DIPLOMAT
Jan. 30 “Beware Cambodia’s Europe Sanctions Hype”
… Two reporters for Radio Free Asia were charged with espionage in late 2017.
ASIA NEWS.IT
Jan. 29 “Tibetans detained, questioned over their opposition to fishing in the sacred Qinghai Lake”
… Chinese fishermen caught fishing in the lake are frequently released, after complaining that Tibetans have seized their nets and other fishing gear, one local resident told Radio Free Asia’s Tibetan Service.
FOX NEWS (also in NEWS MAX, BRINKWIRE)
… If the people don’t meet their daily quota, they have to supply over 600 pounds of compost or livestock manure, according to Radio Free Asia.
UNPO
… Calls on the CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media to report on efforts to intimidate Uyghur language Radio Free Asia (RFA) employees and create a strategy to counter Chinese government disinformation and propaganda efforts targeting Uyghur communities globally;
PHNOM PENH POST
Jan. 28 “All media outlets must pay tax”
… Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith on Friday said Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) would be allowed to reopen their offices only after fulfilling their tax obligations.
QUARTZ (also in TELEGRAPH)
Jan. 27 “North Korea is reminding citizens it will still kill them for watching South Korean TV”
… Radio Free Asia recently reported on the lectures, in which officials demanded that residents “abstain from watching decadent video materials of capitalism … that have found their way in from the South,” according to one source.
UPI
Jan. 25 “North Korea to use facial recognition system at airport, state media says”
… Radio Free Asia reported Thursday Kim Hyok Chol, a former ambassador, accompanied the top North Korean negotiator to Washington last week, and is a nuclear and military expert.
REUTERS FOUNDATION
Jan. 25 “Why businesses should care about the use of forced labor in Xinjiang”
…Radio Free Asia documented similar instances of forced labor at Yining County Textile Industrial Park and Ili Zhuowan Apparel Co.
TELEGRAPH (also in KOREA HERALD)
Jan. 25 “North Korea could hand over ICBMs to China in exchange for lifting of sanction”
… “I guess transferring some ICBMs to China could be one of the cards that Kim Jong-un holds to have another round of summit [talks] with Donald Trump”, Lee Sang-soo, a research fellow at the Institute for Security and Development in Sweden, told Radio Free Asia.
CHOSUN ILBO
Jan. 25 “Trump Sends Personal Letter to Kim Jong-un”
… Meanwhile, Lee Sang-soo, who heads the Korea Center at the Institute for Security and Development Policy in Sweden, told Radio Free Asia that the North Korean leader may have offered to hand over his intercontinental ballistic missiles to China in order to get Trump to agree to a second summit.
FREE MUSE
Jan. 24 “China: Uyghur pop idol Zahirshah Ablimit detained in Xinjiang”
… Radio Free Asia was able to confirm that Zahirshah has been sent to the No. 5 Re-education Camp near Atush city in southern Xinjiang.
PHNOM PENH POST
Jan. 18 “Sar Kheng: Terms to describe government are disrespectful”
… Government spokesman Phay Siphan said on Thursday that in his understanding, those who have been using this word include some NGOs and analysts, Sam Rainsy and opposition groups, and Radio Free Asia.
BUSINESS TIMES
Jan. 17 “Philippines Nods at China’s Campaign against Corruption, Turns in Fugitive”
… According to Radio Free Asia, Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said of the arrest, "The Philippines and China will continue to strengthen our cooperation in going after Chinese fugitives hiding in our country, including former government officials wanted for corruption."
RELIEF WEB
Jan. 15 “ACLED Regional Overview – Asia (15 January 2019)”
However, on 7 January, the government announced it would “crush” the AA and warned locals against supporting the group (Radio Free Asia, 7 January 2019), raising the possibility of continued clashes in Rakhine state.
KOREA TIMES
Jan. 16 “Norway promises to keep up humanitarian aid to North Korea”
… "Last year, 14.5 million Norwegian kroner ― approximately $1.6 million ― were provided in bilateral humanitarian assistance channeled through the International Red Cross Federation (IFRC) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)," Hagen wrote in an email to Radio Free Asia (RFA), Tuesday.
REUTERS
Jan. 14 “China blocks Western diplomats from trial of 'cyber-dissident'”
… Huang’s case on charges of leaking state secrets overseas was heard on Monday by the Mianyang Intermediate People’s Court in southwestern Sichuan province, according to a Friday report by U.S. government funded Radio Free Asia.
STRAITS TIMES
Jan. 13 “President Donald Trump suggests Vietnam for US-North Korea summit: Report”
… In an interview with Radio Free Asia (RFA), a US news outlet, last Friday, former US nuclear negotiator with North Korea, Mr Robert Gallucci, said the second summit is likely to take place at the end of this month or next.
DAILY NK
Jan. 11 “North Korean state security agents infiltrate churches in China to cozy up to South Koreans”
… Citing a defector minister, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that the Bongsu Church is part of the Workers’ Party of Korea’s South Chosun Activities Department, which aims to earn foreign currency by “turning” South Korean church groups and overseas Koreans.
NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS
Jan. 10 “‘Reeducating’ Xinjiang’s Muslims”
… Especially important is the Washington, D.C.–based Radio Free Asia Uighur service, which has for years provided detailed, accurate coverage despite notorious controls on information in Xinjiang.
NPR
Jan. 10 “China To Let 2,000 Ethnic Kazakhs Relinquish Citizenship And Leave The Country”
… Inmates have described them as "political indoctrination camps," with cramped spaces, scarce food, torture and disappearances. One detainee was a prominent, ethnic Kazakh artist, according to Radio Free Asia.
CHRISTIAN POST
Jan. 9 “Vietnamese Christians beaten, arrested for refusing to worship Buddha and renounce faith in Jesus”
… Loi told Radio Free Asia that the local police chief and his deputy were present during the attack.
ARIRANG
Jan. 9 “Nothing to announce on whether Pompeo will visit N. Korea: State Dept.”
According to Radio Free Asia, the State Department's spokesperson for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, Katina Adams, said Tuesday there is nothing to announce in terms of a visit to North Korea by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
KHMER TIMES
Jan. 9 “RFA journalists want court to drop espionage charges”
… Former Radio Free Asia journalists Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin were charged under Article 445 of the Criminal Code for undermining national defence.
RELIEF WEB
Jan. 8 “ACLED Regional Overview – Asia”
… In Myanmar, on 21 December, the Myanmar military announced a four-month unilateral ceasefire covering Kachin and northern Shan state (Radio Free Asia, 21 December 2018).
BITTER WINTER
Jan. 8 “’Dozens of my in-laws vanished.’ The other 9/11 of Rushan Abbas”
… When in 1998 the U.S. Congress funded the Uyghur language service at Radio Free Asia based in Washington, D.C., she was the first Uyghur reporter and news anchor broadcasting daily to the Uyghur region.
LAKELAND OBSERVER
Jan. 5 “Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi denies going ‘soft’ on military over Rohingya crisis”
… “We’ll continue to bring changes within the parliament. I’ve stood firm with the military before, and still do now,” she told Radio Free Asia.
YONHAP (also in NK NEWS)
Jan. 4 “Investigation underway into hacking attempt using purported document on N.K. leader's speech”
… Earlier, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on the hacking attempt using spear-phishing, in which a malicious code infects a computer once an email is opened.
FAITHWIRE (also in CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY)
Jan. 3 “Laos Authorities Arrest Church Leaders During Christmas Celebration — The Reason Is Troubling”
… It should be noted that, in December 2017, an unnamed Phin district official told Radio Free Asia that Christians “are still restricted” in the area.
EPOCH TIMES (also in BREITBART)
Jan. 3 “Xinjiang Authorities Anticipate International Inspection, Recent Activities Suggest”
… Sources told Radio Free Asia (RFA) in October they believed as many as 300,000 Uyghurs have been secretly transferred to prisons in Heilongjiang province and other parts of China from Xinjiang since relocations began at the beginning of 2018.
DIPLOMAT
Jan. 3 “What’s in the New Russian Battle Tanks Deal for Laos?”
… Radio Free Asia cited anonymous sources as saying that the cost was expected to amount to several million dollars and the Lao government would pay Russia via mining concessions and development projects rather than through money.
PHNOM PENH POST
Jan. 2 “Win-Win Monument: PM’s ‘treason’ or symbol of unity?”
… Rainsy, the acting president of the Supreme Court-dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), said on Radio Free Asia on Friday that the Win-Win monument symbolises Hun Sen’s treason.
