MOTHER JONES
Feb. 28 “Watch: Dancers Defy Beijing's ‘Nuclear Winter’ Smog”
Face masks are selling out online as China's cities this week choked on pollution so bad one local scientist called it "somewhat similar to a nuclear winter." … Another measure of how bad it is: Radio Free Asia reported this week that a resident of the coal-burning city of Shijiazhuang, in a rare act of defiance, is suing the local government for failing to act over the deadly smog.
ARIRANG NEWS (Also in KOREA HERALD)
Feb. 28 “WFP gives North Korea US$3.2 mil. worth of emergency food aid”
The United Nations' World Food Program reportedly provided North Korea with some 3 million U.S. dollars worth of emergency food aid earlier this month. Washington-based Radio Free Asia reports that the UN food agency supplied emergency assistance for children and pregnant women in the North due to a drop in donations from the international community.
THINK PROGRESS – CLIMATE PROGRESS Blog
Feb. 27 “China’s Twitter Is Censoring Posts That Criticize The Smog Problem”
China’s most popular social media site has been quickly censoring posts that criticize the country’s response to the horrifying smog problem, according to various media reports. … In addition to those two articles, references on Sina Weibo to a Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences report calling Beijing “unlivable” were also deleted, according to a report in Radio Free Asia.
COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS
Feb. 26 “China slaps separatism charges on Uighur blogger”
Chinese authorities should immediately release a Uighur blogger and academic who has been charged with separatism after being held incommunicado and without charge since January 15, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. … On February 7, Radio Free Asia, a U.S. government-sponsored radio network, aired an interview recorded on July 24, 2013 that Tohti asked to be publicized if he were to be detained in the future. In the interview, he said, "I have relied only on pen and paper to diplomatically request the human rights, legal rights, and autonomous regional rights for the Uighurs. ... I am almost confident that the Chinese government is trying to get rid of me this time."
TELEGRAPH (Also in REUTERS, CHINA DIGITAL TIMES)
Feb. 26 “China silences last voice of dissent on Xinjiang”
The only public figure inside China who dared to question Beijing's policy in the vast, oil-rich and troubled region of Xinjiang is now facing life imprisonment. … Before his detention, Mr Tohti left a statement with a journalist from Radio Free Asia, in which he predicted his fate.
VANITY FAIR
Feb. 26 “Why Was the Dalai Lama Hanging Out with the Right-Wing American Enterprise Institute?”
… In the very days last autumn, as Congressional Republicans were charging down the political blind alley of the government shutdown, Pletka and A.E.I.’s president, Arthur Brooks, were meditating with His Holiness at his base in Dharmsala, India, in the Himalayas. They were there at his invitation, which had been conveyed through mutual contacts at Radio Free Asia, the U.S.-government-funded broadcaster.
TIBETAN REVIEW
Feb. 26 “Tibetan youth stabs self, dies as Chinese police came for him”
A Tibetan youth has stabbed himself and died on Feb 20 in Markham (Chinese: Mangkang) county of Chamdo (Changdu) prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, to avoid capture by the Chinese police. … Radio Free Asia (RFA, Washington) Feb 24 said the monastery was among the first in the area to follow the Dalai Lama’s advice.
TIBETAN REVIEW
Feb. 21 “3 Tibetan monks held after saving 300 yaks from Chinese butchers”
Chinese authorities in Pema (Chinese: Banma) County of Golog (Guoluo) prefecture, Qinghai Province, have detained three senior Tibetan Buddhist monks on Feb 6 after the latter had purchased 300 yaks from a local Chinese slaughterhouse to save their lives, reported Radio Free Asia (Washington) Feb 19.
HUFFINGTON POST (Also in CHINA DIGITAL TIMES)
Feb. 20 “Chinese President Xi's Steamed Buns Still Roiling Weibo”
Comfort food--with the president? Patrons of one branch of the Qingfeng Steamed Bun Shop chain were treated to a surprise visit from Xi Jinping on December 28. … In January, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that petitioners capitalized on the Qingfeng craze to air their grievances. … Petitioners from the southern city of Hangzhou concerned about forced demolition of their homes unfurled a banner that proclaimed “President Xi, I want to eat steamed buns,” according to RFA.
THE NEW ASIA MEDIA (From Loyola Marymount University—Los Angeles)
Feb. 20 “HONG KONG: Reporters Without Borders — Media Watchdog of the World”
Hong Kong’s media independence is in jeopardy, according to the annual 2014 World Press Freedom Index. … Radio Free Asia president Libby Liu describes this year’s index as “sobering” because it reveals little change in the substandard media environments of certain countries. She said, “In China and Vietnam, an unrelenting crackdown continues on journalists, netizens and cyberactivists who venture beyond state-controlled media headlines.”
NEW YORK TIMES (SINOSPHERE BLOG)
Feb. 20 “Advocate for Uighurs Seems to Have Foretold Detention”
Ilham Tohti, the Uighur intellectual who disappeared into the black hole of China’s security apparatus more than a month ago, appears to have prophesied his detention and what are expected to be charges of inciting ethnic separatism in the far western region of Xinjiang. In a statement he gave to Radio Free Asia in July, Mr. Tohti sensed that the walls were closing in and that the authorities were growing increasingly unhappy with his outspoken advocacy for China’s 10 million Uighurs, a mostly Muslim, Turkic-speaking people whose tenuous coexistence with the nation’s ethnic Han majority has been fraying in recent months.
HANKYOREH
… The video is believed to have been produced in 2013, when North Korea was actively working to attract foreign capital. While Radio Free Asia reported in Jan. 2013 that the North was planning a high-tech industrial complex in Pyongyang, this is the first time that the details have been confirmed through a video. North Korea was planning to create a high-tech complex on 300 hectares in the Eunjong district of Pyongyang for data processing technology, nanotechnology, new materials, high-tech industrial equipment, and biotech, Radio Free Asia said in its report.
TELEGRAPH
Feb. 18 “Heart condition concern for Chinese dissident”
Liu Xia, the wife of China's Nobel Peace prize-winner Liu Xiaobo, needs urgent medical care for a heart condition. … Mrs Liu's brother, Liu Tong, said to Radio Free Asia that it was urgent for his sister to see doctors. "She needs a medical examination. Otherwise she might die," he said.
PHAYUL
Feb. 16 “Can Tibetan language be a soft political power?”
… Those wishing to work in radio broadcasting corporations in India (All India Radio), the United States (Voice of America and Radio Free Asia), Voice of Tibet, Norway, and Kunleng (Bhutan) need proficiency in both the spoken and written Tibetan language.
TAIPEI TIMES
Feb. 16 “The Liberty Times Editorial: Equality and dignity not Ma’s goals”
During Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Wang Yu-chi’s (王郁琦) China visit, two Taiwanese journalists were unable to accompany him because Beijing refused to issue visas to reporters from the Chinese-language Apple Daily and Radio Free Asia, without offering an explanation. … This is bad news for Taiwan’s press freedom.
ECONOMIST
Feb. 15 “Don’t think, just teach”
A MOTTO of Peking University, one of China’s leading academic institutions, is “freedom of thought and an all-embracing attitude”. … On February 7th Radio Free Asia, a radio network sponsored by the American government, released an interview with Mr Tohti from before he was detained. In it he denied any association with a terrorist group and spoke of his fears, asking for the interview to be released if he were detained: “The number of police officers around me has gradually increased,” he said. “I am almost confident that the Chinese government is trying to get rid of me this time.” He said he had only ever advocated human and legal rights and equality for Uighurs.
RADIO & TELEVISION BUSINESS REPORT (Also in RADIO WORLD, RADIO INK)
Feb. 14 “AWMF names annual Gracie National Award winners”
The Alliance for Women in Media Foundation has announced the 2014 national winners of the 39th Annual Gracie Awards. … Born in the USA: Instant Citizenship on Saipan; Outstanding Investigative Program or Feature; [by] Radio Free Asia.
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES
Feb. 14 “China Punishes Relatives of Tibetan Protesters Who Burn Themselves to Death”
A county in Sichuan province has issued guidelines aimed at punishing the family members of Tibetans who self-immolate in protest against Chinese rule, the South China Morning Post reports. … Tamdin Kyab, a Tibetan from Dzoege who fled into exile, told Radio Free Asia that the local authorities introduced 16 rules in Dzoege in April last year to contain self-immolations.
TIBETAN REVIEW
Feb. 14 “China detains 11 Tibetan youths for urging Tibet's independence”
Chinese police in Sog (Chinese: Suo) County of Nagchu (Naqau) Prefecture, Tibet autonomous Region, have detained four monks and seven other Tibetan youths over Feb 2-3 after they allegedly raised calls for Tibet’s independence from Chinese rule, reported Radio Free Asia (RFA, Washington) Feb 12.
KOREA TIMES (Also in DONG-A ILBO)
Feb. 13 “Slew of N. Korean entertainers sent to reeducation camp”
The North Korean government locked some 40 entertainers in a reeducation camp for their links to Jang Song-thaek, the executed uncle of Kim Jong-un, leader of the hermit kingdom, Radio Free Asia said Wednesday. … The news was originally released by the source’s North Korea correspondents who acquired related intelligences from voices within the state.
KOREA TIMES
Feb. 12 “Rodman's visit to NK bad judgment on Kim's part”
Inviting the retired NBA player Dennis Rodman to Pyongyang was a decision lacking in judgment on part of North Korea Kim Jong-un, Korea expert David Straub said, as reported by Radio Free Asia.
BURMA NEWS INTERNATIONAL (Also in KAREN NEWS)
Feb. 12 “Arrest of five journalists throwback to bad old days”
A number of international human rights groups and media watchdog organisations condemned the Burma government for jailing five journalists for allegedly exposing states secrets. … Radio Free Asia reported that the journalists were arrested the Unity Weekly News published on its front page a story “claiming that chemical weapons were being manufactured at a facility in Pauk township, in Myanmar’s Magway region, under the orders of former military junta leader Than Shwe.”
DAILY NK (Also in KOREA TIMES)
Feb. 12 “COI to Present Findings on February 17th”
The findings of the UN Commission of Inquiry into North Korean human rights will be presented at a press conference on the afternoon of February 17th in Geneva. Two members of the three-person COI panel, Australian judge Michael Kirby and UN Special Rapporteur Marzuki Darusman, will host the event. … Speaking with Radio Free Asia, UN spokesperson Rolando Gomez commented that the event would mark a “milestone” in global understanding of North Korean human rights.
PRI’s THE WORLD
Feb. 11 “This woman is the voice of Tibet for China and the world”
When a 29 year-old Tibetan man set himself on fire earlier this month to protest Chinese rule there, he was among more than 100 who have chosen this form of protest. And the world might not have heard of them except for the writing of Tsering Woeser. … And people in China tend to buy that line, which makes Woeser's work all the more vital, says Tenzin Tethong. He is a former cabinet member of the Tibetan government-in-exile, who is now working for Radio Free Asia in Washington, DC. "This is the one area where the Tibetan story is least understood," Tethong said. "[The] vast majority of the Chinese public have had a very general understanding that since Tibet became part of the PRC [People's Republic of China], Tibetan life has improved dramatically for the better, when in reality, there are very, very serious issues going on."
NEW YORK TIMES (Also in CNN, CHANNEL NEWS, TELEGRAPH, GLOBAL POST, CHINA DIGITAL TIMES)
Feb. 11 “China and Taiwan Hold First Official Talks Since Civil War”
Representatives of Taiwan and China held their first official talks Tuesday since the end of China’s civil war in 1949, a meeting expected to produce few concrete results but one that marked a symbolic development in the easing of the two sides’ longtime rivalry. … China prevented Taipei-based reporters from Apple Daily, an aggressive tabloid newspaper, and Radio Free Asia, a broadcasting service that receives United States government financing, from attending the meeting. While China maintains strict controls on domestic and foreign journalists, Taiwan is known for its aggressive media outlets.
CHOSUN ILBO
Feb. 11 “Jang Song-taek Still Featured on Chinese Embassy Website”
The Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang continues to feature photos of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's uncle Jang Song-taek, who was publicly denounced and brutally executed by the regime. … Meanwhile, Radio Free Asia on Sunday said the managers of the top North Korean-run restaurant and hotel in China were summoned back to the North after being classified as supporters of Jang
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
Feb. 10 “Taiwan to raise press freedom in landmark China talks”
The Mainland Affairs Council, which formulates the island’s China policy, said its chairman Wang Yu-chi would “discuss issues related to equal exchanges of news information” when he meets Tuesday with his counterpart Zhang Zhijun, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office chief. … The mood surrounding the talks soured in Taiwan after Beijing refused to issue credentials to the Taipei-based Apple Daily and the US government-funded Radio Free Asia on the weekend.
FOCUS TAIWAN (Also in TAIPEI TIMES, CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY, TAIWAN NEWS, BBC CHINESE, FREEDOM HOUSE)
Feb. 9 “Beijing condemned for blocking reporters from Wang-Zhang meeting”
The Association of Taiwan Journalists condemned Beijing on Sunday for blocking reporters from Taiwan's Apple Daily and U.S.-based Radio Free Asia from covering a meeting between Taiwan and China's top cross-Taiwan Strait policy planners in Nanjing on Feb. 11. The association lashed out at Chinese authorities in a statement Sunday after it confirmed that the applications for Chinese visas by Apple Daily and Radio Free Asia journalists stationed in Taiwan had been rejected.
REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS
Feb. 7 “Defending freedom of information in Vietnam at the UN”
Reporters Without Borders participated in a series of meetings and conferences on Vietnam on 3 and 4 February ahead of Vietnam’s Universal Periodic Review (an examination of its human rights performance) by the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. … PEN International, Article 19, Media Legal Defence Initiative, Radio Free Asia and Human Rights for Vietnam PAC were among the organizations that participated in the joint evaluation of the Vietnamese government’s human rights policies since its last Universal Periodic Review in 2009.
NEW YORK TIMES (Also in TIBETAN REVIEW)
Feb. 7 “China: Tibetan Dies in Act of Protest”
A Tibetan man, Phakmo Samdup, died Wednesday after setting himself on fire in an act of protest against the Chinese government, which has ruled Tibet since invading it in the 1950s, according to information released Friday by Free Tibet, an advocacy group based in London. Radio Free Asia, which is financed by the American government, said the protest took place in the prefecture of Malho in Qinghai Province, in western China. The death raises to 126 the number of self-immolations in Tibetan areas ruled by China, Radio Free Asia reported.
FOREIGN POLICY
Feb. 7 “The Dumpling Effect”
… But they remain, along with hundreds of others, waiting for a chance to order the same meal that Communist Party Chairman Xi Jinping ate six weeks earlier. … (Not all the visits were supportive: Radio Free Asia reported in early January that petitioners massed on the Qingfeng branch to protest ...)
ALL VOICES
Feb. 7 “CPJ says motive Journalist beaten to death in Cambodia should be identified”
Cambodian authorities must identify the motive behind the killing of a local journalist on February 1 and ensure his assailants are brought to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said today. … But Morm Thon, Cholkiri district's police chief, told Radio Free Asia that initial investigations indicated that Suon Chon's murder was not related to his reporting on illegal fishing.
YONHAP
Feb. 7 “N. Korea cancels this year's Arirang Mass Games: travel agency”
North Korea has canceled the annual Arirang Mass Games for the first time in eight years for unknown reasons, a China-based travel agency said Friday. … According to the Washington-based Radio Free Asia, the North needs more time to renew its festival programs in accordance with the changing leadership under young leader Kim Jong-un.
PHAYUL
Feb. 6 “China steps up military presence in Kardze before Tibetan New Year”
Following deployment of armed forces in Drango during the Chinese New Year, China has now stepped up its military presence in Kardze County, one of the most restive Tibetan regions, as the Tibetan New Year draws near, according to the US funded Radio Free Asia.
TIBTETAN REVIEW
Feb. 1 “China displays force on Tibetan protest anniversary”
On the second anniversary this year of a violent crackdown on a large peaceful Tibetan demonstration on Jan 23, Chinese paramilitary police were out in force on the streets of Draggo (Chinese: Luhuo) County in Karze (Ganzi) Prefecture, Sichuan Province, reported Radio Free Asia (Washington) Jan 30.
