Engnews May 2012

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RFA BREAKING NEWS: Blind Dissident Chen Says US Vowed to Push China

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Blind Dissident Chen Says US Vowed to Push China MAY 3, 2012—Blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng said Thursday that the United States had given him an assurance that it would push Beijing to respect his rights and freedom if these were violated while he remains in China. The assurance, he told RFA's Mandarin service, was a key component of a U.S.-China deal that prodded him on Wednesday to leave the U.S. Embassy in Beijing where he had sought refuge after a dramatic escape from house arrest in his rural Shandong province. In an interview, Chen, who is bedridden with his foot in plaster at a Beijing hospital, said the Chinese authorities appeared to be defying the bilateral deal by placing restrictions on him in terms of phone contact and family movements, as well as by making threats to his wife. Chen, a crusading lawyer who had exposed forced abortions and sterilizations under China's "one-child" policy, is now requesting political asylum for himself and his family in the United States, throwing into doubt the deal used to coax him out of his sanctuary in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. The 40-year-old activist said he decided on Wednesday to leave the U.S. Embassy only after Beijing agreed that his "civic rights and freedom would be protected." He was also assured of medical treatment, being reunited with his family, and arrangements made for him to pursue further studies at a university under the deal hammered out in talks led by Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell on the American side. "I asked Mr. Campbell what would happen if these conditions were not met. And he said if the conditions were not met, they [the U.S. side] would continue to express concern and ask that the terms of the agreement be fulfilled," Chen said in the interview. Washington acknowledged Thursday that Chen and his family now want to leave the country and said it is in talks with him about his options. No visitors Chen said he has received no visits from friends or well-wishers on Thursday. "No, not one," he said, when asked if anyone had been to visit him. He added that contact by phone was also unreliable. "Yesterday evening I wasn't able to call out or receive calls at all," he said. RFA had dialed his number nonstop for one hour, getting a busy signal each time, before he picked up on Thursday. Chen said his phone hadn't rung and that he had received the call only because he randomly "hit the button." He said he had only been on the phone for a total of 10 minutes during the past few hours. Asked if there were any restrictions on his wife's movements within Chaoyang Hospital, he said, "Yes, it seems that there are. [My wife] hasn't been out of the hospital, but she has been out of the building." "Yes, [she was stopped] yesterday," said Chen, who is now staying in his hospital with his wife Yuan Weijing and the couple's two children. A U.S. State Department spokeswoman told reporters on Thursday that American officials are planning to talk further with Chen, to decide whether he and his family should leave their homeland and seek asylum in the United States. “It is clear now that in the last 12 to 15 hours they ... have had a change of heart,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters. “We need to consult with them further, get a better sense of what they want to do, and together consider their options.” Rights groups expressed "concern" for Chen's safety, should he and his family remain in China. "On the basis of a promise from the Chinese government ... U.S. diplomats hastily delivered Chen from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing to a local hospital designated by Chinese officials on May 2," the Hong Kong-based group China Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) said in a statement. "Six days after Chen reached the embassy to seek sanctuary, his fate is now back in the hands of the very government that has been complicit in disappearing, detaining, and assaulting him over the past seven years, including, most brutally, from the time he was placed under house arrest in September of 2010 until his daring escape on April 22," it said. 'Never pressured' U.S. Ambassador to Beijing Gary Locke denied that Chen was pressured in any way, adding that the activist had appeared keen to leave shortly after a phone call from his wife. He told reporters that U.S. officials were prepared to have him stay much longer, if a deal couldn't be reached. "I can tell you unequivocally that he was never pressured to leave," Locke told a news briefing in Beijing on Thursday. "He was excited and eager about leaving when he made his decision." But he added: "He also fully knew of what ... staying in the embassy would entail if he decided not to leave. And he was fully aware of and talked about what might happen to his family if he stayed in the embassy and they stayed in the village in Shandong province," Locke said. Asked what was the deciding factor in his decision to leave the U.S. Embassy, Chen replied: "It was because they threatened me. They said that if I didn't go straight to the hospital, that they would take my wife straight back to Shandong." Zeng Jinyan, a fellow activist and friend of Chen and his wife, reported via Twitter that the couple now fear for their future. A transcribed phone conversation between Chen and rights lawyer Teng Biao posted on the website of the U.S.-based ChinaAid Christian group detailed how Chen was swayed by advice he received from Teng, and how differently things might have gone if he had spoken to him before he left the embassy. "If not for your own sake, but for the sake of your family and friends who tried to rescue you, you should still go back to the U.S. Embassy and find a way to go to the U.S.," Teng is quoted as telling his friend. "If this stays unsettled, all of you will be in danger.... We don’t want to see you sacrifice more and pay a heavier price." Reported by Zhang Min for RFA's Mandarin service. Translated by Luisetta Mudie and Jennifer Chou. Written in English by Luisetta Mudie and Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/requests-05032012102805.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

12 years, 6 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: Xayaburi Dam Construction Suspended

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Xayaburi Dam Construction Suspended MAY 9, 2012— Laos has suspended construction on the controversial Xayaburi dam on the Mekong River following an uproar from neighboring Cambodia and environmental groups, a senior Lao government official said Wednesday. An agreement was signed between companies for construction of the dam project from March this year even though a four-nation commission which manages development along Southeast Asia’s key river has not given the go-ahead for the project. “No construction is going on; it’s discontinued, postponed,” Sithong Chitgnothin, director of the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ press department, told RFA’s Lao service Wednesday in what is believed to be the first government statement that construction will be halted. He said that Laos would stand by agreements of the Mekong River Commission (MRC), an intergovernmental body including Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam which manages development along Southeast Asia’s main waterway. “The agreement of the four MRC members still stands and the Lao government will always abide by it,” Chitgnothin said. In a landmark ruling in December, MRC member countries agreed that the dam project should not proceed until further assessment was conducted. The decision followed an earlier recommendation by an expert study group for a 10-year moratorium on all mainstream Mekong dams—of which Xayaburi would be the first on the lower part of the river—due to a need for further research on their potentially catastrophic environmental and socioeconomic impact. But in April, Thai company Ch. Karnchang announced it had signed a U.S. $1.7 billion contract with Xayaburi Power Co. for construction of the 1,290-megawatt dam, prompting protests from green groups in Thailand, where most of the dam’s electricity would be sent. In the contract, the company set a start date for the construction on the dam in March 2012, in spite of the December MRC agreement that the dam should wait for further study. Environmental groups monitoring the dam have said that preliminary construction around the dam site, including of roads and support facilities, has begun, but officials say work on the dam itself had not yet started. Cambodia lodged its complaint in a letter to Lao MRC representatives last week, opposing the preliminary construction and warning Laos not to allow the dam to move ahead. The letter followed earlier threats from Cambodia to take Laos to international court over the dam. Through the MRC, established in 1995, member countries have agreed to a protocol for consulting with and notifying each other about use of the river’s resources, but the organization has no binding jurisdiction on what Laos does about the dam. Agreement On Tuesday, an MRC spokesman reiterated that its members were in agreement that the project should be halted pending further study. “All four Lower Mekong countries are still on the same page; that is, that the project needs more study on its impact, [as do] all projects on Mekong River,” Surasack Glahan, a communications officer at the MRC secretariat in Vientiane, Laos, told RFA. “Despite the contract, the construction of the Xayaburi dam must stop until the new study is completed,” Glahan said, adding that the MRC members are consulting with one another on how the environmental impact study will be conducted. Opponents of the project are concerned that the dam, which would block fish migration on Southeast Asia’s main waterway, could not only impact the lives of millions in the region who rely on the river for their food and their livelihoods, but also pave the way for other hydropower projects on the river. At least 11 other dams have been proposed on the mainstream Lower Mekong, in addition to five already built on the upper part of the river in China. Six of them are in Laos, which, with over 70 hydropower dams in total planned on its rivers, has said it hopes to become the “battery” of Southeast Asia. Reported by RFA’s Lao service. Translation by Max Avary. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/laos/xayaburi-05092012154022.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

12 years, 8 months

Release: Radio Free Asia President Responds to Freedom of the Press Findings

by Rohit Mahajan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 3, 2012 Contact: Rohit Mahajan 202 530 4976 <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org RFA President Responds to Freedom of the Press Findings Radio Free Asia Broadcast Countries 'Not Free' WASHINGTON - Today, on World Press Freedom Day, Radio Free Asia (RFA) President Libby Liu responded to Freedom House's 2012 Freedom of the Press <http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/freedom-press-2012> survey that classified all six of RFA's broadcast countries as "Not Free" with North Korea as the worst-rated country on the list. "Sadly, on World Press Freedom Day, there is little to celebrate in the countries into which Radio Free Asia broadcasts," Liu said. "For our listeners, as Freedom House's survey finds, free speech, free expression, and free press are far from being guaranteed rights. "Audiences turn to Radio Free Asia not only as a source of trusted news, but as a way to get closer to the truth and to each other, as well as having their voices heard." Freedom House's survey found that despite the overall conditions for press freedoms improving elsewhere in Asia, RFA target countries' media environments remain stuck in a pattern of heavy restrictions and censorship. China was cited by the report for having the "most sophisticated system of media repression" and for stepping up "its drive to control both old and new sources of news and information through arrest and censorship." RFA's mission is to provide accurate and timely news and information to Asian countries whose governments prohibit access to a free press. Guided by the core principles of freedom of expression and opinion, RFA serves its listeners by providing information critical for informed decision-making. Radio Free Asia has nine language services delivering content online and via the airwaves and satellite television into six countries: China, North Korea, Burma, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. # # # Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA's broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to "seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Rohit Mahajan Media Relations Manager Radio Free Asia Email: mahajanr(a)rfa.org Desk: (202) 530-4976 Cell: (202) 489-8021 www.rfa.org

12 years, 8 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: China Closes Unirule Website but Founder is Unfazed

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

China Closes Unirule Website but Founder is Unfazed MAY 1, 2012— Chinese authorities have closed the website of a high-profile liberal research institution, its founder, who just won a U.S. award for advocating the importance of liberty, said Tuesday. Mao Yushi, the 83-year-old market economist who founded the Unirule Institute of Economics in Beijing, said he would still go ahead with plans to travel Wednesday to Washington to receive the Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty from the libertarian Cato Institute. He confirmed with RFA's Mandarin service that the website had been closed, saying he did not know why the Chinese government decided to shut it after its decade-long existence. "I do not know. This is something quite unexpected. The Institute has been in existence for many years—roughly 10 years," he said in an interview. Unirule was founded by a group of prominent Chinese economists in July 1993. The website carried academic articles published by the Institute and "friends" of the Institute, said Mao Yushi, an engineer-turned-economist, a vociferous critic of China’s one-party state, and an advocate of democracy and human rights. Tensions The closure of the website comes amid U.S.-China tensions over the status of blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng, who escaped from house arrest and is believed to be under U.S. protection in Beijing. Beijing is also clamping down on increasing online debate over the ousting of high-flying politician and former Chongqing ruling Chinese Communist Party chief Bo Xilai. Mao Yushi said the closure of the website would not deter him from traveling to the United States to collect his award from Cato. "There has been no change," he said, adding that he is scheduled to leave Beijing on Wednesday. "The award is very significant; it promotes freedom," he pointed out. In 2010, Mao Yushi was among key intellectuals prevented by Beijing from traveling to Oslo for the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo, an imprisoned political activist. Human freedom Cato said the Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty, named in honor of a champion of liberty in the 20th century, is presented every other year to an individual who has made a significant contribution to advance human freedom. The prize also carries a cash award of U.S. $250,000. Cato said Mao Yushi was one of China’s most outspoken and influential activists for individual rights and free markets, a well-known advocate for an open and transparent political system, and one of the pioneers of the movement in China for civil society and freedom. Before economic reform began in China in 1978, he had been an engineer and during his lifetime has faced severe punishment, exile, and near starvation for remarks critical of a command-based economy and society, Cato said. Mao Yushi warned in the RFA interview that the booming Chinese economy was in a precarious state. "There are bubbles and there are bad debts," he said, referring to China's real estate slump, which many analysts say is a major threat to economic growth and confidence in 2012, and to a rising pile of bad bank loans. Asked what the Chinese government could do to tackle the problems, Mao Yushi said, "It’s kind of late now … China’s economic problems are tied in with its political problems." "It’d be difficult to resolve the economic problems without resolving the political problems first." Reported by Tang Qiwei for RFA’s Mandarin service. Translated by Jennifer Chou. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/web-05012012142516.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

12 years, 8 months

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Engnews May 2012