TIBET POST
May 28 “Kham vegetable boycott spreads to neighboring counties”
A boycott of Chinese-owned vegetable stores in Nangchen County in the Tibetan province of Kham, eastern Tibet has spread to neighboring counties.
… “Nine vegetable shops have been opened by Tibetan businesspeople from Nangchen and Surmang, and one was opened in the home of Nangchen Tashi, since his house was not completely damaged by last year's quake,” a Tibetan resident told Radio Free Asia.
KBS
May 28 “RFA: WHO to Soon Begin Aid Project for NK”
Radio Free Asia says the World Health Organization (WHO) will receive emergency funds from the United Nations and soon begin aid projects for North Korea.
In an interview with the U.S. broadcaster, a WHO official said the organization recently received 380-thousand dollars from the U.N. Central Emergency Response Fund. The official said the money will first go to improving medical services for the vulnerable people including infants and mothers who delivered.
DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR (Also in DEUTSCHE WELLE, TIBET REVIEW)
May 27 “Mongolian protests spread in Chinese region, group says”
Ethnic Mongolians have staged at least three new protests in China's Inner Mongolia region and plan more demonstrations in the next few days, a US-based rights group reported Friday.
… The information centre and US-based Radio Free Asia said Mongolians had staged several earlier protests in Xi Wu Qi (Right Ujumchin Banner) since the May 10 death of Mergen, a leader of Mongolian herders.
ARIRANG TV
May 26 “UN report: N. Korea, Iran sharing ballistic missile know-how through 3rd country”
According to a report by United Nations experts, North Korea has been sharing ballistic missile technology with Iran through a third country. According to Radio Free Asia, the report said North Korea has transferred banned missile technology to Iran through a North Korean missile mechanic who took a passenger plane to a third country with weak security, then secretly switched on to a different flight to Iran.
EPOCH TIMES
May 25 “Family says charges against Ai Weiwei illegal”
Beijing finally laid charges against prominent Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei on May 20, accusing him of tax evasion over a month after his abduction from the Beijing International Airport.
… Lu voiced her concern that during her last meeting with Ai she found the police had changed his high blood pressure medicine. She requested clarification but did not receive a response, according to Radio Free Asia.
NEW YORK POST
May 24 “OPINION – Claudio Rosett: Feeding North Korea’s Madness”
Here we go again. Amid warnings of an impending “food crisis” in North Korea, the Obama administration is working to send yet more big subsidies, in the form of free food, to the totalitarian regime of Kim Jong-il.
… Before sending another dime's worth of food to North Korea, why shouldn’t the Obama administration sum up the real problem, with budget estimates attached -- and let Radio Free Asia and its cohorts broadcast that illuminating information into North Korea?
TIBETAN REVIEW
May 21 “Father of China’s net censorship hit in shoe attack”
After being forced to shut down his blog last year because of a barrage of highly critical, abusive, and sarcastic postings from Chinese ‘netizens’, Fang Binxing, father of China's Great Firewall, was on May 19 a target of shoe-and-egg throwing during a university lecture, reported BBC News online and numerous other news services May 19.
… Radio Free Asia online May19 said the as yet unknown assailant was studying architecture at another college in Wuhan and was now the target of a city-wide manhunt.
TIBETAN REVIEW
May 23 “Father of China’s net censorship hit in shoe attack”
After being forced to shut down his blog last year because of a barrage of highly critical, abusive, and sarcastic postings from Chinese “netizens,” Fang Binxing, father of China's Great Firewall, was on May 19 a target of shoe-and-egg throwing during a university lecture, reported BBC News online and numerous other news services May 19.
… Radio Free Asia online … said the as yet unknown assailant was studying architecture at another college in Wuhan and was now the target of a city-wide manhunt.
MIZZIMA
May 20 “Suu Kyi wants new Burma full-time UN envoy”
The Press Trust of India (PTI) reported Friday that Aung San Suu Kyi’s desire for a full-time Burma envoy was raised during a Burma briefing at the UN Security Council this week.
… Aung San Suu Kyi first publicly called for a full-time envoy in an interview with Radio Free Asia early this year, while the British and Mexican delegations to the Security Council made similar calls at the end of last year.
ARIRANG TV
May 20 “American, N. Korean Red Cross discuss family reunion”
Officials from the American Red Cross have reportedly met with their North Korean counterparts to discuss a reunion of Korean-Americans with their separated family members in North Korea.
Citing the head of a reunion committee in the US, Radio Free Asia says the initial Red Cross meeting took place in early April, which was the first time the US and North Korean sides talked about the family reunion issue.
EPOCH TIMES
May 18 “Three years after Sichuan earthquake, situation still dire”
Hundreds of thousands of people returned to the ruins of their former homes in Beichuan, Sichuan Province, to mourn the loss of their loved ones on the third anniversary of the deadly May 12, 2008 earthquake.
… Sang Jun, whose child was buried under a collapsed school building, told Radio Free Asia (RFA) that he has received no help from the government. “I’m still living in my mother’s house,” he said. “I have not received any benefits from authorities, because they are all corrupt officials.”
.. Mr. Zhang, another survivor, told RFA that the government’s housing aid was just enough to cover one fifth of home construction costs, and most survivors could not afford the government’s high interest loans.
DONG-A ILBO
May 15 “N. Korea bans nat`ls from traveling to China: report”
North Korea has banned its people from traveling to China for individual purposes to prevent the Jasmine Revolution from entering the North, Radio Free Asia said Saturday. To block the wave of democratic protests prevailing in North Africa and the Middle East from entering the North, Pyongyang had previously tightened border security with China and banned overseas diplomats from returning to the country, the report said.
COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS
May 13 “Media memorializing Sichuan earthquake censored”
Amid a harsh media crackdown, Chinese authorities censored discussion of the May 12, 2008, Sichuan earthquake anniversary that referenced independent investigations into the damage, according to international news reports.
Academic and documentary filmmaker Ai Xiaoming, a supporter of Ai Weiwei, has reported anonymous harassment this month, according to an interview with Radio Free Asia and her personal Twitter account. Her front door was sealed shut from the outside with superglue and she has received more than a hundred silent phone calls, she told Radio Free Asia on Tuesday.
CHOSUN ILBO
May 13 “U.S. Congress to get annual report on N.Korean military”
The U.S. Congress has drawn up a bill compelling the Defense Department to submit an annual report on military and security developments involving North Korea. … This indicates that the U.S. takes the military threats from North Korea's long-range missile and uranium enrichment programs increasingly seriously.
While reviewing a defense authorization bill for next year, the House of Representatives added a clause compelling the Defense Department to submit an annual report on military and security developments in North Korea to Senate and House committees on foreign relations and armed services, a diplomatic source told Radio Free Asia in Washington.
FORT WAYNE NEWS-SENTINEL (Also in FORT WAYNE JOURNAL-GAZETTE)
May 12 “Documentary details city man’s torturous past in Burma”
Seated on a woven floor mat in Myo Myint Cho's Fort Wayne living room, a civil war in a small Asian country seems very far away. But the crutch lying next to Myo Myint, his missing arm, fingers and leg, bring it home.
… Myo Myint said he continues to fight for the people of Burma, for the 2,073 political prisoners still imprisoned there. He is a voice on Radio Free Asia.
ASIA NEWS NETWORK (Also in KOREA HERALD)
May 12 “South Korean sitcom a hit among N.K. teens”
South Korean sitcom High Kick has seen explosive popularity among North Korean teenagers and young women, Radio Free Asia reported. According to a source from Yanggang province, the sitcom has become very popular with copied DVDs selling like hotcakes. The average high school student owns one or two copies of the popular sitcom, the source said.
CHOSUN ILBO (Also in YONHAP NEWS, KOREA TIMES, ARIRANG NEWS, ASIA PULSE, HANKYOREH)
May 9 “Number of N.Korean Defectors to Thailand Jumps 50-fold”
The number of North Koreans escaping to Thailand has jumped more than 50-fold in six years. According to Radio Free Asia on Saturday, 2,400 North Koreans were arrested for illegal entry into Thailand in 2010, up from a mere 46 in 2004. The figure as of April this year was 870.
KOREA TIMES (Also in YONHAP NEWS, STEEL GURU)
May 8 “NK's exports of mineral resources top $860 mil. last year”
North Korea's exports of mineral resources jumped 17-fold in a decade with its outbound shipment of coals and iron ores leading the growth, a U.S. report showed on Saturday. According to Radio Free Asia (RFA), the communist state's exports of mineral resources reached $860 million last year, compared with some $50 million in 2002.
KOREA HERALD (Also in YONHAP NEWS, ASIA PULSE)
May 5 “U.N. agency could press N. Korea to stop hacking Seoul: report”
A United Nations agency responsible for information and communication technologies could urge North Korea to stop its run of cyber attacks on South Korea, a U.S. report said Thursday. In an interview with Radio Free Asia (RFA), Sanjay Acharya, spokesman for the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), said the board of directors at the Geneva-based agency could press North Korea since it is a member state of the ITU.
EPOCH TIMES
May 3 “The Silencing of China’s Human Rights Lawyers”
Since the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, the Chinese regime has been in extreme fear of a possible Jasmine Revolution in China. China's human rights lawyers have become the authorities’ primary targets of crackdown. A large number of outspoken human rights lawyers have disappeared without any explanation.
… Human rights lawyer Tang Jitian was detained on the same day as Teng, but released earlier. He has not yet made any public appearance and has refused to disclose any information. Radio Free Asia said on March 17 that Tang was tortured during his detention, quoting Beijing human rights lawyer Li Jinglin.
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
May 1 “Milk activist's lawyer taken away in Beijing 'State security officers' waiting for civil rights defender, wife told”
Another prominent civil rights lawyer has gone missing on the mainland following the release of two others from detention. Li Fangping , who defended tainted-milk activist Zhao Lianhai , was taken away by "state security officers" on Friday evening, his wife said.
… Two other rights lawyers who disappeared returned home in the past week. Guangzhou-based Liu Zhengqing was released last Saturday nearly month after vanishing, Radio Free Asia and an activist website reported.
