April Media Highlights
DIPLOMAT
April 26 “The Chinese Communist Party’s Latest Propaganda Target: Young Minds”
… In an April 8 article, Radio Free Asia noted increased efforts to monitor Chinese university students.
TAIWAN NEWS
April 25 “Tainted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi visits China to attend Belt and Road Forum”
… Thousands of protesters rallied in northern Myanmar on Monday (April 22) against revival of the suspended project, citing potential environmental damages and human displacement, according to Radio Free Asia.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
April 23 “China Exploits Fleet of U.S. Satellites to Strengthen Police and Military”
… Meanwhile, AsiaSat decided to drop U.S. government-funded outlets Radio Free Asia and Voice of America. They have been a thorn in the side for Beijing, beaming coverage of politically sensitive topics.
IRRAWADDY
April 23 “Pregnant Rohingya Woman Struck by Stray Bullet, Loses Unborn Baby in N. Rakhine”
… On Friday, both AA spokesman U Khine Thukha and Colonel Win Zaw Oo of the Myanmar military’s Western Command denied any clashes had occurred in rural Buthidaung, as had been reported by Radio Free Asia.
CHOSUN ILBO
April 23 “N.Korea Steps up Surveillance on Chinese Border”
… Radio Free Asia reported that North Korean soldiers and even pilots eat meat "only on national holidays," while subsisting on corn other days.
CHRISTIAN POST
April 19 “China: 2 underground priests abducted by authorities, 1 church destroyed ahead of Easter”
… "The normal religious lives of believers have been violated and obstructed, causing serious emotional harm and damage to their sense of patriotism, as well as causing social conflict," the statement read, according to Radio Free Asia.
ASSOCIATED PRESS (also in PREMIER)
April 19 “Laos Deports 3 Detained US Missionaries, Evangelical Group Claims”
…The website of U.S.-government funded Radio Free Asia, citing an unidentified district policeman, reported Tuesday that the three were detained for handing out religious materials without receiving official permission.
CHOSUN ILBO
April 18 “Kim Jong-un Pays 'Surprise' Visit to Air Force Unit”
… North Koreans had to buy flowers and lay them at the two former leaders' statues or other structures throughout the country, according to Radio Free Asia on Tuesday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS (also in INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CONCERN, MISSION NETWORK NEWS)
April 13 “Evangelical group says 3 US volunteers detained in Laos”
.. The website of the U.S.-government funded Radio Free Asia cited an unnamed Luang Namtha police official saying that the three had been arrested but were not detained.
TORONTO SUN (also in DAILY MAIL, MIRROR, EPOCH TIMES, INQUISITR, BRINKWIRE)
April 11 “North Korea publicly executes two fortune tellers”
… A source told Radio Free Asia that the women formed a psychic collective called the Seven Star Group.
KHMER TIMES
April 11 “Police rebuke corruption report”
… The National Police has issued a clarification letter regarding a Radio Free Asia broadcast reporting on the alleged corrupt practices of Major General Koeng Khorn, chief of Svay Rieng provincial police.
IRRAWADDY
April 10 “Party Demands KIA Release 3 Lisu Men Held for a Month”
… However, he told Radio Free Asia’s Burmese service on April 4 that the KIA did not arrest the Lisu villagers.
BUZZFEED NEWS
April 9 “This Man’s Aunt Was Jailed Days After He Met With Mike Pompeo Over China’s Muslim Crackdown”
… One of them was Gulchehra Hoja, a Uighur American reporter for Radio Free Asia whose family has faced apparent retaliation for her often critical reporting in the United States.
UPI (also in DEFENSE WORLD)
April 9 “Report: North Korea tried to sell submarines to Taiwan”
… Bonnie Glaser, director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said it was highly unlikely Taiwan would have actually purchased North Korean submarine technology, according to Radio Free Asia.
CHOSUN ILBO
April 9 “Kim Jong-un 'Satisfied' with Glitzy Mall in Pyongyang”
… The notorious mass games are scheduled again for April 15, regime founder Kim Il-sung's birthday, Radio Free Asia reported on Monday.
PHNOM PENH POST
April 9 “Stung Treng authorities reject RFA timber trafficking claim”
… The Stung Treng provincial department of agriculture, forestry and fisheries rejected a Radio Free Asia (RFA) report which claimed that on March 27, there was a resurgence of illegal timber trafficking activities near the Lower Sesan II Dam.
KOREA TIMES
April 5 “US can consider 'good enough deal' as realistic option”
… In an interview with Radio Free Asia, he said it is sensed in Washington, D.C., that a gradual and step-by-step approach is recognized as the only solution for Pyongyang's denuclearization.
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
April 4 “As China cracks down on Uyghurs, some keep their culture alive in the US”
… Mr. Abulimiti lost contact with his parents and brother, a popular Uyghur singer, two years ago. Radio Free Asia reported in December that all three had been detained in a mass internment camp.
IRRAWADDY
April 4 “The Renaissance Man”
… Staying in the U.S., he became involved in setting up Radio Free Asia’s Myanmar Service—from selecting the signature tune and insert music to writing news articles and others things—when it was planning to expand its coverage on Myanmar in 1996.
CBS THIS MORNING
April 3 “Lawmakers implore Trump administration to sanction China over abuse of Muslims”
… As a Radio Free Asia reporter in Washington, Gulchehra reports on what is happening back home.
CHOSUN ILBO
April 2 “N.Korea Sends Army of Workers to China to Make Quick Cash”
… Meanwhile, Radio Free Asia reported that North Korean authorities have banned all unauthorized gatherings because it fears public unrest.
KHMER TIMES
April 2 “Hun Sen scoffs at power shortage conspiracy theory”
… On Saturday, Radio Free Asia reported that residents and environmental activists suspect that the government has been reducing the power supply so it can have an excuse to build the dam in Koh Kong province.
BITTER WINTER
April 2 “Thousands of Uyghurs Detained in a Gansu Prison”
… According to a March 26 Radio Free Asia report, hundreds of thousands of people in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture have been secretly transferred to other areas, but their exact destination is unknown.
