(Washington, DC — Sept. 1, 2010) Radio Free Asia broadcast the following stories, and more, in September:
RFA Reports on Tibetans blocking Chinese project near sacred site
Sept. 30 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on Tibetans challenging Chinese work crews trying to build a dam near a mountain considered sacred by area residents.
RFA Reports on virus barring Chinese from jobs
Sept. 30 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on the growing levels of workplace discrimination in China of people carrying the hepatitis B virus. According to a report published by the nongovernment organization Yirenping on the status of hepatitis B carriers in the workplace, employers’ actions are still based on widespread misunderstandings about the virus.
RFA Reports on younger Kim’s promotion ahead North Korean meeting
Sept. 27 – RFA Korean aired story [text in English/Korean] on Kim Jong Il’s third and youngest son being named a four-star general ahead of North Korea’s largest ruling party meeting in decades.
RFA Reports on ban on religious clothing in Xinjiang
Sept. 24 – RFA Uyghur aired story [text in English/Uyghur] on a region-wide policy in northwestern China banning women from wearing long dresses and covering their faces and men from having beard. The ban, which has been enforced during the Ramadan holiday, is viewed as a restriction on religious expression and the freedoms of Xinjiang’s predominantly Muslim Uyghur ethnic community.
RFA Reports on disappearance of Tibetan singer
Sept. 24 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on a popular Tibetan singer evading a police search for him following his release of a song praising the Dalai Lama. The banned singer is now missing, believed to be in hiding.
RFA Reports on police beating of Vietnamese democracy activist
Sept. 22 – RFA Vietnamese aired story [text in English/Vietnamese] on an alleged police assault of Nguyen Ngoc Quang, a prominent Vietnamese activist based in Vietnam’s southern Ho Chi Minh City. Quang, 49, is a member of Bloc 8406, a coalition of political groups calling for democratic reform in Vietnam.
RFA Reports on Chinese Christians appealing sentence
Sept. 20 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on the opening hearing in the court appeal of two members of an unofficial Protestant “house church” sentenced to serve time in a Chinese labor camp. The hearing opened amid tight security in the central Chinese province of Henan.
RFA Reports on popularity in China of eviction video game
Sept. 16 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on Chinese netizens playing a video game satirizing the phenomenon of forced evictions of residents in lucrative property development deals. The game “Nailhouses vs. the Eviction Gang” pits local residents against authorities bent on demolishing their home and has recently been passed around on popular Chinese microblogging sites.
RFA Reports on deaths of two jailed journalists in North Korea
Sept. 15 – RFA Korean aired story [text in English/Korean] on recent revelations of the deaths of two jailed North Korean journalists. The reporters, incarcerated for criticizing the regime of Kim Jong Il, died in custody nine years ago, a North Korean defector working with an organization that collects information on labor camps revealed.
RFA Reports on Chinese censors shutting down media chat group
Sept. 15 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on Chinese officials closing down an online discussion forum used by regional newspapers to exchange information and discuss articles for publication. The group was set up by editors and journalists from 13 regional newspapers on the popular QQ chat service, which is widely used in China.
RFA Reports on Beijing area residents in eviction dispute
Sept. 14 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on residents of rural counties bordering the Chinese capital of Beijing saying they face forced evictions by local officials and hired security personnel after refusing to accept compensation terms dictated by the government.
RFA Reports on public concerns over spread of disease in Henan
Sept. 13 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on deaths in China being reported in connection with a fatal disease spread by tick bites in China’s central Henan province. People are questioning why authorities did not warn the public sooner about the health risk.
RFA Reports on Chinese dissident writer released
Sept. 13 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on authorities in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang releasing a dissident writer and founding member of the banned opposition China Democracy Party after his completion of a four-year jail term for subversion. Chen Shuqing, who founded the CDP alongside now-exiled dissidents Wang Youcai, Wang Donghai, and Lin Hui in June 1998, was handed over to police at his local police station by prison authorities.
RFA Reports on Cambodian dropouts working for families
Sept. 10 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English] on children from impoverished families in eastern Cambodia increasingly dropping out of school. The children spend their days working to help support their families struggling in Cambodia’s rural economy.
RFA Reports on longstanding ban on Uyghur travel
Sept. 10 – RFA Uyghur and Mandarin aired story [text in English/Uyghur/Mandarin] on Chinese authorities in the northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region imposing travel restrictions on ethnic minorities. The restrictions have been in place since last year, when the regional capital city of Urumqi was hit with deadly riots.
RFA Reports on release of blind Chinese activist
Sept. 9 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on authorities in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong releasing a jailed blind Chinese legal activist but keeping him and his wife under continued surveillance. Chen Guangcheng, 38, helped to expose widespread abuse by local officials implementing strict population controls, including forced late-term abortions, before he was taken into custody over four years ago.
RFA Reports on police subjecting Vietnamese parishioner families to ID checks
Sept. 9 – RFA Vietnamese aired story [text in English/Vietnamese] on police checking residence registration cards of Catholics in central Vietnam. These actions are viewed by many as a bid to intimidate parishioners who fled the area to Thailand, leaving their families behind in Vietnam, after a land dispute with police in May.
RFA Reports on soldiers’ shooting of two Burmese men
Sept. 8 – RFA Burmese aired story [text in English/Burmese] on two young men killed in Burma by members of the country’s military following an altercation with an officer. Ten soldiers led by a captain went to the home of Aung Thu Hein, 22, and Soe Paing Zaw, 18, and shot the two men to death early on Sept. 5.
RFA Reports on political reforms promised in China
Sept. 6 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on President Hu Jintao announcing that the southern city of Shenzhen, once the cradle of China’s economic reforms, will begin experimenting with political reforms, including “democratic elections.” But a commentary published subsequently by the official Chinese news agency Xinhua appeared to contradict hopes for broader reforms.
RFA Reports on China boosting online surveillance
Sept. 2 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on reactions to online reports detailing a nationwide plan in China to step up surveillance of people considered a risk to social stability. Meanwhile, Chinese authorities began this week to implement a new registration process requiring cell phone users to present identification when purchasing new phones.
