(Washington, DC — March 1, 2012) Radio Free Asia broadcast the following stories, and more, in February:
RFA Reports on Tibetan bombing death in Sichuan
Feb. 29 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on the bombing of a new government building in Sichuan province by a Tibetan who was killed in the explosion. The building was used to gather intelligence on the local community.
RFA Reports on Chinese candidates alleging rigged polls
Feb. 29 – RFA Cantonese and Mandarin aired story [text in English/Cantonese/Mandarin] on would-be independent candidates in district-level parliamentary elections criticizing a recent poll in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan. They allege it was conducted without transparency amid allegations of vote-buying, unofficial detentions, and police violence.
RFA Reports on deadly Uyghur-Han incident
Feb. 28 – RFA Uyghur aired story [text in English/Uyghur] on the killing of a dozen people in violence involving ethnic Uyghurs and Han Chinese in China’s northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Official media reports of the incident vastly differ from witnesses’ accounts.
RFA Reports on seizing of Lao Christian church
Feb. 28 – RFA Lao aired story [text in English/Lao] on Lao authorities taking over a third Christian church building in southern Savannakhet province in five months. Religious rights groups are blasting the move.
RFA Reports on garment factory protest in Cambodia
Feb. 23 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on protests turning violent as a group of around 2,000 Cambodian garment workers blocked a national highway and vandalized a factory operated by a Chinese company. Protesters allege the company has refused to implement benefits ordered by a labor arbitration body.
RFA Reports on possible deportation of North Korean defectors
Feb. 23 – RFA Korean aired story [text in English/Korean] on reports that China deported nine North Korean defectors even though they risked facing harsh punishments, including execution, at home. The repatriations came despite appeals from South Korea and human rights groups.
RFA Reports on Tibetans mourning at new year ceremonies
Feb. 21 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on Tibetans in China observing the Tibetan New Year, Losar, in mourning over protesters who have lost their lives challenging Chinese rule. Beijing, meanwhile, is urging Tibetans to hold festive ceremonies to dispel notions of tensions in the Tibetan-populated regions of the country.
RFA Reports on Vietnamese farmers protesting land grab
Feb. 21 – RFA Vietnamese aired story [text in English/Vietnamese] on hundreds of farmers protesting in Hanoi. The demonstration was held to demand the return of land the farmers allege was taken away by the government and granted to developers without proper compensation.
RFA Reports on intimidation of Chinese activist
Feb. 20 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on a Wuhan-based veteran pro-democracy campaigner and political dissident being warned by China’s state security police not to proceed with plans to launch a website aimed at promoting “peaceful” change. Qin Yongmin, who was released from prison on Nov. 29, 2010 after serving a 12-year term for subversion, said he was surrounded by police after leaving a computer store and then taken to a police station for questioning.
RFA Reports on new charges for Burmese dissident monk
Feb. 19 – RFA Burmese aired story [text in English/Burmese] on Burmese authorities bringing fresh charges against prominent dissident monk Shin Gambira after releasing him from jail. Gambira, who led 2007 protests against Burma’s former military junta, had since his January release begun unilaterally reopening monasteries locked up by the authorities for more than four years.
RFA Reports on attacks on journalists covering Chinese protests
Feb. 17 – RFA Cantonese aired story [text in English/Cantonese] on attacks on foreign journalists trying to cover recent land protests in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang. Dutch reporter Remko Tanis was kicked and beaten in a village near Wenzhou city by a large group of men he believes were hired thugs and plainclothes police.
RFA Reports on Tibetan self-immolation
Feb. 17 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on a Tibetan monk burning himself to death after protesting Chinese security intrusions at his monastery in China’s western Qinghai province. It was the 22nd confirmed self-immolation by Tibetans protesting Chinese policies and rule in Tibetan regions since a wave of the deadly protests began in February 2009.
RFA Reports on Kim memorial displacing residents
Feb. 16 – RFA Korean aired story [text in English/Korean] on authorities in North Korea preparing to tear down more than 200 houses in a northern province to make way for a memorial statue in honor of the late dictator Kim Jong Il. The move has kicked up a storm among residents who fear they will be left in the cold without alternative accommodation.
RFA Reports on worries of jailed Chinese rights lawyer’s wife
Feb. 14 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on the exiled wife of China’s prominent jailed dissident lawyer, Gao Zhisheng, expressing concern over her husband’s safety and well-being. Speaking to RFA as visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping met with President Barack Obama at the White House, Geng He said she no longer trusts authorities’ assurances.
RFA Reports on probe of popular Chinese ex-police chief
Feb. 13 – RFA Cantonese aired story [text in English/Cantonese] on an official inquiry concerning a former gang-busting police chief with strong political ties to an up-and-coming Chinese leader in the southwestern city of Chongqing. The inquiry came after former Chongqing deputy mayor and police chief Wang Lijun sought political asylum in the United States.
RFA Reports on death of teenage Tibetan nun
Feb. 11 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on a teenage Tibetan Buddhist nun setting herself on fire in the latest self-immolation protest against Chinese rule. The incident came as protesters torched government buildings in southwestern Sichuan province.
RFA Reports on Chinese jail sentence for poem
Feb. 10 – RFA Cantonese aired story [text in English/Cantonese] on a court in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou handing down a seven-year jail term to a veteran pro-democracy activist for “incitement to subvert state power” after he penned a poem calling on the Chinese people to vote with their feet. Zhu Yufu, 60, was handed the sentence after his Jan. 31 trial, the latest in a string of political activists to receive heavy jail terms for subversion.
RFA Reports on Vietnamese prime minister questioning forced eviction
Feb. 10 – RFA Vietnamese aired story [text in English/Vietnamese] on Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung calling for a revamp of the country's land management policies. The request came as he questioned the legality of the forced eviction of an ex-Vietnamese soldier turned farmer.
RFA Reports on Chinese forces shooting two Tibetans
Feb. 9 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on Chinese security forces shooting and killing a Tibetan monk and his brother who had been involved in protests against Chinese rule. The incident occurred amid another Tibetan self-immolation.
RFA Reports on Senator McCain’s call for poll monitors in Burma
Feb. 9 – RFA Burmese aired story [text in English/Burmese] on U.S. Senator John McCain pushing Burmese authorities to allow international observers to monitor upcoming elections in April. “International observers are always important, particularly when the country is holding its first [free] elections,” McCain told RFA in an interview.
RFA Reports on Ugyhurs demanding compensation for seized land
Feb. 9 – RFA Uyghur aired story [text in English/Uyghur] on more than 40 ethnic Uyghurs protesting outside a government office in China’s northwest Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. They demanded that authorities return a portion of land they say was seized from them and given to Han Chinese as part of a municipal development plan in Urumqi.
RFA Reports on barring of China media from Wukan polls
Feb. 8 – RFA Mandarin and Cantonese aired story [text in English/Mandarin/Cantonese] on the barring of China’s state-controlled media from covering forthcoming polls in the rebel Guangdong village of Wukan. Residents of Wukan voted for new election officials recently, in the wake of several weeks of protests last year sparked by anger over official corruption and the sale of local farmland.
RFA Reports on defiant Tibetan protests
Feb. 8 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on about 2,000 Tibetans in two troubled southwest Chinese provinces holding protests against Beijing's rule. The protests, defiant of security crackdown attempts, came as another monk self-immolated.
RFA Reports on proposed greater CCP presence at Chinese microblogging companies
Feb. 7 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on authorities planning to establish propaganda department branches of the Chinese Communist Party at the offices of Chinese Internet companies providing microblogging services. The new measure follows a decision by central authorities to enforce a “real name policy” for all bloggers on China’s four biggest microblogging sites: sina.com, qq.com, sohu.com, and 163.com.
RFA Reports on escape of trafficked Cambodians
Feb. 7 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on the escape of 14 Cambodians forced by Thai human trafficking syndicates to work as fishermen. Trapped on fishing vessels in the Gulf of Thailand and forced to work without pay, some for years, the 14 men jumped off their boats and swam to shore in Indonesia.
RFA Reports on rare labor strike in Burma
Feb. 6 – RFA Burmese aired story [text in English/Burmese] on more than 2,000 factory workers holding a rare strike close to Rangoon. They demanded pay they said their employer withheld from them when the plant was closed during holidays in January.
RFA Reports on questioning of Lao official over baby trafficking scheme
Feb. 5 – RFA Lao aired story [text in English/Lao] on the detention of a retired justice ministry officer in Laos. He is being questioned over allegations he acquired newborn infants from hospitals and poor rural households and then sold them – mostly to Americans, Canadians, and Australians.
RFA Reports on rejection of Khmer Rouge official’s sentencing appeal
Feb. 3 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on a UN-backed war crimes tribunal in Cambodia increasing the sentence of a former Khmer Rouge prison chief to life imprisonment. As a result, the panel drew praise from survivors of the brutal regime who feared Kaing Guek Eav, also known as “Duch,” might one day walk free.
RFA Reports on China detaining Tibetan pilgrims
Feb. 2 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on the detention of hundreds of Tibetan pilgrims returning from a religious gathering held in January in India before being allowed to reunite with their families. China had earlier allowed about 9,000 Tibetans to travel to India to take part in the 10-day Kalachakra religious festival conducted by exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
RFA Reports on Burmese ethnic rebel agreement
Feb. 1 – RFA Burmese aired story [text in English/Burmese] on ethnic Mon rebels agreeing in principle to a ceasefire with the Burmese military. The development came as the latest effort by President Thein Sein’s nominally civilian government to forge peace pacts with various armed ethnic groups.
