Engnews March 2014

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RFA BREAKING NEWS: North Korean College Students Ordered to Adopt Leader Kim's Haircut

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

North Korean College Students Ordered to Adopt Leader Kim's Haircut MARCH 26, 2014 -- Colleges in North Korea have ordered male students to sport the same hairstyle as the country's young leader Kim Jong Un while female students are being advised to keep their hair as short as that of first lady Ri Sol Ju, according to sources inside the hermit kingdom. The order, issued in early March, has sparked resentment among some male students not in favor of trading their hairstyle for Kim's shaved sides and long parted top look, which a decade ago was regarded as a style sported by smugglers, the sources said. The instruction for male students to get the same haircut as their leader is not based on any directive from Kim but on a recommendation from the ruling Workers' Party, according to a North Korean from North Hamgyong province near the border with China. Still, colleges nationwide are treating it as a directive and "many students are disgruntled by it," the source told RFA's Korean Service, speaking on condition of anonymity. The round-faced Kim's trademark half-buzz, half-mop hairstyle "is very unique but it does not look good on some face shapes," the source said. "However, the college authorities have told the students that this is a party recommendation and must be adhered to." "In the past, the authorities did not make a particular hairstyle compulsory,” the North Korean said. "This is the first time. So criticism against the instruction is unavoidable." One source said he knew of a college student, a neighbor, who had just unhappily shed his hairstyle for Kim's look. 'Preposterous policy' The absence of a written directive from the government or ruling party on the hairstyle reform makes it easier for the authorities to ease the policy if there is a groundswell against it, according to observers of developments in North Korea, a reclusive country with intricate rules aimed at stage managing information. The Swiss-educated Kim came to power after his father Kim Jong Il, who favored a bouffant hairstyle, died in December 2011. A North Korean living in Pyongyang on a visit to a Chinese border town confirmed that college students had received the new hairstyle instructions. "In North Korea, Pyongyang is the launchpad for any national policy," he told RFA, saying the instructions were issued early this month. However, there was confusion over the reasons behind the haircut instructions, the Pyongyang resident said. "In mid-2000, youngsters wouldn't dare sport the Kim Jong Un hairdo," he said, also speaking on condition of anonymity. "At that time, the authorities would pounce on anyone with such a hairstyle because they would be deemed to be a smuggler." "It's not the first time North Korea has had this preposterous policy," he said. List of approved styles Last year, according to reports, the North Korean government recommended a relatively generous range of 28 hairstyles for its citizens—18 for women and 10 for men. The reports were based on pictures seen on the walls of hair salons around the impoverished country showing the approved styles for men and women. Married women were allowed more flexibility in their hair choices than single women. But the new call for female college students to sport the short hairstyle of Kim's fashion-conscious wife Ri is merely a "suggestion," the source from North Hamgyong province said. Ri, who entered the public eye as the first lady in July 2012, raised eyebrows when she displayed a new, shorter hairstyle at a concert featuring a police performance troupe in September last year. The North Korean paper Rodong Sinmun printed a picture from the event, showing Ri wearing her hair short and dressed in a deep blue shirt with a black collar, contrasting with the shoulder-length perm she had sported while attending a performance a month earlier. The North Korean source said college students have been advised, however, against wearing the above-the-knee skirts at times donned by Ri. Reported by Joon Ho Kim for RFA’s Korean Service. Translated by Bong Park. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/haircut-03262014163017.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 <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

10 years, 9 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: More than 200 Asylum-Seeking Uyghurs Detained in Thailand

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

More than 200 Asylum-Seeking Uyghurs Detained in Thailand MARCH 13, 2014 -- More than 200 Uyghurs fleeing ethnic tension in China’s restive northwestern Xinjiang region have been detained in Thailand and face deportation back home where they could be punished, according to some of their relatives. Thai police on Wednesday swooped down on a secret camp in a mountainous rubber plantation in Songkhla province in southern Thailand where the 235 mostly Muslim ethnic minority Uyghurs were believed to be waiting to be smuggled across to neighboring predominantly Muslim Malaysia, the relatives said, speaking from Malaysia and Turkey. The Turkic-speaking Uyghurs had initially told the Thai authorities that they are from Turkey, fearing they would be deported back to Xinjiang if their true identity is revealed, a relative told RFA's Uyghur Service, speaking from Malaysia. Thai authorities have already informed Chinese diplomats in Bangkok about the group's illegal presence in Thailand, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The detained Uyghurs have spoken with Thai officials through an interpreter and they described themselves as Turkish in order to prevent any departure to China and with expectations of assistance from Turkey," the source explained. Thai authorities showed the detainees flags of different countries, including China, to identify their nationality but they refused to acknowledge Chinese citizenship, the relatives said. "Today a Chinese delegation, probably from the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok, went to them and said, 'You are Uyghurs, we can take you to China, don't worry,' but the detainees did not say anything to the delegation except, 'We are Turkish.'" "The detainees are so nervous as China has already intervened in the case." Detention center The Uyghurs have been taken from the camp to a detention center in southern Thailand, sources said. Thailand and Malaysia and several other Southeast Asian neighbors—such as Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos—with strong trade and diplomatic ties to China have deported Uyghurs home in the past, following pressure from China. According to the two relatives of the Uyghurs held in Thailand, they fled Xinjiang in the hope of gaining political asylum through the office of the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR). "Since it is very dangerous and difficult for Uyghurs to reside in the interior Chinese provinces, they have fled to Thailand using all possible means and to eventually seek political asylum through the U.N.," a relative from Turkey said. "Since there are no Uyghurs residing in Thailand to assist them, they wanted to enter Malaysia to get in touch with U.N. officials and request political asylum, but were detained in the process." Several batches Other sources told RFA that the 235 Uyghurs may have arrived in Thailand in several batches over a couple of months. Many minority Uyghurs in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region say they are subjected to political, cultural, and religious repression for opposing Chinese rule in their homeland, as well as denied economic opportunities stemming from rapid development of the northwestern region. They blame the problems partly on the influx of majority Han Chinese into the region. China has intensified a sweeping security crackdown in Xinjiang, where according to official figures about 100 people are believed to have been killed over the past year-—many of them Uyghurs accused by the authorities of terrorism and separatism. Rights groups and experts say Beijing exaggerates the terrorism threat to take the heat off domestic policies that cause unrest or to justify the authorities' use of force against Uyghurs. Many Uyghurs refer to Xinjiang as East Turkestan, as the region came under Chinese control following two short-lived East Turkestan republics in the 1930s and 1940s. “The experience over the past few years shows that people who leave China illegally and try to seek political asylum abroad are severely punished upon their forceful return," a Uyghur source said. Past deportees Uyghur exile groups have criticized the Chinese authorities in the past for consistently refusing to provide information on the whereabouts and legal status of Uyghurs who had been deported home, although Beijing had assured the international community that the deportees would be dealt with transparently upon their return. In 2012, two Uyghur asylum-seekers who were deported back to China from Cambodia were sentenced to life imprisonment in a punishment imposed in secret by Chinese authorities and described as severe by rights groups, family members told RFA at the time. The duo were among 18 Uyghurs from Xinjiang who were believed sentenced to various prison terms since Cambodia deported them on Dec. 19, 2009. Another Uyghur in the same group that was deported was sentenced to 17 years in prison. The jail terms of the 15 other Uyghurs were not known. The Uyghurs had fled from China in small groups between May and October 2009 and had applied to the UNHCR for refugee status in Phnom Penh. Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFA's Uyghur Service. Translated by Shohret Hoshur. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/thailand-03132014183027.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 <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

10 years, 10 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: Tibetan Father of Two Self-Immolates in Ngaba

by Rachel Vandenbrink

Tibetan Father of Two Self-Immolates in Ngaba December 4, 2013 — A Tibetan father of two self-immolated in protest against Chinese rule in a restive Tibetan prefecture in Sichuan province, triggering clashes and a security crackdown in the area, according to sources. Konchok Tseten, aged 30, torched himself late Tuesday at the Ngaba county's Meruma township center in the Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, shouting slogans against Beijing's rule in Tibet and calling for the return of Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, said the sources, speaking from inside Tibet. With his body engulfed in flames, Tseten managed to run for a distance along the main street before he collapsed, the sources said. Local residents clashed with police as they tried but failed to stop security forces from taking the severely injured Tseten away, they said. "While his body was on fire, he called for the long life of the Dalai Lama and appealed for the Dalai Lama's return to Tibet," a Tibetan with contacts in the area told RFA's Tibetan Service. "He also called for the reunion of Tibetans inside and outside Tibet." "Even after he collapsed on the ground, he was seen by local witnesses folding his hands together in prayer and uttering some words that were not audible," the Tibetan said. Eyewitnesses also said that local residents resisted police attempts to take away Tseten, who had suffered severe burns, resulting in a scuffle and the detention of several Tibetans. "The police arrived at the scene and tried to take him away as he was burning, but the local Tibetans who had gathered at the township resisted and tried to stop the police. This lasted for about one hour before the security forces took him away," another Tibetan said. Relatives detained Police detained Tseten's wife and several of his relatives, among others. "All the Tibetan stores and restaurants in Meruma town were ordered to be closed and many mobile phones were confiscated from the locals." Details of Tseten's condition were not immediately available amid a clampdown on information in Ngaba county following the self-immolation, the 124th since Tibetans launched burning protests in 2009 calling for Tibetan freedom and for the return to Tibet of the Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in 1959 following a failed national uprising against Chinese rule. Sporadic demonstrations challenging Beijing’s rule have continued in Tibetan-populated areas of China since widespread protests swept the region in 2008. Chinese authorities have tightened controls in a bid to check self-immolation protests, arresting and jailing Tibetans whom they accuse of being linked to the burnings. Some have been jailed for up to 15 years. The authorities have also attempted to pressure local Tibetans to sign an official order that forbids any kind of activities to support or sympathize with self-immolation protests, residents said. Reported by Lumbum Tashi and Lobe Socktsang for RFA's Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/burn-03042012113258.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 mahajanr(a)rfa.org .

10 years, 10 months

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Engnews March 2014