IRRAWADDY (Also VOICE OF AMERICA, EURASIA REVIEW)
Oct. 29 “Burmese media ‘ramp up propaganda’ ahead of elections”
Ten days ahead of a general election, one of Burma's main state-run newspapers has cranked up its propaganda in an editorial criticizing the opposition parties, armed ethnic groups, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and Burmese media in exile.
… The Burmese military junta regularly utilizes the country’s media to blame the pro-democracy opposition and armed ethnic groups for bomb blasts in the country, and routinely refers to the groups as “terrorists.” The regime also routinely blames media organizations such as the British Broadcasting Cooperation (BBC), Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Asia (RFA) and Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) for causing violence, generating public outrage and sowing hatred among Burmese people.
ASIA PULSE
Oct. 28 “Briefing: Asia economic news”
Robert King, the U.S. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues, expressed willingness to utilize markets in the North to help the socialist country open its economy, a Washington-based radio station reported on Oct. 20. Inducing changes in North Korea requires “exchanges in diverse fields,” as discussing nuclear issues alone is far from enough to achieve the goal, King was quoted as saying by the Radio Free Asia (RFA).
NEW ZEALAND HERALD (Also, JAPAN TIMES)
Oct. 28 “Villagers defy regime with boycott call”
In what are believed to be the first public demonstrations to occur in Myanmar in the lead-up to next month's election, more than a thousand villagers from ethnic minority regions mobilised this week in opposition to the regime.
… A 500-strong gathering of ethnic-minority villagers calling for a November 7 election boycott occurred near Kyawn village between Ye and Thanbyuzayat townships in Mon state, according to reports on Burmese-language Radio Free Asia.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Oct. 26 “Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi: Sidelined for elections but has she been sidelined for good?”
On the morning of Myanmar's first election in 20 years, the woman who has come to symbolize the struggle for democracy in her country will rise at 4 a.m. to meditate.
… Suu Kyi's lawyer, Nyan Win, said she will be closely watching the election from inside her police-ringed home. Her days follow a strict routine of meditating until 5:30 a.m., then turning on the four radios in her bedroom to listen to the BBC, Voice of America, Radio Free Asia and a dissident overseas station, the Democratic Voice of Burma.
CHOSUN ILBO
Oct. 26 “N.Korean Regime in Rare Show of Generosity”
North Koreans were given the most extra supplies on Oct. 10, the 65th founding day of the Workers Party, since nation founder Kim Il-sung's death in 1994, Radio Free Asia in the U.S. claimed last Friday. The so-called "holiday supplies" are various daily necessities sold at state prices or about 1/100 of market prices on major holidays such as Kim Il-sung's and current leader Kim Jong-il's birthdays.
PHNOM PENH POST
Oct. 25 “Daughter’s kidney ‘sold for land’”
Police and rights workers in Kampong Cham province have begun investigating the case of a villager who allegedly exchanged one of his daughter’s kidneys for a 2-hectare plot of farmland, after it was publicised in media reports on Sunday. Phoung Sothea, provincial coordinator for local rights group Adhoc, said yesterday that the group had heard a Radio Free Asia report about the transaction, which allegedly took place in Ponhea Krek district, and was trying to contact the family said to be involved.
LONDON TIMES
Oct. 24 “Tormented exile poised to rule China”
At just 14, the man likely to be the next leader of China found himself dumped on a train out of Beijing and banished to one of the bleakest corners of the nation, where he was beaten by the peasants and made to shovel muck.
Dozens of army vehicles were seen on the streets of towns and villages, while guards were mounted outside temples, according to reports reaching the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia.
DOMAIN-B (Also in EPOCH TIMES)
Oct. 22 “Tibetan writer Tsering Woeser receives ‘2010 Courage in Journalism’ award”
Beijing-based Tibetan freelance writer Tsering Woeser has received the "2010 Courage in Journalism" award from the International Women's Media Foundation for her fearless efforts to report on human rights abuses in Chinese-occupied Tibet. Lhasa born Woeser, a quarter-Han Chinese and three quarter-Tibetan, is a freelance writer, blogger for the site Invisible Tibet and contributor to Radio Free Asia.
ASSOCIATED PRESS (Also, WASHINGTON POST, GUARDIAN, TORONTO STAR, HUFFINGTON POST)
Oct. 20 “Tibetan students protest use of Chinese in classes”
Tibetan students in western China marched to protest unconfirmed plans to use the Chinese language exclusively in classes, teachers said Wednesday, an unusually bold challenge to authorities that reflects a deep unease over the marginalization of Tibetan culture.
… Free Tibet and U.S.-funded broadcaster Radio Free Asia said students from six different schools joined the march, estimating the total number of participants at anywhere from 1,000 to 7,000.
CHOSUN ILBO
Oct. 19 “Foreign Porn Flows into N.Korea”
Foreign pornography is spreading in North Korean market, Radio Free Asia in the U.S. reported Friday. Quoting a North Korean source, the radio station said the regime is trying to clamp down by distributing players that will only play North Korean-made DVDs and replacing parts of foreign players to stop them from being compatible, but an increasing number of people are looking for foreign videos.
CHOSUN ILBO
Oct. 16 “N.Korean News Agency Launches New Website”
North Korea's state-run news agency launched a new website on the anniversary of the country's Workers Party, Radio Free Asia said Thursday. The website features a picture of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il watching a military parade on the occasion of the anniversary on its front page.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Oct. 14 “‘Black hands’ stifle reforms”
Twenty-three retired Chinese Communist Party officials, led by Mao Zedong’s former secretary, have challenged the government to improve press freedom days before meeting to discuss the nation’s new leadership. The group, drawn from the military, state media and academia, accused “invisible black hands” of suppressing a speech last month in which Premier Wen Jiabao called for greater political openness to match the country’s economic gains.
… Du was questioned by security officers in January after he described the Liu’s sentence as “stupid and shameful,” according to a report on the website of Radio Free Asia.
CHOSUN ILBO
Oct. 14 “Food shortage in NK reaches 1.5 million tons”
North Korea is in need of about 1.5 million tons of food this year to feed its 24 million people, U.N. organizations said. Speaking to Radio Free Asia based in Washington D.C., a United Nations official said a recent field study done by the World Food Program (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) found there is a gap of roughly 1.9 million tons between the anticipated amount of food that will be produced and demand.
KOREA TIMES
Oct. 13 “Nowadays North Koreans hardly brainwashed”
North Korea kicked off its state-sponsored initiative to brainwash their people to believe that heir Kim Jong-un was born to be a great leader. The propaganda, however, is apparently becoming ineffective, given the sarcastic reaction from grass-roots North Koreans.
… Citing a source in the North, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported Tuesday that lately residents there were directed to listen to propaganda radio programs as well as read brochures.
WALL STREET JOURNAL (Also, IRISH TIMES, DOW JONES NEWSWIRES)
Oct. 11 “Korean exiles lose strong voice --- Death of elite defector Hwang Jang Yop comes as North’s regime begins a transition of power”
The death of North Korean defector Hwang Jang Yop, the highest-ranking member of the Pyongyang elite to flee the country, leaves the exile community without its strongest voice just as the North's authoritarian regime is beginning a risky transition of power.
… Radio Free Asia, a U.S.-based AM and shortwave service, last week reported on the appearance of anti-Kim graffiti in the city of Chongjin and on criticism of the younger Kim by military officers.
KYODO NEWS (Also, EXAMINER, SIFY NEWS, INDIA TRIBUNE, PRESS TRUST OF INDIA, UYGHUR NEWS, MEDIA MUGHALS)
Oct. 10 “Wife visits Nobel winner Liu in prison in northeast China”
Liu Xia, the wife of Nobel Peace Prize laureate and imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, visited her husband in prison in northeastern China on Sunday, people connected to her said.
… In a phone interview with Radio Free Asia on Friday, Liu Xia said she had been told by Chinese police to pack and leave Beijing for Jinzhou for a meeting with her husband.
CHOSUN ILBO
Oct. 9 “N.Korea Makes Overtures to S.Korean Firms in China”
North Korean state-run companies are covertly hustling South Korean firms in China for business after Seoul halted all inter-Korean trade on May 24 over the North's sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan, Radio Free Asia said Wednesday. A South Korean businessman identified as Cho who runs a sewing factory in Shenyang told the U.S.-funded radio station, "One Korean-Chinese businessman I know has indirectly asked me if I'm willing to manufacture some portions of products in the North.
KOREA TIMES
Oct. 7 “China factor rules out NK disruption of G20”
North Korea’s deepening ties with China will likely rule out the possibility of provocative behavior from the recalcitrant regime coinciding with the upcoming G20 summit in Seoul, a former U.S. official said Thursday.
… Concern arose last month when Radio Free Asia reported that Kim Jong-un, the youngest son of Kim Jong-il and the country’s newly-formalized heir apparent, convened a meeting to discuss ways to disrupt the event, citing unnamed sources in the North.
INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR TIBET (Also CNN INTERNATIONAL)
Oct. 4 “Armed Nepalese police seize ballot boxes from Tibetan exile elections”
Armed Nepalese police in riot gear seized ballot boxes that were being used by Tibetans to vote for a new Prime Minister and Parliament in exile in a dramatic new development in Kathmandu today.
… A Tibetan eyewitness to the seizure of the ballot boxes today said: “This was a terrible day for Tibetans in Nepal. People felt desperate. Many of the Tibetan elders in the community were crying, they were not able to do anything as there were so many police and they were so aggressive.” (Footage of the incident by Radio Free Asia).
ASSOCIATED PRESS (Also KNOXVILLE SENTINEL)
Oct. 4 “Ashe named chairman of corporate board of Radio Free Asia”
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Victor Ashe, the former U.S. ambassador to Poland and ex-mayor of Knoxville, has been elected chairman of the corporate board of Radio Free Asia.
TIBETAN REVIEW
Oct. 2 “Nagchu villagers protest mining, damming at sacred mountain”
The situation was tense in Driru (Chinese: Biru) County of Nagchu Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), where the authorities had accused local villagers with separatism for opposing the building of a dam and start of mining work near a sacred mountain in their area, according to Radio Free Asia online (RFA, Washington) Sep 30.
CHOSUN ILBO
Oct. 2 “N.Koreans React as Kim Jong-un Steps into the Limelight”
North Koreans at home and abroad were largely dismayed when leader Kim Jong-il's son and heir Jong-un made his first public appearance on Thursday after being appointed vice chairman of the Workers Party's Central Military Commission.
… Radio Free Asia in the U.S. on Thursday quoted a North Korean military officer as saying that soldiers there are skeptical about the succession. They had accepted Kim Jong-il without much difficulty when he was promoted to supreme commander because his personality cult had been built up for a long time. But in Jong-un’s case they wonder what the 20-something has done to become a four-star general?
BLOOMBERG
Oct. 1 “Kim Jong Il stacks octogenarians around son in North Korea succession plan”
Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s ailing 68-year-old leader, urged ally China in August to help him “hand over to the rising generation.” This week he installed a set of leaders whose average age is 77.
… Kim Jong Il remains the second-youngest permanent Politburo member. In a regime where falling from favor can lead to a death penalty, members’ longevity may signal a lack of opposition to the son’s ascent. … Railway Minister Kim Yong Sam was shot after hungry workers stole metal and sold it for scrap, Radio Free Asia reported.
