By Ruth Ingram (8/1/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Widespread pollution, ecological damage, nuclear testing, and poverty are wreaking havoc on the health of Xinjiang Uyghurs, some of the poorest citizens of China. Cities cloaked in dust 200 days of the year, factories belching pollutants unchecked into the atmosphere, filthy water, and a birth control policy that forces women to abort every unplanned pregnancy, are some of the factors that are making this province one of the unhealthiest in the country.

Urumchi, the capital, is China’s self-confessed most heavily polluted city, scoring 500 on the latest Air Pollution Index, way ahead of Xining, next on the list at 320.

By Gulzina Karym Kyzy (8/1/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)

A round-table discussion was recently held in the Kyrgyz government, at which the current situation around Kyrgyz shuttle-trade business was discussed. The shuttle-traders who participated in the discussion said that their business is presently in a critical situation. They complained that buying and selling goods by crossing the borders of former Soviet republics has now become an unbearable burden and that the whole activity is under threat.

By Aisha Aslanbekova (9/26/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)

This was the theme of a conference held on September 8, in Bishkek. The conference was organized by democratic forces of Kyrgyzstan and representatives of NGO’s, mass media and a number of political parties such as El, Kairan-El, Ata-Meken, Ar-Namys, ResPublica, Erkindik, Asaba. At the conference, the participants shared their opinions, ideas about the reforms that took place in Kyrgyzstan during the decade of its independence, and about the current political, economic and social situation in the country.