(Washington, DC — February 1, 2014) Radio Free Asia broadcast the following stories, and more, in January:
RFA Reports on Chinese rejecting calls to release Tibetan religious leader
Jan. 31 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on Chinese authorities in Tibet rebuffing calls by monks from neighboring Qinghai province for the release of a popular local Tibetan religious leader detained two months ago. Chinese officials said that Khenpo Kartse, who is being held in Chamdo prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region, faces “serious” accusations of “disturbing stability” in the prefecture and that the jailed monk cannot be freed.
RFA Reports on growing call for Uyghur scholar’s release
Jan. 30 – RFA Uyghur aired story [text in English/Uyghur] on Amnesty International releasing an “urgent action” alert calling for pressure on Chinese authorities to release detained ethnic minority Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti. Tohti, an outspoken economics professor who has not been heard from since his detention in mid-January, is at risk of torture and other ill treatment, the group warned.
RFA Reports on ramped-up security in Tibetan area on crackdown anniversary
Jan. 30 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on Beijing deploying paramilitary police in large numbers in a Tibetan region of Sichuan province on the second anniversary of a deadly suppression of peaceful protests. Chinese armed police patrolled the streets of Draggo county in the Kardze prefecture in an apparent attempt to prevent Tibetans from observing the anniversary of the Jan. 23, 2012 violent crackdown by Chinese security forces.
RFA Reports on torture of Tibetan laborer over Dalai Lama images, recordings
Jan. 29 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on Chinese police detaining a young Tibetan man and torturing him in custody after finding photos and audio recordings of speeches by the Dalai Lama on his mobile phone. Norgyay, a day laborer from Dingri county in the Tibet Autonomous Region’s Shigatse prefecture, was seized in the region’s capital Lhasa on Jan. 14 during a random police check on the stored content of mobile phones carried by Tibetans.
RFA Reports on Myanmar launching probe into latest Rakhine violence
Jan. 29 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on the Myanmar government launching an investigation into the latest violence in Rakhine state in which the United Nations said at least 48 Muslims were killed. However, no foreign groups will be included in the probe team as requested by the U.N., United States, and human rights groups following the reported killings by Buddhist mobs in Du Chee Yar Tan village in Maungdaw township.
RFA Reports on anti-graft activists’ trials prompting fears about China’s rights climate
Jan. 28 – RFA Mandarin and Cantonese aired story [text in English/Mandarin/Cantonese] on a series of trials of anti-corruption activists in January signaling a worsening climate for political debate and rights activism in China. Authorities in the Chinese capital put on trial four more members of the New Citizens' Movement activist group on public order charges, prompting three of them to dismiss their legal team in protest at what they said was an unfair hearing.
RFA Reports on Chinese plant slaughtering endangered sharks
Jan. 28 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on a slaughterhouse in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang killing around 600 endangered whale sharks annually to meet demand for shark's fin soup and other luxuries. The shark processing facility at Puqi township near Wenzhou city flouts international wildlife protection treaties and China's own laws on endangered species, according to a study.
RFA Reports on brutal breakup of Beehive Radio demonstration
Jan. 27 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on Cambodian police using electric batons and smoke bombs to break up a protest in the capital by supporters of independent Beehive Radio angered over the government’s refusal to grant the station licenses to expand its broadcast range and establish a TV station. The crackdown, which left at least seven people injured, came as nongovernmental groups urged the United Nations to censure Cambodia for a failing rights record ahead of a review by the world body.
RFA Reports on World Bank pledging $2 billion for Myanmar
Jan. 27 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on the World Bank unveiling a new U.S. $2 billion aid deal for Myanmar for electricity, telecommunications, and health care projects. The new aid tranche follows the World Bank’s reopening of its offices in Myanmar last year after it cut off new lending to the country in 1987, during the previous military junta regime.
RFA Reports on violent crackdown on Phnom Penh demonstrators
Jan. 26 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on the injury of at least 10 people in the Cambodian capital when security forces clashed with protesting activists, trade union leaders, and workers demanding higher wages and the release of detained activists. The demonstration defied a government-imposed ban on protests in Phnom Penh in the wake of authorities’ crackdown.
RFA Reports on detention of hundreds of Tibetans in Chamdo
Jan. 24 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on Chinese authorities cracking down on a grassroots Tibetan unity campaign in the Tibet Autonomous Region. Hundreds wearing armbands or possessing and displaying images of Tibetan holy figures, such as the Dalai Lama, have been detained.
RFA Reports on Cantonese Service reporter’s visit to North Korea
Jan. 24 – RFA Cantonese aired story [text in English/Cantonese] on the experiences of one of its own reporters who visited North Korea as a tourist. The reporter noted attitudes of North Koreans, differences in the way Chinese tourists are treated as opposed to other foreign tourists, and other aspects of the isolated, Stalinist dictatorship.
RFA Reports on Myanmar military hampering Aung San Suu Kyi’s tour
Jan. 24 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on military officials in eastern Myanmar’s Shan state barring opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from landing at a local airport and preventing her from using a field for a public rally. The moves disrupted her tour of the state as she drums up local support for constitutional reforms.
RFA Reports on shooting deaths of Uyghurs in police station attack
Jan. 22 – RFA Uyghur aired story [text in English/Uyghur] on Chinese authorities killing three Uyghurs who attacked a police station in northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The assault on the Yengieriq town police station is the latest in a string of raids by Uyghurs who exile rights groups say could be retaliating for discrimination by Chinese authorities against the ethnic minority group.
RFA Reports on thousands protesting land grab in Fujian
Jan. 22 – RFA Mandarin and Cantonese aired story [text in English/Mandarin/Cantonese] on several thousand people taking to the streets to protest the loss of their farmland in the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian. The protesters gathered on the disputed land near Fujian's coastal town of Quanzhou to demand higher compensation for farmland requisitioned by the government without negotiating with locals.
RFA Reports on Lao farmers defying orders to relinquish land to Chinese
Jan. 22 – RFA Lao aired story [text in English/Lao] on dozens of rice farmers in northern Laos defying armed police orders to vacate land seized by a Chinese company. The company wants to build an airport on the land as part of a casino-driven special economic zone.
RFA Reports on Myanmar ethnic rebels wanting foreign monitors for cease-fire
Jan. 21 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on Myanmar's armed ethnic rebel groups calling for foreign observers to monitor the implementation of a proposed nationwide cease-fire agreement. The agreement is aimed at ending decades of conflict with the government.
RFA Reports on family visits improving North Korean prison conditions
Jan. 19 – RFA Korean aired story [text in English/Korean] on the decreasing death rate in a notorious North Korean prison camp following a policy change allowing daily visits by inmates’ families. Sources inside North Korea tell RFA that the new policy has led to improved conditions among the normally poorly clothed and underfed prisoners.
RFA Reports on forced relocation of Uyghurs for resorts
Jan. 17 – RFA Uyghur aired story [text in English/Uyghur] on Chinese authorities forcibly relocating more than half of the ethnic minority Uyghurs—mostly farmers and herders—from three mountain townships in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to make way for tourist resorts. The displaced individuals have not been provided adequate compensation or job opportunities.
RFA Reports on Hunan police deleting Chinese filmmaker’s footage
Jan. 16 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on independent Chinese filmmaker Liu Yimu demanding a public explanation from authorities after raw footage for his planned documentary was deleted by state security police in his hometown of Changsha, the capital of Hunan province. Liu, who had recently finished interviewing 23 local people including democracy activists and petitioners, was about to begin editing the film when police intervened.
RFA Reports on former cook alleging Kim Jong Un’s uncle executed over sex links
Jan. 15 – RFA Korean aired story [text in English/Korean] on a former Japanese chef for the Kim family saying North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered the execution of his uncle Jang Song Thaek in December for his role in procuring teenage girls to satisfy the sexual desires of Kim's father. Kenji Fujimoto said that by having Jang killed, Kim "wanted to prove that he's different" from his father Kim Jong Il and his grandfather Kim Il Sung, both of whom he said had "quite a history with women."
RFA Reports on historic Tibetan resistance against Chinese rule in Driru
Jan. 15 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on Driru, a Tibetan county that has attracted recent global attention for waging a persistent struggle against a Chinese campaign of forced displays of loyalty. For almost a decade, the area been a major center of resistance to Beijing’s rule.
RFA Reports on Cambodian leader asking for UN envoy’s help with political crisis
Jan. 15 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen calling on a U.N. special envoy to press the country’s opposition to rejoin parliament and negotiate an end to the country’s political stalemate since disputed July elections. Earlier in January, the envoy pressed officials to release detained garment worker protesters.
RFA Reports on trial of Chinese pastor over alleged ‘fraud’
Jan. 15 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on authorities in the central Chinese province of Henan preparing to put an influential pastor who defended his church's land rights on trial. A criminal charge sheet issued recently by a court in Henan's Nanle county accuses Protestant pastor Zhang Shaojie of "gathering a crowd to disturb public order" and committing "fraud," his lawyer Liu Weiguo told RFA's Mandarin Service.
RFA Reports on Vietnamese agents assaulting monk of banned Buddhist church
Jan. 14 – RFA Vietnamese aired story [text in English/Vietnamese] on Vietnamese plainclothes security agents assaulting a prominent monk as part of a greater crackdown on the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam following its announcement of a new executive committee. Thich Chon Tam, the newly appointed secretary general of UBCV’s Institute of the Sangha, was “intercepted and assaulted” as he was riding his motorbike in Ho Chi Minh City.
RFA Reports on Mekong panel discussing proposed Lao dam impact
Jan. 14 – RFA Lao aired story [text in English/Lao] on an international body which oversees development on the Mekong River holding a special meeting to evaluate the impact of the controversial Don Sahong dam proposed by Laos. The project has raised red flags with neighboring countries that also depend on the Mekong.
RFA Reports on detentions of herders in Inner Mongolian
Jan. 14 – RFA Cantonese and Mandarin aired story [text in English/Cantonese/Mandarin] on authorities in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia detaining five ethnic Mongolian herders who protested the takeover of their grazing lands for development and demanded local officials be democratically elected.
RFA Reports on ex-Chinese Red Guard apologizing for teacher’s death
Jan. 13 – RFA Mandarin and Cantonese aired story [text in English/Mandarin/Cantonese] on a former Mao-era Red Guard and daughter of a high-ranking People's Liberation Army (PLA) general apologizing over the killing of a teacher during the political violence of the Cultural Revolution.
RFA Reports on forcing of Uyghur women to have late-term abortions
Jan. 13 – RFA Uyghur aired story [text in English/Uyghur] on one of four Uyghur women forced into late-term abortions in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region undergoing the brutal procedure while she was ill. A fifth woman was also brought to the hospital for a forced abortion.
RFA Reports on alleged corruption of Cambodian military officials
Jan. 10 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on soldiers in Cambodia's far northwestern Banteay Meanchey province accusing their commanders of blatant corruption, nepotism, and fraud. The soldiers allege the high-ranking personnel were ripping off veterans of their pensions and running an illegal logging business using military vehicles along the border with Thailand.
RFA Reports on detentions of Tiananmen anniversary activists
Jan. 9 – RFA Mandarin and Cantonese aired story [text in English/Mandarin/Cantonese] on authorities in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou detaining five activists who began a hunger strike to mark the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square military crackdown this year, as well as a lawyer who enquired about them.
RFA Reports on sentencing of Tibetans in connection with self-immolation
Jan. 9 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on three Tibetan men being ordered jailed for up to two years on charges of involvement in self-immolation protests against Chinese rule in Gansu province. The three —Dorje Rabten, Kalsang Jinpa, and Dorje Tashi—were sentenced on Jan. 2.
RFA Reports on Vietnamese labor unrest at Samsung plant
Jan. 9 – RFA Vietnamese aired story [text in English/Vietnamese] on thousands of workers building a plant for South Korean electronics giant Samsung in northern Vietnam clashing with police and burning motorbikes in a rare outbreak of labor violence.
RFA Reports on removal of Hong Kong newspaper editor
Jan. 7 – RFA Mandarin and Cantonese aired story [text in English/Mandarin/Cantonese] on the editor of an influential Chinese newspaper in Hong Kong being removed from his post amid worries about the future of press freedom in the former British colony. Ming Pao editor-in-chief Kevin Lau will now take up a new post at the group's e-publishing and education unit.
RFA Reports on Myanmar journalists marching for media freedom
Jan. 7 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on about 200 journalists in Myanmar's capital Yangon marching to protest against what they called new threats to media freedom. The protest followed the jailing of a reporter from a newspaper which had highlighted judicial corruption.
RFA Reports on Aung San Suu Kyi disagreeing with presidential eligibility condition
Jan. 3 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi suggesting it is unfair for the country's ruling party to compel her two sons to take up Myanmar citizenship. In a proposed amendment by President Thein Sein's Union Solidarity and Development Party, that demand would be a condition for her to be eligible to run for president next year.
RFA Reports on shooting deaths of Cambodian garment workers in protest
Jan. 3 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on Cambodian police shooting and killing at least four people and wounding nearly 40 others as they broke up a strike by garment workers. The development was the first incident of deadly violence since work stoppages began at factories in December over a dispute over minimum wages.
RFA Reports on Vietnamese activists hoping to launch in-country rights organization
Jan. 3 – RFA Vietnamese aired story [text in English/Vietnamese] on a group of activists in Vietnam moving to launch a nationwide association to help address public complaints against government land grabs, police brutality, and corruption among officials.
RFA Reports on Myanmar activists calling for accountability of junta crimes
Jan. 2 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on a prominent Myanmar civil society group calling for leaders of the country’s former military junta to be held responsible for atrocities committed against political prisoners during their rule. Leaders of the 88 Generation Students Group, an organization born out of the 1988 pro-democracy movement crushed by the junta, made the call at a ceremony honoring dozens of political prisoners who died in detention over the past 25 years.
