(Washington, DC — Jan. 1, 2014) Radio Free Asia broadcast the following stories, and more, in December:
RFA Reports on detention of former Vietnamese political prisoners
Dec. 31 – RFA Vietnamese aired story [text in English/Vietnamese] on Vietnamese authorities detaining and interrogating three former political prisoners, beating one of them severely. Authorities stopped the group as they traveled to visit a fellow ex-prisoner of conscience at his home outside the capital.
RFA Reports on release of political prisoners in Myanmar
Dec. 31 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on the freeing of five prisoners on a government list of political detainees in Myanmar. The release came after a pardon for those held or facing trial on several different offenses including unlawful association, high treason, contempt of government, and violations of the peaceful assembly law.
RFA Reports on possible legal solution for Aung San Suu Kyi’s political hurdle
Dec. 31 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on Myanmar’s military-backed ruling party announcing its support for a constitutional amendment to allow opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to become president. This would be permitted, according to the legislation, on the provision that her British-born children receive Myanmar citizenship.
RFA Reports on Uyghur women undergoing forced abortions
Dec. 30 – RFA Uyghur aired story [text in English/Uyghur] on Chinese authorities forcing four Uyghur women to undergo abortion procedures – one of them nine months into her pregnancy. They were among six forced abortions in Hotan prefecture of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
RFA Reports on striking garment workers clashing with Cambodian police
Dec. 27 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on striking Cambodian garment and footwear workers clashing with police in the capital Phnom Penh. Talks between unions and the government failed to resolve a dispute over minimum wages.
RFA Reports on detention of Chinese farmers speaking to ‘hostile’ media
Dec. 27 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on authorities in the northwestern region of China detaining and interrogating several farmers on suspicion of revealing state secrets and speaking to "hostile" media organizations. The detentions came after local farming communities, who include ethnic minority Kazakhs, Uyghurs, and Xibe, as well as migrant Han Chinese farmers, protested the canceling of their land leases by officials.
RFA Reports on pre-Christmas crackdown on Chinese house church
Dec. 26 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on authorities in the central Chinese province of Henan releasing a group of Christian worshipers detained in a pre-Christmas crackdown. However, two pastors from the house church remain in custody.
RFA Reports on jailing of Tibetans for burning Chinese flag
Dec. 24 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on the detention of three young Tibetans suspected of burning the Chinese flag. The individuals are among scores held in a recent wave of detentions in a county in the Tibet Autonomous Region resisting forced displays of loyalty to the Chinese state.
RFA Reports on Chinese media curbs signaling Maoist mindset
Dec. 24 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on analysts saying recent moves to tighten curbs on China's media signal a return to Maoist ideology on the part of president Xi Jinping. The Central Committee of the ruling Chinese Communist Party recently issued an "opinion" setting out guidelines for "propagating core socialist values" among China's media organizations, to prevent "incorrect points of view."
RFA Reports on largest demonstration for new election in Cambodia
Dec. 22 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on the largest demonstration since the disputed July elections, in which hundreds of thousands of Cambodia's opposition party supporters marched through the streets of the capital Phnom Penh calling for Prime Minister Hun Sen to step down. An estimated half a million people participated in the march protesting the July 28 elections marred by fraud and other allegations.
RFA Reports on eviction of Jiangsu residents over steel mill pollution
Dec. 20 – RFA Cantonese aired story [text in English/Cantonese] on authorities in eastern China's Jiangsu province issuing an eviction order to residents of 10 villages living near a steel mill that has long been criticized for pumping out toxic fumes.
RFA Reports on Cambodian government warning of action against opposition protests
Dec. 19 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on Cambodia’s government warning of action if the country’s opposition party went ahead with plans to block highways and seize buildings in protests. The planned demonstrations were aimed at pushing for new elections following fraud and other alleged irregularities in July polls.
RFA Reports on increase of opium production in Myanmar
Dec. 19 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on the increase in 2013 of opium production in Southeast Asia’s Golden Triangle region, which includes Myanmar. Opium production in Myanmar is at the highest level in over a decade according the latest survey by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
RFA Reports on beating death of Tibetan monk
Dec. 19 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on Chinese police beating to death a senior Tibetan monk less than a month after taking him into custody with two friends while they were vacationing in Tibet’s regional capital Lhasa. Geshe Ngawang Jamyang, a popular religious teacher who had trained for many years at a monastery in India before returning to Tibet, was a leading instructor at Tarmoe monastery in Driru county before he was detained in November.
RFA Reports on crackdown in wake of Tibetan self-immolation
Dec. 18 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on Chinese authorities tightening controls and detaining individuals in a bid to prevent Tibetan self-immolation protests in a Tibetan-populated county in Qinghai province. The detentions came amid a crackdown following the Nov. 11 self-immolation death of Tsering Gyal, a 20-year-old monk from the Akyong monastery in Pema county.
RFA Reports on trial of activist who fought for daughter’s schooling
Dec. 18 – RFA Mandarin and Cantonese aired story [text in English/Mandarin/Cantonese] on authorities in the eastern Chinese province of Anhui beginning the trial of a democracy activist over a protest against his daughter's removal from school because of his activism. Zhang Lin, a veteran dissident with the banned opposition China Democracy Party (CDP), is accused of "gathering a crowd to disrupt public order" at a demonstration in April at which dozens of people protested an elementary school for preventing his 10-year-old daughter Zhang Anni from attending class.
RFA Reports on formation of Myanmar ethnic-political coalition
Dec. 18 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on nine political and ethnic parties in Myanmar announcing the formation of a coalition in their bid to push for a democratic federal union. The nine smaller parties decided to form the Federal Democratic Alliance as part of a bid to make their collective voice heard in parliament, National Democratic Force chairman Khin Maung Swe told RFA’s Myanmar Service following a meeting at his party’s headquarters in Yangon.
RFA Reports on budget woes affecting Lao teachers
Dec. 17 – RFA Lao aired story [text in English/Lao] on a recent cut in living allowances, coupled with already frequent wage delays, leaving teachers in Laos struggling to make ends meet. Many teachers have not received their salaries for several months and none have received their usual 760,000 kip (about U.S. $100) living allowance since the payment was suspended for all employees in October.
RFA Reports on Myanmar land grabs casting doubts on reform
Dec. 17 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on an Asian rights group accusing Myanmar's military of grabbing land and hiding the seizures under a false veneer of legality. The group says the actions cast doubt on the country’s commitment to political reform after decades under military rule.
RFA Reports on North Korea ramping up ideological campaign
Dec. 17 – RFA Korean aired story [text in English/Korean] on North Korean authorities ramping up an ideological education campaign aimed at strengthening leader Kim Jong Un’s grip on power. The moves came amid tensions following the execution of Kim’s powerful uncle, who allegedly admitted to attempts to overthrow the young leader.
RFA Reports on shooting deaths of 14 Uyghurs in clash
Dec. 16 – RFA Uyghur aired story [text in English/Uyghur] on police shooting 14 Uyghurs in China's northwest Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Chinese state media said the 14 were part of a "violent terror gang" which attacked police with explosives as they tried to apprehend "criminal" suspects in Kashgar.
RFA Reports on jailed Vietnamese activist’s parents asking U.S. for help
Dec. 13 – RFA Vietnamese aired story [text in English/Vietnamese] on the plea for international help by the parents of two Vietnamese political prisoners held for speaking out against the government. Pro-democracy blogger Tran Huynh Duy Thuc’s father and activist Dinh Nguyen Kha’s mother met with U.S. State Department officials and rights groups to seek their help in the campaign for their sons’ freedom.
RFA Reports on Chinese troops surrounding Tibetan monasteries, detaining monks
Dec. 13 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on Chinese security forces surrounding monasteries with paramilitary police and detaining monks in a county in the Tibet Autonomous Region that has resisted forced displays of loyalty to the Chinese state. The security forces have also been raiding monks’ quarters and family homes, seizing computers and mobile phones and conducting daily political re-education sessions for area residents in “politically unstable” Driru county.
RFA Reports on NGOs calling for Cambodian election board reform
Dec. 13 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on a group of nongovernmental organizations concluding that Cambodia’s National Election Committee, which oversees the country’s polls, should be revamped in light of the disputed July polls. The NGOs said in a report that the committee should have representatives picked by an independent panel with the involvement of all stakeholders.
RFA Reports on Myanmar government urging action on ‘unfair’ journal
Dec. 13 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on the Myanmar government asking a local media umbrella group to take action against new weekly newspaper Thuriya Naywon. The government accuses the paper of violating journalistic ethics by conducting “personal attacks” and carrying “unfair reports.”
RFA Reports on missing Lao activist’s wife pleading for international help
Dec. 12 – RFA Lao aired story [text in English/Lao] on the wife of missing Lao civil society leader Sombath Somphone pleading with the international community to pressure the Lao government to speed up an investigation of his case. Sombath’s wife said the Lao government claims to be investigating the case but has offered little information on the whereabouts of the 61-year-old civil society leader, who was last seen on Dec. 15, 2012 being stopped in his vehicle at a police checkpoint in the Lao capital Vientiane.
RFA Reports on execution of Kim Jong Un’s powerful uncle
Dec. 12 – RFA Korean aired story [text in English/Korean] on the reported execution of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s uncle Jang Song Thaek. Official media stated that Jang, once believed to be the second most powerful and influential man in North Korea, had been deposed for trying to overthrow the government.
RFA Reports on Myanmar ratifying weapons ban treaties
Dec. 11 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on the ratification in Myanmar of international treaties banning the use, production, and stockpiling of chemical and biological weapons. Myanmar has come under pressure to ratify the international treaties to demonstrate its commitment to reform.
RFA Reports on beating of Vietnamese bloggers on Human Rights Day
Dec. 11 – RFA Vietnamese aired story [text in English/Vietnamese] on authorities in Vietnam brutally beating several dissident bloggers on Human Rights Day after they publicly distributed documents promoting rights and explaining the country’s obligations as a signatory to an international convention on torture. Members of the VN Blogger Network were beaten by plainclothes police and unknown assailants in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang in separate incidents.
RFA Reports on Chinese petitioners attempting mass suicide in Beijing
Dec. 11 – RFA Mandarin and Cantonese aired story [text in English/Mandarin/Cantonese] on 13 protesters staging a mass suicide attempt in the Chinese capital after a failed bid to win compensation over forced eviction from their home in Wuhan. Members of the group said that officials had left them with little choice but to take extreme action to plead their case.
RFA Reports on Beijing’s denial of visas for foreign reporters
Dec. 9 – RFA Cantonese aired story [text in English/Cantonese] on the worsening environment for foreign journalists working in China, with "negative trends" continuing in the past year amid growing tension between Beijing and Washington over correspondents' visas. "We have found that the Chinese authorities are increasingly using the denial of visas, or delays in their approval, in an apparent effort to influence journalists’ coverage," the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China said in a statement.
RFA Reports on Mandela’s life serving as reminder of Chinese people’s quest for freedom
Dec. 6 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on China’s activists commemorating Nelson Mandela’s life and struggle for freedom and democracy in apartheid South Africa. Mandela’s struggle, activists said, also brings to mind the plight of fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, who remains jailed.
RFA Reports on detentions of two Tibetan singers
Dec. 6 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on Chinese police detaining two Tibetan singers popular for their songs describing the plight of Tibetans under Beijing’s rule. The detentions come as authorities continue to clamp down on assertions of national identity in a protest-hit county in Tibet.
RFA Reports on Cambodian opposition urging halt of forest land concessions
Dec. 6 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on Cambodia’s opposition leader calling for a halt to land concessions granted by the government to foreign companies in the country’s vast Prey Lang Forest. Cambodia National Rescue Party President Sam Rainsy made the call while on a visit with 20 lawmakers-elect from the party to a rubber plantation run by Vietnamese military-linked CRCK company as part of a land concession in the forest in Kampong Thom province.
RFA Reports on toxic smog in China blanketing cities, towns, and villages
Dec. 5 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on much of eastern China choking under a thick blanket of smog, with schools closing and visibility down to just 500 meters amid widespread health concerns.
RFA Reports on North Korea refusing Korean-labeled imports
Dec. 4 – RFA Korean aired story [text in English/Korean] on North Korea’s customs agents refusing to allow products marked in Korean into the country on suspicion that they are manufactured in enemy South Korea. Goods produced in China, North Korea’s leading ally, are most affected by the new order as they are often bundled in both Chinese and Korean packaging for ethnic Koreans living in provinces along the border of the two countries.
RFA Reports on Tibetan father self-immolating in protest against Beijing’s rule
Dec. 4 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on a Tibetan father of two self-immolating in protest against Chinese rule in a Tibetan prefecture in Sichuan province. The deadly protest triggered clashes and a security crackdown in the area.
RFA Reports on Myanmar leader supporting inclusive talks on charter reform
Dec. 3 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on Myanmar President Thein Sein’s office saying any proposed reforms for the country’s charter should include discussions among all Myanmar political parties and ethnic groups. The announcement followed a request by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi for a multiparty summit on the issue.
RFA Reports on Cambodian government’s lawsuit against newspaper
Dec. 2 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on Cambodian authorities filing a lawsuit against a pro-opposition newspaper’s publisher. The lawsuit came just after the paper’s editors announced the publication stood by its article accusing Prime Minister Hun Sen of using the military to illegally gain votes in the July national polls.
