(Washington, DC — July 1, 2014) Radio Free Asia broadcast the following stories, and more, in June:
RFA Reports on millions signing petition against military veto in Myanmar
June 30 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on an opposition-backed petition urging the removal of a military veto over constitutional change in Myanmar gathering more than three million signatures. The campaign, which runs until July 19, has brought in signatures from throughout the country covering seven states and seven regions.
RFA Reports on detentions in Fujian after PX plant mass protest
June 30 – RFA Mandarin and Cantonese aired story [text in English/Mandarin/Cantonese] on authorities in the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian holding nearly 30 people following clashes with angry local residents who blockaded a chemical plant accused of causing severe pollution near Zhangzhou city. The clashes came after riot police moved in to disperse thousands who had been sitting in outside the paraxylene (PX) plant for several days.
RFA Reports on authorities detaining thousands in Beijing ahead of party anniversary
June 27 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on Chinese authorities detaining thousands of petitioners who defied a ban to seek government redress in Beijing ahead of the July 1 anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party. The central government banned citizens from bypassing local authorities to file petitions in Beijing in its latest effort to “bring order” to the chaotic petitioning system.
RFA Reports on concerns over jailed Uyghur scholar’s health
June 27 – RFA Uyghur aired story [text in English/Uyghur] on the wife of detained ethnic minority Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti expressing concerns over his health after it was revealed he had gone on a hunger strike. Uyghur rights groups called the conditions of Tohti’s imprisonment a human rights violation and demanded he be given access to proper medical treatment.
RFA Reports on Laos agreeing to consult with neighbors on dam project
June 26 – RFA Lao aired story [text in English/Lao] on Laos announcing it will submit its proposed Don Sahong dam on the Mekong River for "prior consultation" within a regional mechanism but will not suspend development of the controversial project. Critics, including neighboring countries and environmentalists, have alleged the project will be detrimental to the Mekong’s health.
RFA Reports on rejection of Vietnamese blogger’s sentencing appeal
June 26 – RFA Vietnamese aired story [text in English/Vietnamese] on an appeals court upholding a two-year sentence imposed on a popular blogger. Truong Duy Nhat, 50, was found guilty on March 4 of “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state” at a half-day trial in central Vietnam’s Danang city and was sentenced under Article 258 of the penal code, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.
RFA Reports on Cambodian government flouting international torture ban
June 25 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on Cambodians continuing to suffer torture and other forms of ill-treatment in police stations and prisons despite the country’s commitment to international treaties banning such practices. The findings come in a study by local rights group Licadho, adding to calls on Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government to pass legislation outlawing acts of torture and ill-treatment.
RFA Reports on tensions in Hong Kong after cyber-attacks traced to mainland
June 25 – RFA Cantonese and Mandarin aired story [text in English/Cantonese/Mandarin] on political tensions in Hong Kong amid a debate over full democracy and continued judicial independence in the former British colony. Tensions escalated following a series of attacks in Chinese state media on an unofficial referendum on the democratic process, a massive cyber-attack on the poll's website, and a controversial white paper asserting Beijing's ultimate authority over the territory, which was promised "a high degree of autonomy" under the terms of its 1997 handover.
RFA Reports on deadly measles outbreak in North Korea
June 25 – RFA Korean aired story [text in English/Korean] on a deadly measles outbreak in a North Korean province bordering China. The outbreak, which has left at least three children dead, is believed to be the worst attack of the highly contagious disease in seven years.
RFA Reports on China’s clampdown on Christian places of worship
June 24 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on authorities in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang stepping up a clampdown on Christian places of worship. Groups received notification that crosses must be taken down from buildings.
RFA Reports on Myanmar police querying newspaper editors
June 23 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on Myanmar’s police intelligence unit summoning editors of news publications to inquire about their internal operations, including financial records. Despite government claims that the investigation is routine, many question officials’ motives.
RFA Reports on Chinese border shops selling cheap cell phones to North Koreans
June 23 – RFA Korean aired story [text in English/Korean] on shops springing up in Chinese cities bordering North Korea that specialize in cheap cell phones. These devices operate on the restricted telecommunications network of the impoverished one-party state, where handset costs are well beyond the reach of average citizens.
RFA Reports on killing of five police officers in Xinjiang attack
June 22 – RFA Uyghur aired story [text in English/Uyghur] on the deaths of five police officers in a predawn attack on a security checkpoint in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The attack came after government officials harassed ethnic minority Muslim women wearing headscarves and men with beards.
RFA Reports on Freedom Park in Phnom Penh remaining closed
June 20 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on the Cambodian government refusing to reopen Freedom Park, which has been kept off limits to political gatherings most of this year. The ban will continue, an official said, until protesters learn to “obey the law.”
RFA Reports on imprisonment of Uyghur language rights activist
June 20 – RFA Uyghur aired story [text in English/Uyghur] on a Uyghur language rights activist, whose whereabouts had been unknown since his detention nearly a year ago, being thrown into a prison notorious for abuses against political activists. Abduweli Ayup was formally charged with soliciting “illegal” donations to run his kindergarten.
RFA Reports on Hong Kong media tycoon alleging Beijing behind cyber-attacks
June 18 – RFA Mandarin and Cantonese aired story [text in English/Mandarin/Cantonese] on the head of a cutting-edge Hong Kong media empire blaming the ruling Chinese Communist Party for a cyber-attack on one of his newspapers. The websites of the Apple Daily in Hong Kong and Taiwan were inaccessible after a series of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, Next Media chairman Jimmy Lai said.
RFA Reports on detentions of scores of Tibetans over mine protest
June 18 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on authorities in northwest China’s Qinghai province detaining 27 Tibetans for opposing Chinese mining operations. The projects ran beyond the expiration of a leasing contract and began to encroach on sacred Tibetan Buddhist sites.
RFA Reports on China sending official to Vietnam over oil rig dispute
June 17 – RFA Vietnamese aired story [text in English/Vietnamese] on China’s top diplomat traveling to Vietnam to begin resolving a dispute over Beijing’s deployment of a controversial oil rig in the South China Sea. The arrival in Hanoi of Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi, who outranks the foreign minister, represents the highest level bilateral contact since a Chinese state-run oil company deployed the rig to Vietnam’s coast on May 2, sparking tensions.
RFA Reports on Cambodia and Thailand setting up hotline over migrant deportations
June 17 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on Cambodia and Thailand seeking to downplay reports of a crackdown on illegal Cambodian workers by Bangkok’s new military junta. The two governments agreed to establish a hotline to communicate on labor issues affecting the two neighboring countries as the number of returning migrant workers hit 200,000 within one month.
RFA Reports on Myanmar delegation pressing China on controversial projects
June 16 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on leaders from the ruling party in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, where a controversial China-backed pipeline project has prompted demonstrations by villagers, visiting China to raise concerns over Beijing-backed development in their home region. The delegation told RFA they would urge Beijing’s ruling Chinese Communist Party to rein in Chinese developers operating in Rakhine state during the trip.
RFA Reports on rights groups slamming Thai junta deportations of Cambodian workers
June 13 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on a coalition of rights groups raising concerns over the decision by Thailand’s military junta to deport Cambodian workers en masse. The groups also demanded an investigation into claims that up to nine migrants were killed by the Thai armed forces during the campaign to repatriate them.
RFA Reports on unlikelihood of jailed Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo’s early release
June 13 – RFA Cantonese aired story [text in English/Cantonese] on jailed Chinese Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo’s lawyer saying he is unlikely to be granted parole when his sentence comes up for review later this year. Liu, who was jailed in 2009 for 11 years for "incitement to subvert state power," had already been in custody for a year before his trial, so his half-term review will fall this year, his lawyer Mo Shaoping told RFA.
RFA Reports on Tibetan monk receiving hero’s welcome upon release
June 13 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on the release of a Tibetan monk jailed for five years for opposing Chinese rule in Tibetan areas. Upon his release, Gangbu Yubum received a hero’s welcome at his home village in western China’s Sichuan province though the reception was cut back on orders from the authorities.
RFA Reports on China deporting North Koreans forced into sex work
June 12 – RFA Korean aired story [text in English/Korean] on the forced repatriation of a group of female North Korean workers from China. The deportations came after it was learned that they had been asked to work as prostitutes by their overseer while officially hired at a food factory.
RFA Reports on China barring Tibetans from attending major religious ceremony
June 11 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on government employees in a Tibetan prefecture of northwestern China’s Gansu province being barred from participating in a major Buddhist religious ceremony amid heavy security. The ancient Kalachakra ceremony, conducted by the well-respected monk Setsang Lobsang Palden Rinpoche, is being held in Tsoe city in the Kanlho Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.
RFA Reports on doubts about effectiveness of Chinese anti-pollution app
June 11 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on possible shortcomings of a recently launched smartphone app in China that aims to track air pollution from mainland factories in real time. Authorities intending to cover up pollution could easily misreport findings.
RFA Reports on Myanmar officials raiding Buddhist monastery
June 11 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on authorities in Myanmar raiding a monastery involved in a longstanding ownership dispute between its well-known abbot and the country’s highest office of Buddhist clergy. Officials from Myanmar’s Ministry of Religious Affairs, accompanied by around 300 riot police, took control of the disputed Mahasantisukha monastery in Yangon’s Tamwe township while Abbot Pyinya Wuntha was visiting Japan.
RFA Reports on Cambodian leader agreeing to revamp electoral body, grant opposition TV license
June 10 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen saying he would fulfill opposition demands to revamp the country’s tainted electoral body and grant a license to set up their own television station. The announcement came days after rumors circulated that the leader was ill and had suffered a massive stroke.
RFA Reports on Myanmar stalling on complete amnesty for political prisoners
June 10 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on a Myanmar government-led panel dragging its feet on granting amnesty for political prisoners. Nearly 60 of them remain behind bars despite President Thein Sein’s pledge to release all political detainees by the end of last year.
RFA Reports on allegations of Myanmar security torturing Kachin civilians
June 9 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on Myanmar’s security forces “systematically” torturing Kachin civilians in the country’s war-torn Kachin and northern Shan states. A report by a human rights group states that military and police frequently subject Kachin civilians to torture, including tying rope or wire around their necks, hands, and feet; severe beatings; and mock executions during interrogation sessions.
RFA Reports on Shan rebels’ call for repeal of Myanmar’s unlawful association law
June 6 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on a powerful ethnic Shan rebel group in Myanmar calling for the repeal of a law used to detain a regional politician linked with the group in the midst of nationwide cease-fire talks. The call followed the month-long detention of Sai Jan, a village representative for the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), who was charged under a provision of the 1908 Unlawful Association Act.
RFA Reports on massive online censorship effort on Tiananmen anniversary
June 5 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on China extending a massive censorship operation to target popular social media sites, banning keyword searches linked to the 1989 Tiananmen Square military crackdown 25 years ago and a mass vigil in Hong Kong's Victoria Park. Keywords like "June 4, 1989" and "6.4" are often blocked for China's 620 million Internet users, who now find ever more ingenious ways to evade censorship.
RFA Reports on Myanmar military pushing for inclusive cease-fire agreement
June 4 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on Myanmar’s military chief wanting all armed ethnic groups to join a proposed nationwide cease-fire agreement. Seventeen ethnic armed groups are currently involved in peace talks with the government, which have dragged on for months following various demands pushed by some of the groups, including their role in a federal army.
RFA Reports on Beijing targeting students, artists, and activists on Tiananmen anniversary
June 3 – RFA Mandarin and Cantonese aired story [text in English/Mandarin/Cantonese] on Chinese authorities keeping a close watch on artists, writers, college students and other activists ahead of the 25th anniversary of the military crackdown on the 1989 pro-democracy movement at Tiananmen Square. China's leadership has ignored growing calls for a public reappraisal of the 1989 student protests, which the party once styled a "counterrevolutionary rebellion."
