RFA in the News – February 2010
EPOCH TIMES
Feb. 28 “Chinese Activists Draft ‘Internet Revolution Declaration’”
“Declaraton of Internet Revolution,” a document drafted by over 20 Chinese activists, began to circulate the Internet Feb. 12, attracting responses from Chinese around the world. Drafters include pro-democracy activist Wang Dan, Yan Jiaqi, and Feng Congde.
… Mr. Wang Dan, visiting assistant professor at the Taiwan’s National Chengchi University and one of the drafters of the Declaration, told Radio Free Asia that overthrowing the Great Wall-like Internet blockade set up by the Chinese regime has historical significance equivalent to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
THE FOUNDRY (HERITAGE FOUNDATION BLOG)
Feb. 24 “Free Flow of Information: A Great Tool Against Totalitarianism”
Of all the isolated places on earth, North Korea is a strong candidate for the most dismal. …Even in North Korea, cracks are appearing in the government’s information monopoly, which should provide hope that no audience is entirely beyond the reach of U.S. international broadcasting.
…In the case of North Korea, Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, and four South Korean broadcasters supported by the National Endowment for Democracy have growing audiences in this most totalitarian of societies.
PHNOM PENH POST
Feb. 24 “Court officials blast Radio Free Asia over report on convictions”
Court officials in Phnom Penh have taken the unusual step of criticising recent media reports alleging “irregularities” in the convictions of three men accused of armed robberies last week.
A statement issued Monday and signed by Yet Chakrya, the chief prosecutor at Phnom Penh Municipal Court, alleged that Radio Free Asia (RFA) had broadcast “exaggerated information” involving three men convicted of committing a series of armed robberies.
… The RFA reports, which aired last Wednesday and Monday, relied on interviews with people who lacked sufficient information to criticise the judicial system and police officials, the court suggested in the statement. The reports amounted to a lack of journalistic professionalism, the statement said.
PHNOM PENH POST
Feb. 22 “Observers hail Takeo court ruling”
Local and international organisations have welcomed the acquittal of a Radio Free Asia reporter and four rights activists by Takeo provincial court on Friday, saying the ruling could set an important precedent for future defamation and disinformation cases.
In a statement issued on Friday, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Cambodia hailed the ruling of the court as a step forward in the struggle for freedom of expression.
IRRAWADDY NEWS
Feb. 22 “24-hr News Channel to Air in Burma”
A new 24-hour international TV news channel will go on air in Burma next month, according to sources at the Ministry of Information.
… The junta has recently allotted permits to companies to establish FM radio stations to counter the BBC and exiled radio stations broadcasting in Burmese language, such as Radio Free Asia and the Democratic Voice of Burma.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Feb. 19 “Cambodia acquits reporter of spreading false info”
A Cambodian court Friday acquitted a journalist for U.S.-based Radio Free Asia on charges that he spread false information when reporting an alleged corruption case.
Takeo provincial court judge Cheng Bunly dropped the charges against radio reporter Sok Serey for a 2008 broadcast about a dispute between a group of villagers and a leader of the ethnic Cham community, who are mostly Muslims.
NEW YORK TIMES
Feb. 15 “OP-ED – Paul Mozur: China’s self-defeating censorship”
At the desiccated northwest corner of Gansu province in western China, a fort known as Jiayuguan marks the end of the Great Wall. During the 1500s messages from this distant outpost could reach the imperial capital Beijing in a matter of days via a system of smoke signals and fires.
… According to Radio Free Asia, since July 32 Internet activists have been held in jails, and a new change to the province’s security law that came into effect on Feb. 1 seems designed in part to target netizens and Web activists when, and if, Internet access is fully restored.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Feb. 13 “Myanmar frees deputy leader of opposition party”
Myanmar's military government on Saturday freed the 82-year-old deputy leader of the pro-democracy party headed by Aung San Suu Kyi after nearly seven years in detention.
… Home Minister Maj. Gen. Maung Oo reportedly said last month that Tin Oo would be freed in February and Suu Kyi would be released in November. His comments were made during remarks to local officials in central Myanmar and reported by the U.S.-government backed Radio Free Asia and other media, and could not be independently confirmed.
CPJ Blog
Feb. 12 “Madeleine Earp: Feng Zhenghu home safe after Kafkaesque exile in Japan”
Journalists, friends, and supporters of Feng Zhenghu, who I interviewed in Tokyo on Monday as he was about to end his involuntary exile in Japan, have been making full use of the Internet to document his arrival home in Shanghai’s Pudong Airport this afternoon.
… Radio Free Asia reporter Yushin Chen posted audio of an interview with Feng after he safely today landed and made his first stop—a visit to his sick mother. Perhaps it was the crowds, but everything went smoothly, Feng said in the clip.
PHNOM PENH POST
Feb. 10 “Reporter for Radio Free Asia speaks in disinformation suit”
Radio Free Asia reporter Sok Serey and four other men stood trial on Tuesday for disinformation charges, and judges said they would hand down a verdict on February 19.
KBS News
Feb. 9 “NK to Allow Foreign Tourists to Enter Country From This Weekend”
Chinese tourist agencies that handle tour programs to North Korea say a group of foreign visitors will travel to the communist state this weekend.
… Radio Free Asia quoted representative of the Beijing-based Koryo Tours, Simon Cockerell, as saying that a group of tourists from Britain, Germany, Italy and other European countries will visit North Korea on Saturday after passing through China.
PHNOM PENH POST
Feb. 9 “Investigation of advocate set to restart”
The stalled investigation of a prominent human rights activist in Ratanakkiri province will recommence later this month, provincial judge Thor Saron said Sunday.
… Thor Saron, who threatened both Pen Bonnar and Radio Free Asia journalist Ratha Visal in September with disinformation charges for accusing him of corruption, said his investigation would go forward despite facing continual delays.
PHNOM PENH POST
Feb. 5 “Takeo court to hear disinformation case”
Well-known Radio Free Asia reporter Sok Serey and four other men charged with spreading disinformation about a Cham Muslim community leader in Takeo province will stand trial on February 9, court officials confirmed Thursday.
CHOSUN ILBO
Feb. 5 “Discontent in N.Korea turns to anger after currency debacle”
The fallout from North Korea's disastrous currency reform is mounting, with public discontent at skyrocketing prices reportedly growing into serious unrest in places. Radio Free Asia reported Wednesday that an anti-regime mood is growing among people who are prevented from earning a living by a crackdown on the use of foreign currency and closure of open-air markets.
Quoting sources in North Korea, the exile radio station said North Koreans now call leader Kim Jong-il simply by his name without using any honorific, which is unprecedented in the North.
PHNOM PENH POST
Feb. 2 “US denies report on new tariffs”
The US embassy has rebutted reports that its ambassador said America intends to raise trade tariffs for Cambodian garment exports this year. An article by Radio Free Asia online Friday said the US Ambassador to Cambodia Carol Rodley indicated America would end tariff reductions on Cambodian garments in 2010.
BBC
Feb. 1 “Burma army frees boy after mother pleads through media”
The army in Burma has released a 14-year-old boy it had forcibly recruited, after his mother appealed for his return on international media. Sandar Win, who has terminal cancer, told the BBC's Burmese Service and Radio Free Asia (RFA) her pleas for his return had previously been ignored.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Feb. 1 “US budget to expand broadcasts in Asia”
President Barack Obama's budget proposed Monday would boost funding for overseas US broadcasts, including creating new video programming in Mandarin and three other Asian languages.
… The board said the budget, which requires approval by Congress, would allow Radio Free Asia to offer video service in Burmese, Mandarin, Tibetan and Vietnamese.
