(Washington, DC — Nov. 1, 2012) Radio Free Asia broadcast the following stories, and more, in October:
Beijing cracks down on dissent ahead of CCP’s 18th Party Congress
RFA Reports on crackdown ahead of CCP’s 18th Party Congress
Oct. 31 – RFA Cantonese and Mandarin aired story [text in English/Cantonese/Mandarin] on Chinese authorities banning the sale of knives in Beijing, sending rights activists to labor camps, and forcing lawyers and dissidents to leave their homes ahead of the 18th ruling Chinese Communist Party Congress. Beijing-based lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan, who was ordered back to his ancestral hometown in the eastern province of Jiangxi, described the controls as "ridiculous."
RFA Reports on Cambodian villagers filing U.S. complaint
Oct. 31 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on more than 200 families in southwest Cambodia calling on Washington to intervene in a long-running dispute with a Cambodian-linked consortium. The villagers say it did not compensate them adequately for land acquired for the production of sugar, which is being exported exclusively to the United States.
RFA Reports on jailing of two Vietnamese musicians
Oct. 30 – RFA Vietnamese aired story [text in English/Vietnamese] on a court in Vietnam sending two prominent musicians to prison for writing politically sensitive songs. The move drew criticism from rights groups who saw the decision as part of a growing crackdown on dissent, which is not tolerated in the one-party communist state.
RFA Reports on mass protests against planned Chinese chemical plant
Oct. 29 – RFA Mandarin and Cantonese aired story [text in English/Mandarin/Cantonese] on protests against a planned petrochemical plant in the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo, despite local officials’ pledges to halt the project. Tens of thousands of city residents took to the streets, sparking clashes with police as the week-long environmental protest against the plant, owned by downstream petrochemical giant Sinopec, reached its peak.
RFA Reports on Tibetan cousins self-immolating
Oct. 27 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on two Tibetan cousins setting themselves ablaze in a central Tibetan county in the deadliest week of self-immolation protests against Chinese rule. Tsepo, 20, died while Tenzin, 25, was taken away by security forces after they self-immolated in front of a school in Nagchu prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region.
RFA Reports on rising Rakhine death toll in Burma
Oct. 26 – RFA Burmese aired story [text in English/Burmese] on the rising death toll in renewed clashes between Muslims and Buddhists in Burma’s Rakhine state. The announcement that 64 had died and scores wounded within less than a week prompted warnings from the international community.
RFA Reports on China blocking Times’ Wen Jaibo wealth story online
Oct. 26 – RFA Cantonese and Mandarin aired story [text in English/Cantonese/Mandarin] on China responding to an article in The New York Times detailing billions of dollars in business wealth linked to outgoing premier Wen Jiabao. The article was swiftly placed outside the system of blocks, filters and human censorship known as the Great Firewall.
RFA Reports on Chinese netizen exposing police chief scandal
Oct. 25 – RFA Cantonese aired story [text in English/Cantonese] on the chief of police in the northern Chinese city of Taiyuan coming under fire amid allegations by a whistle-blowing blogger that his son beat up a traffic cop in front of onlookers. The blogger also alleges that local authorities have stopped the news from getting out.
RFA Reports on Chen accusing Chinese authorities of holding nephew ‘hostage’
Oct. 25 – RFA Mandarin and Cantonese aired story [text in English/Mandarin/Cantonese] on U.S.-based Chinese legal activist Chen Guangcheng alleging Beijing authorities arrested his relative to discourage him from criticizing China’s human rights record. In an interview with RFA, Chen said despite a reduction in charges against his nephew the authorities’ inquiry is not based on seeking justice, but revenge.
RFA Reports on authorities offering rewards for Tibetan burning tip-offs
Oct. 24 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on Chinese authorities in a restive Tibetan region offering rewards for information on the “planning and instigation” of self-immolation protests. Notices, dated Oct. 21 and written in Tibetan and Chinese, have been posted in the Kanlho prefecture of China’s northwestern Gansu province, asking residents to assist police in preventing self-immolations.
RFA Reports on concerns for Chinese AIDS activist’s health
Oct. 24 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on authorities in Beijing holding prominent AIDS/HIV activist Hu Jia under house arrest ahead of the 18th Congress of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. Hu, who has hepatitis B, said doctors were concerned with his deteriorating health.
RFA Reports on Cambodia’s free press decline
Oct. 24 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on the continued erosion of freedom of the press in Cambodia. Human and media rights groups cite increasing deadly threats against reporters exposing government corruption and other activities, especially related to illegal logging.
RFA Reports on ethnic violence spreading in Burma
Oct. 23 – RFA Burmese aired story [text in English/Burmese] on the destruction of hundreds of homes by fire in western Burma’s Rakhine state as violence between Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine Buddhists spread. “A total of 660 houses were burned down,” Rakhine state attorney general Hla Thein told RFA’s Burmese service.
RFA Reports on abrupt end of investigation into Cambodian activist’s death
Oct. 22 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on a Cambodian court convicting a logging company’s security chief for the killing of a military officer accused of murdering prominent local environmentalist Chut Wutty. The court decision marks the end of the official inquiry into the death of the activist, who was gunned down while investigating illegal logging in southern Cambodia's Koh Kong province on April 26.
RFA Reports on Tibetan self-immolation at key monastery
Oct. 22 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on a Tibetan man burning himself to death at a monastery renowned for its resistance to Chinese rule in Gansu province. “When the self-immolation took place, the Tibetans were circumambulating the monastery. They attempted to take him to hospital but the fire was so intense that they could not save him," one source told RFA's Tibetan service.
RFA Reports on punishment of Tibetan monks after protests
Oct. 19 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on more than 70 monks being disrobed and others beaten at a Tibetan monastery as punishment for actions challenging Chinese rule. The crackdown, at the Boeyag monastery in the Tibet Autonomous Region's Chamdo county, has been under way since two monks were detained in March for leading prayers for Tibetans who have burned themselves to death in protests.
RFA Reports on cyber attack of Chinese rights site
Oct. 19 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on the hacking of a rights website based in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan. Tianwang, which was founded by prominent rights activist Huang Qi, began as a resource for relatives of those killed or injured in the military crackdown on the 1989 pro-democracy movement. It now provides detailed, online coverage of ordinary Chinese who seek to defend their rights in the face of official abuses of power.
RFA Reports on Uyghurs deeming Beijing appointee ‘powerless’
Oct. 19 – RFA Uyghur aired story [text in English/Uyghur] on Uyghurs in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region increasingly questioning the effectiveness of appointed Xinjiang governor Nur Bekri. The chairman is now being commonly referred to as “Nol Bekri,” a play on his name which means “Zero Bekri” in the Uyghur language, because of his inability to lead.
RFA Reports on controversial mining project proceeding in Burma
Oct. 18 – RFA Burmese aired story [text in English/Burmese] on a controversial Chinese-backed copper mine in northwestern Burma proceeding despite a growing national outcry over the project.
RFA Reports on second proposed Mekong dam project in Laos
Oct. 18 – RFA Lao aired story [text in English/Lao] on developers of a second dam proposed on the Mekong River in Laos completing the design and impact assessment for the project. The Pak Beng dam, which if approved would be located north of Luang Prabang in northwestern Laos’ Oudomxay province, was designed by Chinese developer Datang Overseas Investment Co., Ltd.
RFA Reports on petitioner sent to Chinese mental institution
Oct. 17 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on a petitioner from the eastern province of Zhejiang being sent to a mental hospital after she traveled to Beijing to complain about her local government. Shen Zhihua, a petitioner from Anji county, told RFA's Mandarin service that she was taken away by officials to the Huzhou No. 3 Hospital, where she received psychiatric treatment.
RFA Reports on North Korean crackdown on illegal mobiles
Oct. 17 – RFA Korean aired story [text in English/Korean] on North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un launching an unprecedented multi-agency campaign to crack down on illegal cell phones along the country’s border with China. The move is aimed at closing off one of the few connections to the outside world from isolated North Korea, which maintains its own domestic cell phone network that does not allow international calls or provide Internet access.
RFA Reports on Cambodia mourning former king
Oct. 17 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on crowds of mourners lining the streets of Phnom Penh to pay their respects as the body of Cambodia’s former King Norodom Sihanouk was flown home from China. Opinions of his legacy differ sharply among Cambodians.
RFA Reports on China pressure for casinos in Laos
Oct. 15 – RFA Lao aired story [text in English/Lao] on a senior Thai official accusing Laos of bowing to pressure from China by allowing casinos in the country. Laos’s casino boom has been fed mostly by Chinese investors who have pressured Lao authorities into approving the gambling establishments, a Thai official told RFA’s Lao service.
RFA Reports on self-immolation of Tibetan Buddhist figure’s grandfather
Oct. 13 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on the grandfather of a revered Tibetan Buddhist figure setting himself on fire in protest against Chinese rule. Tamdin Dorjee, who left behind a wife and three grown children, was the grandfather of the 7th Gungthang Rinpoche, one of the most important religious leaders in Gansu province and the larger region.
RFA Reports on Chinese Nobel winner calling for Liu’s release
Oct. 12 – RFA Cantonese and Mandarin aired story [text in English/Cantonese/Mandarin] on Mo Yan, winner of this year's Nobel Prize for Literature, expressing the hope that jailed 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo will be released "very soon." Mo's award had previously met with a dismissive reaction from rights activists and dissident writers, while his achievement was widely lauded by the official media, which is closely controlled by the ruling Chinese Communist Party.
RFA Reports on enlisted labor for North Korea monument construction
Oct. 12 – RFA Korean aired story [text in English/Korean] on authorities in North Korea mobilizing the residents of a city in North Hamgyong province, including elementary students and the elderly, to construct monuments in honor of the country’s leaders. All inhabitants of Hoeryong have been mobilized to build the structures, which include a “student palace for idolization” and several statues and murals, a source in the city told RFA’s Korean service.
RFA Reports on Uyghur suicide attack on Chinese National Day
Oct. 12 – RFA Uyghur aired story [text in English/Uyghur] on a Uyghur man killing an undetermined number of people after driving his motorcycle into the wall of a border guard base in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in a suicide attack on Chinese National Day. Domestic media have silenced news of the incident because of the political sensitivity of an attack occurring on the national holiday.
RFA Reports on Hanoi demonstration against land grab
Oct. 9 – RFA Vietnamese aired story [text in English/Vietnamese] on hundreds of residents of a district on the edge of Vietnam’s capital demonstrating in front of a government building in downtown Hanoi. The crowd demanded the return of land they say was illegally confiscated from them to develop a controversial satellite city.
RFA Reports on Aung San Suu Kyi’s willingness to be Burma’s president
Oct. 8 – RFA Burmese aired story [text in English/Burmese] on Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi declaring her willingness to lead the country as president. Speaking at a press conference held by her National League for Democracy (NLD) party, she said it is her duty to serve as president of Burma, which is scheduled to hold its next general elections in 2015.
RFA Reports on Burma’s revenue-sharing plan for ethnic states
Oct. 2 – RFA Burmese aired story [text in English/Burmese] on the Burmese parliament amending the country’s constitution to enable the central government to share revenue from Burma’s natural resources with ethnic states. “It is our dream, the president’s and ours, to transfer the power to [the ethnic nationalities] to govern their regions,” senior minister Soe Thein told RFA’s Burmese service.
RFA Reports on harsh sentencing of Cambodian alternative radio chief
Oct. 1 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on the sentencing of dissident Cambodian radio station chief Mam Sonando to 20 years in prison for allegedly masterminding a secessionist plot. Human Rights Watch said the ruling was the worst decision by a Cambodian court in two decades and that the charges against the 71-year-old Mam Sonando were intended as political retaliation by Prime Minister Hun Sen for allowing critical views of the government on his independent radio station.
