(Washington, DC — Oct. 1, 2014) Radio Free Asia broadcast the following stories, and more, in September:
RFA Reports on Hong Kong pro-democracy demonstrations
Sept. 30 – RFA Cantonese and Mandarin aired story [text in English/Cantonese/Mandarin] on the occupation of Hong Kong by tens of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators spreading throughout the city on the eve of China's National Day anniversary. Protesters, carrying umbrellas and signs, remained undaunted despite authorities using tear gas and pepper spray to forcefully disperse crowds in previous days.
RFA Reports on Karen rebel casualties in ethnic fighting in Myanmar
Sept. 30 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on five ethnic Karen armed rebels killed in fighting with Myanmar government troops in southeastern Mon state near the border with Thailand. The fighting has raised tensions which have forced civilians to flee villages and schools to close.
RFA Reports on possible link to deaths and Chinese chemical plant’s pollution
Sept. 29 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on local residents and workers at a coal chemical plant in the southwestern Chinese province of Guizhou blaming at least four deaths on severe pollution from the plant.
RFA Reports on Tibetan villagers protesting mine
Sept. 29 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on more than 1,000 Tibetan villagers protesting against Chinese mining operations in a central county in the Tibet Autonomous Region. They claim runoff from the mines has polluted local rivers and streams, destroying fish and crops and causing health problems.
RFA Reports on protests against Cambodia-Australia refugee deal
Sept. 26 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on hundreds of Cambodian activists and villagers protesting outside the Australian Embassy in Phnom Penh against an agreement allowing Canberra to resettle refugees in their impoverished Southeast Asian nation. The deal has also been criticized by the U.N. refugee agency and human rights activists.
RFA Reports on Chinese authorities revising death toll in Xinjiang violence after report
Sept. 25 – RFA Uyghur aired story [text in English/Uyghur] on Chinese authorities revising sharply upward the death toll from recent bloodshed in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Chinese official media gave the new figures after RFA quoted local officials and eyewitnesses as saying that the death toll in the Sept. 21 bomb attacks by suspected Uyghurs in the Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture was much higher than reported by the government.
RFA Reports on Myanmar revamping human rights panel amid criticism
Sept. 25 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on Myanmar President Thein Sein reshuffling the National Human Rights Commission. The move came just as civil society groups issued a scathing report criticizing the authorities for not addressing its weaknesses under a new law that institutionalizes the body.
RFA Reports on China detaining journalist who questioned labor camp abuses
Sept. 25 – RFA Mandarin and Cantonese aired story [text in English/Mandarin/Cantonese] on authorities in the Chinese capital detaining an outspoken journalist who has criticized the abuse of detainees at the notorious Masanjia labor camp. Former Beijing News editor-in-chief Cao Baoyin was criminally detained by police in the Beijing suburb of Fengtai on suspicion of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," according to rights lawyer Zhou Ze.
RFA Reports on Internet decree in Laos banning online criticism of government
Sept. 24 – RFA Lao aired story [text in English/Lao] on a new law in Laos prohibiting online criticism of the government and the ruling communist party. The decree would be enforced with stiff penalties for netizens and Internet service providers who violate controls.
RFA Reports on sentencing of Uyghur scholar to life in prison on ‘separatism’ charges
Sept. 23 – RFA Uyghur aired story [text in English/Uyghur] on the sentencing to life in prison of prominent Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti after a court in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region convicted him for "separatism." The former Beijing-based Central University for Nationalities economics professor immediately protested when the verdict was announced by the Intermediate People's Court in Xinjiang's regional capital Urumqi.
RFA Reports on sentencing of Vietnamese farmers for protesting land grabs
Sept. 23 – RFA Vietnamese aired story [text in English/Vietnamese] on a court in Vietnam ordering seven farmers jailed for up to 22 months on charges of disturbing public order. The seven were arrested after they resisted land grabs to make way for urban development projects in their village.
RFA Reports on Hong Kong students calling for universal suffrage
Sept. 22 – RFA Cantonese and Mandarin aired story [text in English/Cantonese/Mandarin] on thousands of university students converging on the Chinese University of Hong Kong at the start of a boycott of classes in protest at Beijing's decision to limit electoral reforms.
RFA Reports on Cambodian panel probing land dispute linked to minister’s wife
Sept. 22 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on an opposition-led human rights panel of Cambodia’s parliament conducting a site investigation over a decade-long land dispute between villagers and a company belonging to the wife of Mines Minister Suy Sem. The stated aim of the probe is to achieve a settlement between the two sides.
RFA Reports on first Tibetan self immolation in five months
Sept. 21 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on a 22-year-old Tibetan student burning himself to death in front of a police station in Gansu province in protest against Chinese rule —the first Tibetan self-immolation in more than five months. Lhamo Tashi shouted slogans in front of a Kanlho Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture police station before succumbing to his burns.
RFA Reports on Cambodian garment workers’ higher wages bid getting boost from retailers
Sept. 19 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on international fashion brands, including H & M, hinting that they are prepared to pay higher prices for clothes made in the country by factoring in any increase in the minimum wage for garment workers. Cambodian garment workers launched a recent campaign seeking an increase of their monthly minimum wage to U.S. $177 from U.S. $100 effective in 2015.
RFA Reports on environmentalist urging halt to Lao dam project
Sept. 19 – RFA Lao aired story [text in English/Lao] on nearly 50 environmental groups writing to the leaders of countries along the Mekong River to urge the revamping of a regional official evaluation process for the controversial Don Sahong dam project in southern Laos. The groups claim the project poses a regional security threat for the more than 60 million people in Southeast Asia who rely on fish and other products from the Mekong for their nutrition and livelihoods.
RFA Reports on possible link to Rakhine violence and Myanmar migrant workers’ murders
Sept. 19 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on concerns over the safety of Myanmar’s 1.5 million migrant laborers in Malaysia following the grisly murders of more than 20 mostly Myanmar workers over the last 16 months. Observers believe the killings to be linked to Buddhist-Muslim violence in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state.
RFA Reports on China holding blogger, rights activist in mental hospitals
Sept. 18 – RFA Cantonese aired story [text in English/Cantonese] on a Chinese blogger and a rights activist being held in mental institutions amid fears for their well being. Authorities in the southeastern province of Fujian detained outspoken blogger Shi Genyuan at his home on June 3 and forcibly committed him to the mental health ward of the Quanzhou No. 3 Hospital.
RFA Reports on calls for Indonesia to not deport detained Uyghurs
Sept. 17 – RFA Uyghur aired story [text in English/Uyghur] on the exile World Uyghur Congress appealing to Indonesia not to send back four of China's ethnic minority Muslim Uyghurs held for suspected links with the terror group that calls itself the Islamic State. Though acknowledging possible ties among the Uyghur men to the group, WUC officials urged Indonesian authorities to conduct their own independent investigation.
RFA Reports on authorities planning to tear down churches, temple in Vietnam
Sept. 17 – RFA Vietnamese aired story [text in English/Vietnamese] on Vietnamese authorities declaring their intention to tear down a Buddhist temple and two Christian churches in southern Ho Chi Minh City. These houses of worship would be demolished to make way for a lucrative development scheme.
RFA Reports on isolation, pressure in jail failing to break Vietnamese writer
Sept. 15 – RFA Vietnamese aired story [text in English/Vietnamese] on a Vietnamese democracy activist released in failing health after serving a six-year jail term saying he had been held for long periods in isolation and repeatedly pressured by authorities to collaborate with them. The harsh methods of coercion failed to break his will, dissident writer Nguyen Xuan Nghia, 64, said.
RFA Reports on rights groups slamming impunity in Cambodia on protest death anniversary
Sept. 15 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on Cambodian rights groups calling on Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government to end what they call the country’s culture of impunity, one year after a Cambodian man was shot dead when police opened fire on opposition-led protests in the capital Phnom Penh. No one has been charged or convicted over the killing.
RFA Reports on dozens of detentions in Guangdong waste plant protest
Sept. 15 – RFA Cantonese and Mandarin aired story [text in English/Cantonese/Mandarin] on authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong calling on the organizers of a mass protest against a planned garbage incinerator to "turn themselves in," amid widespread public anger after more than 20 protesters were detained.
RFA Reports on Myanmar teachers backing students’ opposition to draft law
Sept. 15 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on a key group representing Myanmar teachers joining students in opposing a proposed law aimed at revamping the country's education system. The planned National Education Law has sparked heated demonstrations by universities in Mandalay, Sagaing, and Yangon regions, which say that a commission to be established under the legislation would control the entire education sector.
RFA Reports on Chinese police detaining sister of U.S.-based Uyghur activist.
Sept. 12 – RFA Uyghur aired story [text in English/Uyghur] on a U.S.-based Uyghur activist saying authorities in his native northwest China have detained his sister and harassed other family members. Ilshat Hesen, vice president of the Uyghur American Association, claims these actions are in retaliation for his campaign to protect the rights of the Uyghur ethnic minority group.
RFA Reports on Chinese LGBT groups calling for equal treatment in schools, colleges
Sept. 11 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on dozens of grassroots Chinese rights activists writing to the country's major educational institutions calling for equal treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students. The activists, drawn from three major LGBT rights groups, called in an open letter for "corrections" to be made to teaching materials that might prompt discrimination, as well as for classes in gender diversity.
RFA Reports on wife of Chinese rights lawyer calling for U.S. to put pressure on Beijing
Sept. 11 – RFA Mandarin and Cantonese aired story [text in English/Mandarin/Cantonese] on the wife of a prominent Chinese rights lawyer just released from prison renewing her call for the United States to step up diplomatic pressure on Beijing to allow him to join his family in California. Geng He, wife of Gao Zhisheng, wants to be reunited with her husband and for him to seek medical treatment after years of neglect, torture, and solitary confinement.
RFA Reports on Cambodians protesting Lao Mekong dam
Sept. 11 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on a group of Cambodians staging a protest on boats and calling on neighboring Laos to halt the construction of the controversial Don Sahong dam on the Mekong River. The demonstrators say the project would destroy fisheries central to the food security of millions of people and harm endangered dolphins in the river.
RFA Reports on Myanmar speaker setting charter reform as legislative priority
Sept. 11 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on Myanmar parliamentary speaker Shwe Mann stressing the urgency of considering constitutional amendments as the country’s legislature began a new session. He said that among issues to be debated in the current session is the electoral system to be used in general elections in 2015.
RFA Reports on Tibetan ex-prisoner describing harsh treatment behind bars
Sept. 10 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on Tibetan political prisoners in a notorious prison in China’s Sichuan province being forced to work long hours, isolated from each other, and assaulted by Han Chinese guards. A former inmate detailed the harsh conditions behind bars for him and other jailed Tibetans after escaping into exile in India.
RFA Reports on detentions in labor unrest at Guangdong tech factory
Sept. 9 – RFA Cantonese and Mandarin aired story [text in English/Cantonese/Mandarin] on authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong detaining at least 11 people following clashes with hundreds of striking workers at a Taiwan-invested Apple supplier and LCD screen-maker. Thousands of workers at Wintak LCD Co. in the manufacturing hub of Dongguan learned that factory managers had cut their expected holiday bonus and their allowance of traditional mooncakes.
RFA Reports on Myanmar group pushing transparency on Chinese projects
Sept. 9 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on Myanmar’s 88 Generation Students Group holding talks with visiting officials of the Chinese Communist Party. They are calling on the delegation to be transparent over Beijing’s huge investments in Myanmar, which have come under criticism for environmental and other concerns.
RFA Reports on Myanmar canceling by-elections to put focus on 2015 polls
Sept. 8 – RFA Myanmar aired story [text in English/Myanmar] on Myanmar’s election commission scrapping by-elections scheduled for November to enable political parties to concentrate on the crucial 2015 general elections. The move was welcomed by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party.
RFA Reports on deadly crash in North Korea prompting women’s morality campaign
Sept. 8 – RFA Korean aired story [text in English/Korean] on a deadly motorcycle accident involving drunken female college students in North Korea’s capital Pyongyang prompting a government campaign to promote “woman’s morality.” Propaganda material circulated from mid-August has warned of the need to battle against women’s involvement with “alcohol, tobacco, gambling, drugs, and prostitution,” a source in North Korea told RFA.
RFA Reports on jailing of Chinese father over school protest
Sept. 5 – RFA Mandarin and Cantonese aired story [text in English/Mandarin/Cantonese] on authorities in the eastern Chinese province of Anhui handing a three-and-a-half-year jail term to a prominent dissident over a protest against his daughter's removal from school because of his activism. Zhang Lin, a veteran member of the banned opposition China Democracy Party (CDP), was sentenced for "gathering a crowd to disrupt public order" at a demonstration in April 2013, at which dozens of people protested against an elementary school for preventing his 10-year-old daughter Zhang Anni from attending class.
RFA Reports on detentions of Chinese journalists over graft
Sept. 4 – RFA Mandarin and Cantonese aired story [text in English/Mandarin/Cantonese] on Chinese authorities in Shanghai and Shenzhen detaining eight people linked to a major news website and two public relations firms after accusing them of extortion. Chinese journalists and publications are increasingly relying on "compensated news" to boost their income, which sometimes includes payments for not publishing negative news.
RFA Reports on Cambodia NGOs calling for term limits for leader
Sept. 3 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on a group of nongovernmental organizations calling on Cambodia’s ruling and opposition parties to support limiting the position of prime minister to two terms in office. Koul Panha, director of election watchdog Comfrel, said that it was time to impose the limit on the country’s most senior political position, which has been held by 61-year-old Prime Minister Hun Sen since 1985.
RFA Reports on detentions of Tibetans for taking photos of Kardze protest
Sept. 3 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on Chinese authorities detaining two Tibetan villagers who took photos of a protest in Sichuan in August. During the protest, police fired on the crowd, seriously wounding nearly a dozen people of whom four later died of untreated wounds, with another committing suicide.
RFA Reports on Vietnamese netizens launching ‘right to know’campaign
Sept. 2 – RFA Vietnamese aired story [text in English/Vietnamese] on bloggers across Vietnam launching an online campaign that demands transparency on Vietnamese foreign policy, especially with regard to relations with China. Vietnamese activists have become increasingly vocal over what they call China’s aggression in the disputed South China Sea.
