China, India agree to work on border spat: Xinhua

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China's Xinjiang isolated by email, phone blocks: residents
Residents in China's restive Xinjiang region remain isolated from the outside world with long-lasting Internet and phone cuts that have prompted some businesses to relocate, locals said Saturday. Emails are still blocked nearly four months after deadly ethnic unrest erupted in the regional capital Urumqi, as are text messages and international phone calls, residents told AFP. "Our business has been seriously affected, and we have had to set up an office in Lanzhou (capital of neighbouring Gansu province)," said the head of an Urumqi-based firm, who asked to remain anonymous.

Xinjiang authorities "set up a green channel (for calls and the Internet) for... trade companies in Xinjiang, but it's not enough for us to handle business", he told AFP by phone. Riots erupted in Urumqi on July 5, leaving 197 people dead, according to official figures, in the worst ethnic violence in China in decades. Authorities quickly reacted by restricting the flow of information going in and out of the region, in one of the biggest known Internet shutdowns anywhere. The government says terrorists, separatists and religious extremists used the Internet, telephones and mobile text messages to spread rumours and hatred as the July violence erupted in Urumqi. But nearly four months later, residents in Xinjiang said they still had very limited access to the Internet.

"Emails can't be sent and received, Internet can only be used in Xinjiang and text messages can't be used," a receptionist at a hotel in Kashgar, another big city in the region, told AFP by phone. One businessman in Urumqi, who also wished to remain anonymous, said his company had not relocated but was having to contact all clients by fax. According to a blog by a 26-year-old American man living in Xinjiang, Dunhuang city in neighbouring Gansu had become a mecca for businessmen in Xinjiang. "Pretty much the first city outside of Xinjiang with Internet access, Dunhuang has become the place for all businessmen and foreigners to go to regain access to email and business contacts," he wrote in an October 19 posting. "Hotels and coffee shops tell me they've seen a noticeable increase in Xinjiang traffic."

by Staff Writers
Hua Hin, Thailand (AFP) Oct 24, 2009
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao agreed with his Indian counterpart Saturday to work towards narrowing differences on long-simmering border issues between the two nations, state media reported.

Wen reached the agreement with Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of a regional summit in Thailand grouping the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other countries, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Beijing had voiced opposition to a recent visit by Singh to Arunachal Pradesh, an Indian border state at the core of the dispute, and to a planned visit there next month by the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.

"The two sides agreed to continue talks, with the aim of incrementally removing the barriers to a solution that was fair and acceptable to both sides," the report said.

Wen and Singh also agreed they would try to ensure peace and stability in the disputed border area, saying this would be conducive to resolving border issues and furthering bilateral cooperation, according to Xinhua.

Regional giants China and India, which together contain more than one third of the world's population, have recently traded jabs over these territorial issues.

The two nations fought a border war in 1962 in which Chinese troops advanced deep into Arunachal Pradesh and inflicted heavy casualties on Indian forces.

India says China occupies 38,000 square kilometres (14,700 square miles) of its Himalayan territory, while Beijing claims all of Arunachal Pradesh, which covers 90,000 square kilometres.

Indian officials would not confirm an agreement with China following the Xinhua report. They said earlier that territorial matters were not discussed during their 45-minute meeting in the Thai resort of Hua Hin.

Singh "stressed that neither side should let our differences act as (an) impediment to the growth of functional cooperation between the two countries," according to the Indian external affairs ministry website.

The Indian premier also agreed with Wen's opening remarks that good relations between the two countries were "in the interest of the region and the whole world."

The ministry said Wen had "pointed out that for the Asian Century to become a reality, it is important that India and China should live in harmony and friendship and enjoy prosperity."

An Indian delegation official told AFP that Wen and Singh also sought to "build trust and understanding" at the talks, adding that the meeting was "productive".

Despite their differences, China and India on Wednesday signed a five-year agreement to cooperate on climate change leading up to crucial talks in Copenhagen.

Saturday's face-to-face is the latest in a series of high-level meetings between India and China.

Singh met with Chinese president Hu Jintao on the margins of the Brazil-Russia-India-China (BRIC) meeting in Yekaterinburg in June and last week Indian oil minister Murli Deora met Wen during a trip to Beijing.

At the Hua Hin summit, 16 Asian nations are discussing plans to boost economic and political cooperation and possibly forming an EU-style community.

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