RFA in the News (December 2018)

2019-01-07

CBC RADIO

Dec. 31 “Family fears missing Uighur comedian taken to Chinese detention camp

… Two weeks before he went missing, he underwent heart surgery, and his daughter told Adile told Radio Free Asia that she's worried about his health.

NK NEWS

Dec. 31 “New North Korean Sci-Tech Library officially opens after long delay

… Speaking with Radio Free Asia (RFA) in April, Curtis Melvin, owner of the blog NK Economy Watch, revealed updates to the project, which was first reported in North Korean media in August 2016.

38 NORTH

Dec. 30 “What Will Kim Jong Un Say on New Year’s Day?

… Pity the poor North Korean populace, forced to study these texts in depth—or even memorize the whole damn thing, as Radio Free Asia has twice claimed in 2013 and 2017.

TAIWAN NEWS

Dec. 28 “No way to change reality of Taiwan's independent existence: Foreign Minister Wu

… The Radio Free Asia interviewer asked Wu about some examples of how China was suppressing Taiwan internationally, to which Wu replied “there are too many!”

WORLD CRUNCH

Dec. 20 “How China Quietly Poaches Samsung Talent From South Korea

… But just before he was set to begin his senior position at the Chinese enterprise, Kim received notice from a South Korean court that Samsung had filed a lawsuit against him for not abiding by a "non-compete" clause arrangement, Radio Free Asia reports.

RADIO WORLD

Dec. 20 “Super Typhoon Devastates USAGM Transmission Sites

… USAGM — until recently named the Broadcasting Board of Governors — uses the Saipan and Tinian sites to broadcast Radio Free Asia and Voice of America multi-language radio programming into China and other Asian nations.

ASIA RADIO TODAY

Dec. 20 “What’s happening in Radio in South-East Asia?

… However, here, radio is still behind TV in terms of use, although listening to the radio via mobile phone is popular with the younger audience. The most popular radio stations Cambodians listen to are ABC Kampuchea and Radio Free Asia.

KOREA HERALD

Dec. 18 “NK halts casino projects under pressure from China: report

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered the halt of ongoing casino-related projects, under pressure from Beijing, Radio Free Asia reported Tuesday.

CHINA DIGITAL TIMES

Dec. 17 “Forced Labor Revealed at Xinjiang Camps

… These preparations occurred alongside reports that prominent Muslim cleric Abdukerim Abduweli has died after 30 years in a Xinjiang prison. Radio Free Asia provides further details…

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

Dec 17. “Chinese distiller Yanghe Brewery agrees to raise factory workers’ pay after protest

… A witness surnamed Liao told Radio Free Asia that the workers said they had decided to take action when the factory doubled their workload but kept them on the same pay.

PHNOM PENH POST

Dec 17. “Ou Chanrath calls on RFA to make apology

… Former Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) lawmaker Ou Chanrath claimed that Radio Free Asia (RFA) disseminated “baseless information” against him, and called on the radio’s journalists to be “professional and neutral”.

ASEAN POST

Dec. 17 “A hard test of mettle

… Radio Free Asia quoted political analyst Kim Sok as saying that Hun Sen was attempting to split the CNRP, like he has with other parties in the past.

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH (also in KHMER TIMES)

Dec. 16 “Human Rights Watch Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of Cambodia

… In August 2017, Cambodian authorities the closure of 32 FM radio frequencies, primarily targeting stations relaying Khmer-language news of Radio Free Asia (RFA) and Voice of America.

NEXT SHARK

Dec. 14 “U.S. to Ban Chinese Officials Unless Tibet Opens Up to Americans

… The bill, titled Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2018, requires the U.S. State Secretary to identify Chinese officials responsible for excluding American citizens from the region and ban them from entering the United States, Radio Free Asia reported.

CPJ

Dec. 13 “News fixer deported from Thailand to Cambodia on 'false news' accusation

… Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said before Rath Rott Many's deportation that he had "committed a crime" by defaming the country and that he "will not be free" after returning to Cambodia, Radio Free Asia reported the official saying.

DIPLOMAT

Dec. 12 “Cambodia’s Opposition Begins to Crack

… Rainsy has for months sparred with Sokha’s faction about his successor’s capacity to lead the CNRP while under house arrest in Phnom Penh and told Radio Free Asia at the close of the Atlanta meeting he felt compelled to temporarily retake the role “so that the party has a leader to lead it.”

PHNOM PENH POST

Dec. 12 “Government refutes the Cambodia Daily accusations

… The statement came after Daily owner Deborah Krisher-Steele told Radio Free Asia (RFA) via email on Thursday that the newspaper will not re-launch in Cambodia due to persecution and corruption.

GLOBAL VOICES

Dec. 11 “Crackdown in Beijing: ‘Using Twitter is more dangerous than street demonstrations’

… According to a report from Radio Free Asia, cybersecurity authorities have detained and interrogated dissenting Twitter users from all over the China including Beijing, Chongqing, Guangdong, Shandong, Fujiang, Hubei and other provinces.

AMERICAN INTEREST

Dec. 11 “Journalism Dies in Darkness

… Radio Free Asia (RFA) was launched in 1996 with more support from human rights groups than from the business community, whose main concern was to maintain good relations with Beijing.

ASIA TIMES

Dec. 11 “Hun Sen’s violent obsessions finally unmasked

… With Hun Sen’s recent admission on Radio Free Asia, the world is spared the trouble of conducting an investigation to find the killer.

EPOCH TIMES

Dec. 10 “Uyghur Journalist Reports on Own Family’s Disappearance, Fights for Release

… When Hoja joined RFA, Keyum was in college. She never went back home again and that changed Keyum’s life forever.

ZD NET

Dec. 10 “Half of the Tor Project's funding now comes from the private sector

… This is how the Tor Project secured funding in 2017 from the US and Swedish governments. It secured $798,029 worth of funding from the US government-backed Radio Free Asia.

KHMER TIMES

Dec. 10 “Authorities deny RFA timber smuggling report

Interior Ministry and Mondulkiri provincial forestry department officials have denied a Radio Free Asia report saying that timber is being illegally smuggled from the province to Vietnam.

NK NEWS (also in MARITIME EXECUTIVE)

Dec. 10 “Sanctioned Russian vessel leaves South Korea after finding fuel provider

A report from Radio Free Asia (RFA) published in late November reported that one ship called the Sevastopol was having trouble securing fuel as its designated status was scaring off potential fuel providers.

CHOSUN ILBO

Dec. 10 “N.Korea Secretly Restarted Kaesong Industrial Complex

… One North Korean source told Radio Free Asia that clothes made there are cheaper than Chinese products but better quality, making them very popular among senior apparatchiks and other members of the North Korean elite.

HINDU

Dec. 8 “Cloud over key Tibetan meet as Delhi stalls Karmapa’s return

… In an interview to Radio Free Asia in July this year, the Karmapa had underlined the importance of holding the conference as well as of his presence there.

HONG KONG FREE PRESS

Dec. 8 “Video: In Full – Ex-Xinjiang detainee Mihrigul Tursun’s full testimony at the US congressional hearing

… You should go to the Chinese Embassy right away and denounce all the things you said about the Chinese government in the interviews you gave to the Radio Free Asia and tell them you love China.

CAMBODIA DAILY

Dec. 6 “Cambodium: trials and tribulations

… Reporters Without Borders, the journalism advocacy group, has produced a two-part video featuring Radio Free Asia journalists Yeang Sothearin and Uon Chhin, who were arrested on espionage charges in November 2017.

ASIA TIMES (also in STRAIT TIMES, PHNOM PENH POST, KHMER TIMES, ASEAN POST)

Dec. 6 “Under Western pressure, Hun Sen hints at a lighter touch

… He also claimed that Radio Free Asia (RFA), which closed its local office in September 2017 citing official intimidation, wasn’t forced to shutter its activities and could restart them.

CHOSUN ILBO

Dec. 6 “China Accused of Using N.Korean Slave Labor

… Many North Korean workers are in China illegally on one-month passes instead of passports to avoid UN sanctions, according to Radio Free Asia.

TELEGRAPH (also in BREITBART)

Dec. 6 “New satellite images reveal North Korea is expanding key missile base

… In an interview with Radio Free Asia, Thae Yong-ho, who defected from the North while serving as deputy ambassador to the UK, said that Pyongyang would never agree to end its weapons programme through a “complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation” process.

PHNOM PENH POST

Dec. 6 “US Embassy urges reconciliation

… Sar Kheng also welcomed the reopening of the Phnom Penh offices of Radio Free Asia (RFA) and Voice of America (VOA).

ASIA NEWS (also in EPOCH TIMES)

Dec. 5 “The (illegal) trade between China and North Korea returns

… According to Radio Free Asia, after an initial period of cooling between the two nations, the economic exchange would have resumed and is flourishing at the border.

REUTERS (also in ARAB NEWS, RAHNUMA DAILY, UNITED NEWS OF BANGLADESH, WORLD BULLETIN, INDEPENDENT, TRT WORLD)

Dec. 5 “Myanmar religion minister says Rohingya 'brainwashed' to 'march' on the country

… “While we Buddhists practise monogamy and have only one or two children, an extreme religion encourages to have three or four wives and give birth to 15 to 20 children,” he said in a video published by Radio Free Asia.

JAMESTOWN FOUNDATION

Dec. 4 “Who are Xi Jinping’s Enemies?

… Gongsiheying, which in most cases means SOEs taking over private companies, “has re-appeared under a new format so as to squeeze private enterprises,” he said. “If this were to become a trend, and nobody offers critical views, the end result will be terrible” (Radio Free Asia, September 28; Hong Kong Economic Journal, September 28).

RELIEF WEB

Dec. 3 “ACLED Regional Overview – Asia

… The villagers seized the dredging machines used in the operation. Cambodia’s sand trade with foreign countries has led to many protests in the country over the environmental impact of sand-dredging operations on local lands (Radio Free Asia, 26 November 2018).

TAIWAN NEWS (also in THAIGER)

Dec. 1 “Thailand detains Taiwan man over alleged China broadcasts

A Taiwanese businessman was detained in Thailand for allegedly helping an underground radio broadcast at China, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported Friday.