(Washington, DC — July 1, 2011) Radio Free Asia broadcast the following stories, and more, in June:
RFA Reports on detentions before Chinese Communist Party anniversary
June 30 – RFA Cantonese and Mandarin aired story [text in English/Cantonese/Mandarin] on China stepping up security in Beijing and Tibet ahead of the July 1 commemoration of the ruling Communist Party’s 90th anniversary.
RFA Reports on heightened security presence at Tibetan Kirti monastery
June 26 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on the heightened presence of Chinese security forces at a Tibetan monastery in southwestern China’s Sichuan province. For more than three months, the Kirti monastery has been under siege by security personnel since a young monk set himself ablaze and died in a protest against Chinese rule.
RFA Reports on twin bomb blasts in Burmese cities
June 24 – RFA Burmese aired story [text in English/Burmese] on simultaneous bomb blasts going off in two Burmese cities, leaving possibly two dead and several others injured. The explosions rattled market areas in Burma’s cultural center of Mandalay and capital of Naypyidaw around noon on June 24.
RFA Reports on Ai Weiwei’s release calling attention to crackdown
June 23 – RFA Mandarin and Cantonese aired story [text in English/Mandarin/Cantonese] on Chinese rights activists welcoming the release of prominent Chinese artist and social critic Ai Weiwei after 80 days of detention. The manner of his detention was arbitrary and part of a broader campaign to silence dissent, rights activists argue.
RFA Reports on concerns over Chinese mining in Cambodia
June 22 – RFA Khmer aired story [English/Khmer] on ethnic minority villagers in eastern Cambodia protesting over the operations of a Chinese mining company they say intruded on their ancestral lands while exploring for bauxite deposits.
RFA Reports on Chinese detention of ex-village chief after protest
June 22 – RFA Cantonese aired story [text in English/Cantonese] on authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong detaining a former elected village chief after he called online for local officials to make their accounts public.
RFA Reports on new domains’ potential to subvert China’s online censorship
June 21 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on the likelihood of a new law expanding the number of domains available on the Internet. This would allow Chinese Web users to bypass the country’s sophisticated system of online censorship known as the Great Firewall.
RFA Reports on opium cultivation in North Korea
June 21 – RFA Korean aired story [text in English/Korean] on opium poppy farming in North Korea flourishing even as the nuclear-armed state begs for food aid amid reports of crop failures.
RFA Reports on disappearance of Chinese scholar amid election bid
June 21 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on suspicions of authorities in China’s central Hubei province holding constitutional law scholar Yao Lifa amid gathering momentum for an online campaign to field independent candidates for local parliamentary elections. Yao, who successfully ran as an independent candidate for the local congress in the late 1990s, has not been in contact with friends or family since June 20.
RFA Reports on brief detention of wife of jailed Chinese AIDS activist
June 20 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on the wife of prominent jailed Chinese rights activist Hu Jia saying on June 20 via Twitter that she had been detained at a Beijing airport. Zeng Jinyan, herself an award-winning AIDS activist, said she was held by eight people after landing in Beijing ahead of Hu’s scheduled release on June 26.
RFA Reports on Vietnamese anti-China protests growing
June 19 – RFA Vietnamese aired story [text in English/Vietnamese] on anti-China demonstrations in Vietnam intensifying as several leading activists joined in on June 19 to defend Hanoi’s claims to disputed territory in the South China Sea.
RFA Reports on thousands fleeing from Burmese ethnic fighting
June 16 – RFA Burmese aired story [text in English/Burmese] on thousands of people leaving their homes and villages to avoid deadly clashes between Burmese government troops and rebel fighters in the Kachin region north of the country near the Chinese border. Rebel sources describe the situation as all-out civil war.
RFA Reports on escalation of Tibetan protests in Kardze
June 16 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on protests against Chinese rule escalating in a Tibetan-majority region of southwestern China with demonstrators braving beatings and detentions. Chinese authorities also bolstered security amid the growing protests by local Tibetans in the Kardze prefecture of China’s Sichuan province.
RFA Reports on security clampdown in Chinese town of Taizhou
June 16 – RFA Cantonese and Mandarin aired story [text in English/Cantonese/Mandarin] on authorities in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang mobilizing security forces to quell unrest. Local villagers gathered to protest a gas station built on their farmland.
RFA Reports on allegations of false evidence in Uyghur deportation
June 15 – RFA Uyghur aired story [text in English/Uyghur] on claims about the falsification of documents used by Kazakhstan as grounds to deport an ethnic Uyghur to China. Ershidin Israil, a 38-year-old former geography teacher, was initially given refugee status by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and accepted for resettlement by Sweden.
RFA Reports on Burmese trafficking victims freed
June 14 – RFA Burmese aired story [text in English/Burmese] on Thai authorities breaking up a human trafficking syndicate and rescuing about half of 100 Burmese nationals smuggled into the Thai capital Bangkok. The victims, including toddlers, were at times heaped on top of each other inside crammed vehicles for a two-day journey from the Thai-Burmese border town of Mae Sot.
RFA Reports on Guangdong riots highlighting China migrant issues
June 14 – RFA Cantonese and Mandarin aired story [text in English/Cantonese/Mandarin] on recent riots by migrant workers in a Guangdong factory town, highlighting social inequalities between rural and urban Chinese. Chinese authorities have detained several hundred protesters following three days of bloody riots triggered by a street dispute involving a married couple.
RFA Reports on U.S. interception of North Korean ship
June 13 – RFA Korean aired story [text in English/Korean] on the U.S. interception of a North Korean ship suspected of carrying missile components or other weapons to Burma. U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner, confirming reports of the incident during a press briefing, said the action to stop the shipment was taken after close consultations with Asian nations aimed at checking any weapons-proliferation activities by nuclear-armed North Korea.
RFA Reports on Khmer Rouge Tribunal resignations
June12 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on the resignations of key staff of Cambodia’s U.N.-backed war crimes court. Their exit comes amid concerns that court officials are succumbing to government pressure to dismiss new Khmer Rouge cases. The move is expected to deal a setback to the international genocide tribunal established to try ex-Khmer Rouge leaders allegedly involved in crimes against humanity.
RFA Reports on Lao dam plans moving forward
June 10 – RFA Lao aired story [text in English/Lao] on Laos conducting a new environmental study to determine the impact of a controversial dam project on the water levels and wildlife of the Mekong River. The director general of the Lao Energy and Mining Ministry said that construction will begin on the U.S. $3.5 billion Xayaburi dam if the study predicts little effect on the river’s ecology.
RFA Reports on China’s ban on travel to Tibet
June 10 – RFA Tibetan and Mandarin aired story [text in English/Tibetan/Mandarin] on Chinese authorities blocking foreign travel to Tibet ahead of politically sensitive anniversaries through July. Travel agencies in the Tibetan capital Lhasa and in China’s southwestern province of Sichuan cited government instructions to restrict travel into Tibet only to Chinese citizens. The instruction came ahead of events organized by Beijing to mark the 60th anniversary of the “liberation” of Tibet by China and the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party’s founding.
RFA Reports on U.S. pushing North Korea on human rights
June 7 – RFA Korean aired story [text in English/Korean] on plans for the United States to push North Korea on improving its human rights record, including reuniting families divided by the Korean War. The announced objectives came after the first visit of the American special envoy on human rights to Pyongyang.
RFA Reports on call for more rallies in China
June 6 – RFA Mandarin and Cantonese aired story [text in English/Mandarin/Cantonese] on Hong Kong activists vowing to spearhead China’s pro-democracy movement amid a nationwide clampdown close to the anniversary of the June 4, 1989, Tiananmen Square crackdown. Chinese authorities tightened security and detained large numbers of political and human rights activists ahead of the anniversary, which was marked by huge crowds attending candlelight vigils in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
RFA Reports on document saying Inner Mongolia in a ‘war-like state’
June 5 – RFA Mandarin and Cantonese aired story [text in English/Mandarin/Cantonese] on Chinese authorities in the northern region of Inner Mongolia describing the situation there as “war-like” following a huge influx of troops into the region and a security lock-in at schools, universities, and government institutions. The revelations came from a leaked official document, which was issued by the regional committee of the ruling Communist Party.
RFA Reports on June 4 events blocked in China
June 2 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on Chinese authorities clamping down on rights activists trying to hold public memorials for the victims of the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen military crackdown. A group of around 200 petitioners in Shanghai were dispersed by police after they tried to hold a memorial event in one of the city’s parks
