Around the World Ethnic tensions in China still mounting BEIJING - Despite a police crackdown, unrest in China's northwestern territory of Xinjiang appears to have intensified, fomented by ethnic tensions, strong-arm Chinese tactics and the pull of Islamic fundamentalism. Armed Uighur militants and Chinese security forces clashed early this month in the isolated town of Aksu, sources said in Beijing. Several militants were killed in what sources here described as a dramatic shootout when Chinese security forces in helicopters clashed with militants who had kidnapped five police officers. The state-run Xinjiang Daily reported last week that five militants have been sentenced to death for separatism, murder, robbery and illegally dealing in weapons and ammunition in connection with a two-year spate of separatist activities across the vast territory. Eight other separatists got long jail terms, said the paper, which was seen in Beijing Tuesday. One of those sentenced to death had killed a police officer. A classified circular issued in December by the Ministry of State Security, meanwhile, indicated strongly that China believes problems with Uighurs - mostly Muslims with a Turkic language and ethnically different from the majority Han Chinese - will not go away. Sources said the circular ordered security agents to prepare to report on attempts to infiltrate China by Islamic militants from Saudi Arabia, Iran, other Persian Gulf Arab states, Turkey and India. It further instructed Chinese agents to be vigilant about reporting on the movement of weapons into China by militant bands and on plans for attacks against Chinese facilities. Farmers fear spread of genetic pollution MONTREAL - Small-scale farmers from around the world came to Montreal on yesterday to ask for regulations limiting what they call ''genetic pollution''- genetically modified crops spreading their altered genes into the environment around them. Canadian farmer Hart Haiden said that in the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, genes from genetically engineered canola plants have already spread to unaltered varieties While the United States and other major agricultural exporters are calling for relatively free trade, a coalition of developing nations wants countries to be allowed to say no to imports of the crops. ''Each country should have the sovereign right to ban the planting and import of transgenic plants,'' said Porfirio Encino, who represents an association of small farmers in Mexico's Chiapas state. Organic farmers are especially concerned because plants are very efficient at spreading genetic information. Honeybees can carry canola pollen up to five miles, and under some conditions wind can blow tree pollen dozens of miles. ''The problem is that genetic pollution can't be contained, or even cleaned up afterwards,'' said Steve Gilman, an organic farmer in Stillwater, N.Y. He charged that Bt corn, a variety genetically engineered to produce a natural insecticide, will cause irreparable harm to organic farmers. Organic farmers use Bt because it is produced by a natural bacterium. But if Bt corn spreads it more widely in the environment, Gilman worries that pests will build up resistance, just as they have to some chemical insecticides. ''I worry that we will lose Bt altogether,'' he said. To prevent that outcome, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently recommended that farmers plant refuges of non-Bt plants alongside their genetically modified varieties. Farmers who plant Bt corn say that is enough. Robert M. Boeding, who grows corn in northeastern Iowa, said he plants 40 percent of his land in unred corn when he uses the Bt variety. And he plants the genetically altered corn only one or two years out of three. ''The longer I use it the more I believe in it,'' he said. Bt corn actually protects the environment, Boeding said, because iteeps him from having to use toxic chemical insecticides to control pests. Small-scale farmers from around the world came to Montreal yesterday to ask for regulations limiting what they call ''genetic pollution'' - genetically modified crops spreading their altered genes into the environment around them. He said that in the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, genes from genetically engineered canola plants have already spread to unaltered varieties. And because European countries may ban imports of genetically engineered canola, that may shut Canada out of a major market. Representatives from around the world are meeting in Montreal this week to negotiate the Biosafety Protocol, a set of rules that would protect the environment from damage caused by the spread of genetically engineered crops. The U.N.-sponsored talks continue through tomorrow. While the United States and other major agricultural exporters are calling for relatively free trade, a coalition of developing nations wants countries to be allowed to say no to imports of the crops. ''Each country should have the sovereign right to ban the planting and import of transgenic plants,'' said Porfirio Encino, who represents an association of small farmers in Mexico's Chiapas state. Organic farmers are especially concerned because plants are very efficient at spreading genetic information. Honeybees can carry canola pollen up to five miles, and under some conditions wind can blow tree pollen dozens of miles. ''The problem is that genetic pollution can't be contained, or even cleaned up afterwards,'' said Steve Gilman, an organic farmer in Stillwater, N.Y. He charged that Bt corn, a variety genetically engineered to produce a natural insecticide, will cause irreparable harm to organic farmers. Organic farmers use Bt because it is produced by a natural bacterium. But if Bt corn spreads it more widely in the environment, Gilman worries that pests will build up resistance, just as they have to some chemical insecticides. ''I worry that we will lose Bt altogether,'' he said. To prevent that outcome, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently recommended that farmers plant refuges of non-Bt plants alongside their genetically modified varieties. Farmers who plant Bt corn say that is enough. Robert M. Boeding, who grows corn in northeastern Iowa, said he plants 40 percent of his land in unred corn when he uses the Bt variety. And he plants the genetically altered corn only one or two years out of three. ''The longer I use it the more I believe in it,'' he said. Bt corn actually protects the environment, Boeding said, because iteeps him from having to use toxic chemical insecticides to control pests. Originally on page 2A in the 1-27-2000 issue of the Daily.