BITTER WINTER
Feb. 29 “Coronavirus Doesn’t Stop Religious Persecution in China”
… According to a Radio Free Asia report, Sun Feng, a Christian from Shandong’s Zibo city, posted a message online on January 31, calling on people to pray and fast for nine days for the ending of the epidemic.
KHMER TIMES
Feb. 29 “Cambodia says comments on human rights by EU, Australia, and France flawed”
… On freedom of media and opinions, Mr Sokhhoeurn said Cambodia has a total of more than 1,000 printed and online media, TV and radio stations while the Voice of America and Radio Free Asia broadcast in Khmer is accessible online without censorship.
KOREA HERALD
Feb. 28 “NK could stage military provocation in Oct.”
… Speaking on Radio Free Asia on Thursday, Panda said October would be a critical moment for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who appears eager to “insert himself onto the US political agenda” ahead of the 2020 US presidential election in November.
DIPLOMAT
Feb. 28 “China Says There’s No Risk of a COVID-19 Outbreak in Xinjiang Camps. Don’t Believe It.”
… Radio Free Asia reported in early February that Chinese officials had quarantined nearly 100 Wuhan residents in a hotel in the city of Atush, where the spread of the coronavirus is being treated as a “state secret.”
HONG KONG FREE PRESS (Also in FRANCE24, BREITBART)
Feb. 27 “Uighur activists say China’s coronavirus measures are causing widespread hunger”
… Radio Free Asia earlier reported that in the city of Artux, authorities erected metal fences almost two meters (six feet) high to keep residents from leaving their neighborhoods.
ARUTZ SHEVA
Feb. 26 “China’s Communist regime is a virus”
… In Wuhan, Radio Free Asia reveals that the bodies of the victims of the virus are being cremated 24//7.
PHNOM PENH POST
Feb. 25 “CamboJA pushes for further press law amendments”
… Yeang Sothearin, a former journalist for Radio Free Asia, said reporters who carried out sensitive investigations in rural areas were always under the watch of the authorities, who would try to prevent them from carrying out their work, and in some cases even seizing their equipment.
NEW HUMANITARIAN
Feb. 25 “In the news: North Korea, sanctions, and the coronavirus”
… Radio Free Asia reported last week that a hospital in the northern city of Chongjin had quickly cremated the bodies of 12 people who had died after being treated for pneumonia-like symptoms.
GLOBAL CONSTRUCTION REVIEW
Feb. 24 “Virus delays Indonesia’s $6bn high-speed rail project”
… “I can’t talk about targets for this year,” Chandra added, reports Radio Free Asia (RFA).
DAILY STAR
Feb. 23 “The coronavirus threat is far from over”
… US government-funded Radio Free Asia (RFA) posted a footage, which shows heartbroken relatives of several doctors sobbing and hugging each other as their loved ones board a staff coach, going on a deadly mission to save the lives of people burdened with the emergence of the alarming viral strain.
INDIA BLOOMS
Feb. 22 “Dalai Lama’s successor selection: US house votes against China for meddling”
… Radio Free Asia reported that The Tibetan Policy and Support Act (TPSA) was passed by a vote of 392 to 22.
TRICYCLE
Feb. 22 “Tibetan Nun Dies by Suicide in Chinese Internment Camp”
An exiled Tibetan nun who died in an internment camp in China’s Sichuan province is said to have died by suicide, according to Radio Free Asia (RFA).
NEW YORK TIMES
Feb. 21 “Dozens of Rohingya Face Charges for Illegal Travel in Myanmar After Fleeing Rakhine State”
… On Thursday, 93 Rohingya arrested in November after they were found on a beach in the Irrawaddy delta region appeared in a separate court to face charges of traveling illegally, Radio Free Asia reported.
KOREA HERALD (Also in YONHAP)
Feb. 21 “Red Cross requests sanctions exemption for Pyongyang to fight COVID-19”
… The world’s largest humanitarian organization made the request Thursday, quoting the IFRC’s permanent observer to the UN, Richard Blewitt, Radio Free Asia reported.
BANGKOK POST
Feb. 20 “In Laos, price of free speech a heavy one”
… “The era of the regime keeping the eyes and mouths of the people closed has come to an end," Radio Free Asia quoted her as saying in the video.
NATIONAL INTEREST (Also in CONVERSATION)
Feb. 20 “Coronavirus is Spreading Rapidly in China (And One Minority Group Is Under Serious Threat)”
… According to an article in Radio Free Asia, China has created a media blackout in the XUAR, which raises the concern that the actual number of infected Uighur Muslims is much greater than the two dozen reported so far.
BMJ
Feb. 19 “Letter from China: covid-19 on the grapevine, on the internet, and in commerce”
… Radio Free Asia reported that a Tibetan man named Tse was encouraging people to recite and forward a Buddhist prayer as a safeguard against the new coronavirus, covid-19.
ASIA NEWS
Feb. 18 “Beijing arrests human rights activist Xu Zhiyong”
… According to Radio Free Asia, the police allegedly used a facial recognition system to capture him.
VOICE OF AMERICA
Feb. 17 “Vietnamese Officials Seize Cambodian Monk’s Passport for Alleged Cyber Security Violation”
… During the interrogation, Seun Ty was asked about news content he had viewed on social media platforms, such as broadcasts and stories from Voice of America’s and Radio Free Asia’s
Khmer services, and content highlighting rights violations faced by the community.
TAMBA BAY TIMES
Feb. 14 “Libby Liu: The internet has no room for tyrants”
… For 16 years, I led Radio Free Asia -- a U.S.-funded broadcaster set up to provide uncensored, local journalism to people living in closed societies with no free press.
BLOODY ELBOW
… MMA fighter Xu Xiaodong, known for his fights with traditional martial artists, has spoken out about the disappearance of Chinese journalist and human rights lawyer Chen Quishi; who has been missing since reporting on the coronavirus epidemic (per Radio Free Asia).
38 NORTH
Feb. 13 “How the coronavirus may impact the North Korean Economy”
… One North Korean source quoted by Radio Free Asia puts the government’s dilemma regarding the virus and the economy brutally but clearly… “They say they might die from a disease, but they could also die from starvation because they are unable to make enough money to support themselves for a day.”
EXPRESS
Feb. 13 “Coronavirus cover up: Mystery as whistleblower goes missing- ‘Beijing must answer’”
… He was then asked to stop uploading videos about the outbreak after filming his visits to local hospitals, according to Radio Free Asia (RFA).
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH (Also in DAILY MAIL, SUN, CHRISTIAN POST, CHRISTIAN TODAY)
Feb. 13 “Christians Abducted, Attacked in Bangladesh Refugee Camp”
… The Benar News Agency and Radio Free Asia have reported that camp residents believe that the attackers are linked to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), an ethnic Rohingya armed group.
PHAYUL
Feb. 12 “7 Tibetans detained on charges of ‘spreading rumours’ about Coronavirus”
… Seven Tibetans have been detained on the charges of “spreading rumours” about the novel Coronavirus threat, reports Radio Free Asia (RFA).
ASIA NEWS
Feb. 11 “China cracking down on the free information virus about the epidemic”
…Police arrested journalist and lawyer Chen Qiushi and put him "in isolation" (like coronavirus patients) for his video messages from Wuhan, Radio Free Asia reported.
BUSINESS INSIDER
Feb. 10 “The doctor who revealed China’s SARS cover-up has been under house arrest in the country since 2019”
… Dr. Jiang Yanyong, the military surgeon who revealed the Chinese government’s cover-up of the deadly SARS outbreak in 2003, has been under house arrest since 2019, his loved ones told Radio Free Asia (RFA).
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
Feb. 9 “Was the new coronavirus created by China or the United States?”
… On a less outlandish note, the US government-funded Radio Free Asia has just rebroadcast a 2015 report about the Wuhan institute being China’s most advanced virus research lab.
METRO (Also in SUN, ALL INDIA ROUNDUP, LADBIBLE)
Feb. 8 “Suspected coronavirus patients scream as they are dragged from homes”
… The shocking video was shared to Radio Free Asia’s Twitter feed which alleged the three suspected patients were residents of Kunshan, Jiangsu who refused to comply with officials attempting to put them into isolation.
GLOBAL VOICES
Feb. 6 “What happened during the deadly land dispute clash in Dong Tam, Vietnam”
… Radio Free Asia reported that YouTube issued a strike against its channel regarding a webcast that included news about Đồng Tâm for unspecified violations of the video-sharing platform's community guidelines.
CHOSUN ILBO (Also in KOOGLE TV)
Feb. 5 “Coronavirus ‘Spreading in N. Korea’”
… Two suspected cases occurred in Sinuiju, a source told Radio Free Asia on Tuesday. He said he heard the news from his family in Sinuiju over the phone.
CAMBODIA DAILY
Feb. 6 “Rights Restricted by Court’s Withholding of IDs, Ex-RFA Reporters Say”
… Two former Radio Free Asia journalists accused of espionage said on Monday that their rights and livelihoods were restricted by a court decision to continue withholding their passports and ID cards following their release on bail.
CRYPTONEWS (Also in KOREA HERALD)
Feb. 5 “North Korea ‘Used LinkedIn, Telegram’ in USD 7m Crypto Exchange Hack”
… Per Radio Free Asia, which quoted data from the Chainalysis 2020 Crypto Crime Report, Lazarus hackers created what appear to be fake LinkedIn accounts, in a bid to distribute malware that “senior managers” at the exchange installed on their computers.
STAR
Feb. 4 “Pollution by Chinese banana farms affects 500 families in Laos”
… Waste run-off and trash from Chinese-owned banana farms are polluting a river in Laos, affecting over 500 families in the country's Oudomxay province that relies on the river water for daily use, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported Tuesday.
UCANEWS
Feb. 3 “Tourist finds Uyghur ‘ghost town’”
… Radio Free Asia Uyghur Service director Alim Seytoff discusses the video and China's "Orwellian" treatment of the Muslim minority.
TRICYCLE
Feb. 1 “Buddhists Respond To Coronavirus With Aid, Prayer, And Traditional Medicine”
The disease has now spread to traditionally Tibetan regions in western and northwestern China, causing Buddhist monasteries and other major cultural sites, including the Potala Palace in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa to close, according to reporting by Radio Free Asia (RFA).
