[tz] Moving more zones to 'backzone'

[Guy Harris]

On Aug 17, 2022, at 2:22 PM, Robert Elz via tz <tz at iana.org> wrote:

> On Aug 17, 2022, at 18:39:27 +0100, "Clive D.W. Feather" <clive at davros.org> wrote:
> 
>> Is Eucla a state or a territory? What authority did it have?
> 
> Eucla is a town (quite a small town) in Western Australia, not far from
> the border with South Australia (which makes it a long way from anywhere).
> Its authority is its demonstrated ability to run its time as it sees fit.
> 
> But if you're implying that most people in Aust wouldn't expect Eucla to
> have its own timezone, then I think you're right.   I suspect most people
> in Australia have never heard of Eucla.   Yet they do have a timezone (and
> correctly).

From what I've been able to find, that's *not* an official time zone in the sense of the Australian government or the government of the state of Western Australia having enacted it into law:

	https://www.australia.gov.au/time-zones-and-daylight-saving

but the Shire of Dundas acknowledged its existence in page 7 of their 2012-2013 annual report:

	https://web.archive.org/web/20150304074421/http://www.dundas.wa.gov.au/Assets/Documents/Document-Centre/Annual-Reports/Annual_Report_2012-2013.pdf

and apparently there are road signs that acknowledge it.

	https://archive.ph/20160505150909/http://basementgeographer.com/central-western-standard-time-the-time-zone-you-wont-find-on-a-map/

>> What about China? What authority was Asia/Urumqi created under? Or is it just common usage?
> 
> I don't know details, but I'd assume similar to Eucla

That, on the other hand, has some central government authority behind it:

	https://web.archive.org/web/20061114120456/http://www.pep.com.cn/200503/ca692073.htm

Google Translate doesn't handle that, but the translator in macOS Big Sur's Safari does, giving

	Legal hours and Beijing time

	The time zone system is ideal, but when used by countries around the world, they use the time of different time zones as statutory time according to their geographical, economic and political conditions, because this time and its scope of application are usually formulated and promulgated by decree by national legislature or government authorities. Most of the standard longitude used in statutory time is also the standard longitude of regional time, but there are also standard longitude in many countries, which is very different from the standard longitude of regional time.

	Beijing time is not the local time in Beijing, but refers to the time of the Eastern Eighth District. It is a unified time zone defined by China administratively for all parts of the country, which is commonly referred to as "Beijing time". The difference between Beijing time and Beijing is 14m44s. China regards the Eastern Eighth District Time as the legal time, which is formulated in accordance with the principle of east. This is done to use time earlier than the actual local time to make full use of sunlight.

	With the approval of the relevant state departments, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has implemented "Xinjiang Time" since February 1986, that is, the time of the eastern 6 districts; locally known as "Urumqi time", which is mainly used for civil work and rest time. Railways, civil aviation, post and telecommunications departments still use Beijing time.

(are they really saying that the time in Beijing is solar time rather than Beijing time?).

although apparently many Han Chinese in the region don't like that and keep Beijing time:

	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xinjiang_Time