai was the "mastermind" of the alleged conspiracy to collude with foreign forces. It added that Lai had done nothing to stop illegal activities engaged in by other co-conspirators and through advocacy groups critical of China, such as "Stand With Hong Kong" and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC). Lai, whose health is fragile according to his family, was provided with a heart monitor and medication after the court was told that he had suffered heart "palpitations". Over 320 people have been arrested under the national security laws so far, including prominent activist Joshua Wong who is serving a 4-year, 8-month prison term for subversion, and now faces a fresh security charge.
