RFA Reports (July 2012)

2012-08-01

RFA Reports-July

(Washington, DC — Aug. 1, 2012) Radio Free Asia broadcast the following stories, and more, in July:

 

 

RFA Reports on Tibetan succumbing to burns

July 31 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on a Tibetan self-immolator dying from burns, more than a month after setting himself ablaze to protest Chinese rule in Tibetan areas. Ngawang Norphel, 22, was one of two young Tibetans who self-immolated on June 20 in the Yulshul prefecture of China’s Qinghai province.

 

RFA Reports on merger of Cambodian opposition parties

July 31 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on officials from two key Cambodian opposition parties meeting for the first time inside the country and laying the groundwork for registering a new joint party.

 

RFA Reports on rise of illegal abortions in North Korea

July 31 – RFA Korean aired story [text in English/Korean] on the increase of illegal abortions in North Korea. A lack of access to contraceptives and an increasingly sexually liberated culture have led to more women seeking the illicit procedure, with a growing number of them succumbing to complications.

 

RFA Reports on suspension of Burma journals

July 31 – RFA Burmese aired story [text in English/Burmese] on the suspension of two popular Burmese weekly magazines after they speculated on a potential cabinet reshuffle. The move may be a sign that President Thein Sein's administration remains wary of the media even as it pursues reforms.

RFA Reports on Vietnamese mother’s self-immolation over blogger’s trial

July 30 – RFA Vietnamese aired story [text in English/Vietnamese] on the mother of a popular detained Vietnamese blogger and government critic dying in a rare self-immolation protest. The deceased was concerned over the plight of her daughter who is to stand trial for criticizing the state, according to a family member.

 

RFA Reports on Chinese ‘patriotic’education in Hong Kong schools

July 30 – RFA Cantonese aired story [text in English/Cantonese] on Hong Kong’s government moving forward with plans to establish “patriotic” education about China in primary schools this year. The move follows mass protests by parents, teachers, and pupils concerned over possible political “brainwashing” in the territory.

 

RFA Reports on murder charge in Bo Xilai case

July 27 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on persistent unanswered questions in the murder case against the wife of former Chongqing Communist Party boss Bo Xilai. Beijing officials have yet to release details about the “serious violations” of Party discipline, including bribery, alleged against Bo and his former police chief Wang Lijun.

 

RFA Reports on Uyghurs being forced to sign loyalty oath

July 27 – RFA Uyghur aired story [text in English/Uyghur] on authorities in northwestern China requiring ethnic Uyghurs from impoverished communities to sign pledges affirming their allegiance to the ruling Chinese Communist Party in exchange for welfare money.

 

RFA Reports on rare hearing for Chinese petitioner over alleged police abuse

July 26 – RFA Mandarin and Cantonese aired story [text in English/Mandarin/Cantonese] on a Beijing-based eviction activist awaiting a court decision after suing her local police station for abuse she endured while in custody. Such cases are rarely accepted in Chinese courts, and the hearing itself is a rare victory for the country's army of petitioners, who say they routinely suffer illegal detentions, beatings, and official harassment as they pursue complaints against official wrongdoing.

 

RFA Reports on Aung San Suu Kyi’s call to protect minorities in Burma

July 26 – RFA Burmese aired story [text in English/Burmese] on Burma opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi calling for better laws to protect the rights of ethnic minorities in the country amid ongoing armed conflict between the groups and government troops.

 

RFA Reports on land protest in Vietnam’s capital

July 25 – RFA Vietnamese aired story [text in English/Vietnamese] on nearly 1,000 villagers setting up camp at a municipal building in Vietnam’s capital. They demanded that the government return land they say was illegally confiscated and sold to a neighboring village.

RFA Reports on sentencing of Hong Kong protesters

July 24 – RFA Mandarin and Cantonese aired story [text in English/Mandarin/Cantonese] on authorities in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangxi sentencing to labor camp two petitioners who took part in the annual July 1 demonstrations in Hong Kong. Song Ningsheng and Zeng Jiuzi each were handed one-year sentences, which can be processed administratively without trial, as a punishment for their involvement in the annual protest.

 

RFA Reports on Burma aspiring for economic success

July 23 – RFA Burmese aired story [text in English/Burmese] on Burma hoping to overtake neighbors Laos and Cambodia in terms of average income per person within two to three years as the country embraces political and economic reforms. “I hope we will have higher average income per person than Laos and Cambodia by 2014-15. It is possible,” Burmese Industry Minister Soe Thein  said in an interview with RFA's Burmese service.

 

RFA Reports on health of jailed Cambodian radio chief

July 23 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on the declining health of the jailed head of an independent Cambodian radio station, arrested for allegedly spearheading a land uprising. Mam Sonando, the director of Beehive Radio, was moved to a prison clinic for medical treatment on July 22 over a serious flu, as more than 100 activists gathered in Phnom Penh to pray for his release.

 

RFA Reports on Ai Weiwei still facing tax evasion fine

July 20 – RFA Cantonese and Mandarin aired story [text in English/Cantonese/Mandarin] on Beijing authorities upholding a $2.4 million tax evasion fine issued to outspoken artist Ai Weiwei. Despite the ruling, Ai has vowed to continue his campaign against the penalty.

RFA Reports on Vietnamese priests protesting church attacks

July 20 – RFA Vietnamese aired story [text in English/Vietnamese] on Vietnamese Catholic priests sending a letter to President Truong Tan Sang in protest against what they said were violent local government-backed attacks on a church in a northern Vietnam province. The priests charged that the attacks on the church during Mass in Nghe An province on July 1 were perpetrated by local government officials and military personnel.

 

RFA Reports on Tibetan leader’s push for talks

July 20 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on the Tibetan exile prime minister saying in an interview with RFA that Tibetans will continue to press for freedom for their homeland, now ruled by Beijing, even if their struggle takes “another 50 years.” Lobsang Sangay, who was elected last year as prime minister of Tibet’s India-based exile government, said he still hopes for “meaningful” talks with Beijing despite recent talks with the Dalai Lama’s envoys stalling.

 

RFA Reports on troop withdrawal at Cambodian-Thai border

July 18 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on Cambodia and Thailand withdrawing troops from a disputed area near an ancient temple on their border, which had been the site of deadly cross-border clashes. The troops had been stationed along the border near Preah Vihear Temple for more than four years.

 

RFA Reports on removal of editors at two Chinese papers

July 18 – RFA Cantonese and Mandarin aired story [text in English/Cantonese/Mandarin] on Chinese authorities removing top editorial staff at a Shanghai newspaper and the editor-in-chief of a cutting-edge Guangzhou newspaper.

 

RFA Reports on averted clash after Tibetan self-immolation

July 18 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on religious officials mediating between Chinese security forces and local Tibetans to avert a confrontation after the self-immolation death of a teenage monk. The security forces and Tibetans agreed to withdraw from a bridge leading to the monastery outside which 18-year-old Lobsang Lozin self-immolated in the Ngaba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.


RFA Reports on call to abolish Lao treaty with Vietnam

July 18 – RFA Lao aired story [text in English/Lao] on dissident groups calling on Lao authorities to rescind a 35-year-old bilateral treaty with Vietnam. They hope for the expulsion of Vietnamese soldiers remaining in the country under the pact.

 

RFA Reports on China ‘stability’ drive ahead of leadership transition

July 16 – RFA Mandarin aired story [text in English/Mandarin] on China's judicial authorities calling for a nationwide “stability” drive ahead of a crucial leadership transition later this year. Justice minister Wu Aiying told judicial officials from across China that they should make “maintaining stability” their top priority as the ruling Chinese Communist Party gears up for its 18th Party Congress.

RFA Reports on North Korean military resignation

July 16 – RFA Korean aired story [text in English/Korean] on the removal of North Korea's military chief Ri Yong Ho from all official positions. The unanticipated move has led to speculations he might have been purged in a power struggle seven months after the death of dictator Kim Jong Il.

 

RFA Reports on detained Tibetan writers

July 16 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on security officers in China’s Sichuan province detaining two Tibetan monks who wrote books critical of Chinese policies in Tibet. Tibetan sources have told RFA the men are being held in an undisclosed location where they may face torture.

 

RFA Reports on North Korean army struggling to feed itself

July 13 – RFA Korean aired story [text in English/Korean] on North Korea trying to combat malnutrition among its soldiers by encouraging them to raise livestock and grow enough food to feed themselves. But these efforts have met with little success.

RFA Reports on second forced abortion lawsuit in China

July 11 – RFA Cantonese and Mandarin aired story [text in English/Cantonese/Mandarin] on another woman planning to sue Chinese authorities over her involuntarily terminated pregnancy following a settlement in a forced abortion case that caused global outrage. The husband of Pan Chunyan, a mother who underwent a forced abortion in the southeastern province of Fujian in April, said he had hired Beijing-based lawyers Zhang Kai and Xu Can to represent the couple.

 

RFA Reports on overcrowding in Cambodian jails

July 10 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on Cambodia’s prisons holding almost twice as many inmates for which they were designed. Critics have raised concerns that the government is using the jails as a “dumping ground” for the impoverished.

 

RFA Reports on Chinese dissident writer’s exit

July 9 – RFA Cantonese and Mandarin aired story [text in English/Cantonese/Mandarin] on Chinese authorities allowing a dissident Chinese writer, who was held under house arrest in a crackdown last year, to leave for New York with his family. The move is seen by some as an attempt to remove dissident voices ahead of a key Chinese leadership transition later this year.

 

RFA Reports on self-immolation in Lhasa

July 9 – RFA Tibetan aired story [text in English/Tibetan] on a Tibetan man from a village outside of Lhasa setting himself on fire in protest against Chinese rule. The incident is a rare instance of self-immolation in the Tibet Autonomous Region, as most occur in other Tibetan regions in China.

 

RFA Reports on detentions of Burma student activists

July 6 – RFA Burmese aired story [text in English/Burmese] on Burmese authorities detaining more than two dozen members of a banned political organization and raiding the headquarters of a student activist group in Rangoon. The move comes ahead of the anniversary of a major protest against the country’s former military regime.

 

RFA Reports on Cambodian trafficking victims’ return

July 5 – RFA Khmer aired story [text in English/Khmer] on the repatriation of four Cambodian men trafficked into forced labor on South African fishing boats. In 2011, more than 100 Cambodian men forced into labor on Thai fishing boats were repatriated after escaping from their traffickers or being rescued during raids.

 

RFA Reports on Chinese AIDS/HIV victims’ lawsuit

July 4 – RFA Cantonese aired story [text in English/Cantonese] on AIDS activists in China's central province of Henan calling on thousands of people infected with HIV via tainted blood transfusions to file a class action lawsuit demanding compensation. Sun Ya, an AIDS activist whose 12-year-old son is infected with HIV, said he estimated there were more than 100,000 people in his home province of Henan alone who had been exposed to tainted blood.

 

RFA Reports on China pollution protests

July 4 – RFA Mandarin and Cantonese aired story [text in English/Mandarin/Cantonese] on authorities in the southwestern province of Sichuan vowing to scrap a high-profile copper processing plant after two days of violent protests. Meanwhile, parents in the eastern province of Jiangxi called for the closure of a factory they say is linked to high lead levels in their children's blood.

 

RFA Reports on release of Burmese political prisoners

July 3 – RFA Burmese aired story [text in English/Burmese] on Burma releasing a new batch of political prisoners imprisoned under its former military regime. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has called for the release of remaining dissidents.

 

RFA Reports on authorities targeting bloggers in Vietnam

July 2 – RFA Vietnamese aired story [text in English/Vietnamese] on police in Vietnam attempting to prevent bloggers from participating in two anti-China demonstrations. The move prompted rights groups to criticize the government for its heavy-handed tactics in obstructing peaceful protests in the country.