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RFA BREAKING NEWS: Uyghur Attack on Police Station Leaves Three Dead, Two Injured

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Uyghur Attack on Police Station Leaves Three Dead, Two Injured JANUARY 22, 2013— Chinese authorities have shot dead three Uyghurs who attacked a police station in northwestern China’s restive Xinjiang region, officials said Wednesday, calling it an act of “separatism.” The attack on the Yengieriq town police station in Aksu prefecture’s Awat county a week ago is the latest in a string of raids by Uyghurs who exile rights groups say could be retaliating against discrimination by Chinese authorities on the ethnic minority group. Xuan Xin, the police chief of nearby Dolan town, said that the attack by three young Uyghur men was being investigated by national security authorities. “I was not informed about the attackers’ intention, though I’m assuming that they wanted to express their discontent with our government,” he told RFA’s Uyghur Service. “Like many other previous incidents, this was also likely motivated by separatism,” he said of the Jan. 15 attack, which RFA had learned about following a tip off. The three Uyghur men had approached auxiliary guards at the police station complex and asked to meet with the station chief, according to Abdusalam Rozi, a policeman from Dolan. “The auxiliary policemen who were guarding the door did not let them in, saying that the chief was in a meeting,” he said. “During the ensuing argument, the guards realized the youths had something around their waists and demanded to search them. As they were about to be searched, the three young men took out sickles from inside their jackets and attacked the guards, injuring two of them.” Rozi said that during the melee “other police inside the building shot the Uygur youths to death.” Gao Hai, the vice chief of police in Dolan, said one of the auxiliary guards had been severely injured in the attack. “They are being treated at the county hospital. One is injured around the waist, while the other’s condition is more severe.” Gao said that the Uyghur youths were from the Qumeriq and Lenger villages of Yengieriq town, but said he did not know their names. In recent months, dozens of Uyghurs accused by the authorities of terrorism and separatism have been shot dead in lightning raids in Xinjiang, home to some 10 million mostly Muslim Uyghurs. On Dec. 30, Chinese authorities in Yarkand (in Chinese, Shache) county near the Silk Road city of Kashgar opened fire and killed eight Uyghurs who they said attacked a police station, calling them "terrorists" and "religious extremists." At least 91 people, including several policemen, have been killed in violence in Xinjiang since April, state media reported. 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. Enver Molla, a police chief from nearby Tamtoghraq town, told RFA that since last week’s incident “security measures had been increased” in Yengieriq. But he said that the attack was a “matter of national security” and refused to provide details, referring inquiries to the provincial public security office. Respecting traditions The attack occurred on the same day of the arrest of outspoken Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti in Beijing which Uyghur rights groups say underscored the Chinese government's increasingly hardline stance on dissent surrounding Xinjiang. Tohti, who has been critical of official policy in Xinjiang, was detained on suspicion of "breaking the law," according to the Chinese government which had come under fire from the United States and the European Union for the action. Uyghur exile groups say Chinese authorities in Xinjiang have launched a New Year “strike hard” campaign targeting cell phones, computers, religious materials and other “cultural products” belonging to Uyghurs. Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the exile World Uyghur Congress (WUC) group, told RFA recently that the government had been “stepping up these raids, even to the point of armed police shooting Uyghurs who refuse to cooperate and offer some kind of resistance.” He warned that “any provocation could lead to further violence.” Meanwhile, the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s Xinjiang chief Zhang Chunxian called Wednesday for ethnic traditions in Xinjiang to be respected. Zhang said that the government must “treat issues of local tradition with respect and resolve issues of violence with rule of law and severe measures,” Reuters news agency reported, citing his comments in the official Xinjiang Daily. “[The government] must acknowledge the long-term, acute and complex nature of the anti-separatism and violent terrorism fight,” he said, adding that there was no contradiction between stability and development. Uyghurs say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination and oppressive religious controls under Beijing’s policies, blaming the problems partly on the influx of Han Chinese into the region. Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFA’s Uyghur Service. Translated by Mamatjan Juma. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/attack-01222014184920.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.

11 years, 3 months

Season's Greetings from Radio Free Asia

by Rohit Mahajan

>From All of Us at Radio Free Asia, Season's Greetings! Watch our year-end video, marking a few of the year's most important stories RFA covered in 2013. Click here to view <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmSnHr870BY&feature=share&list=UUirnBv9qGKCJ YZSaWmYGFaQ&index=1> . KHM7 Wishing each and every person a safe and peaceful New Year. LogoText

11 years, 4 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: Tiananmen Crash Linked to Xinjiang Mosque Raid

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Tiananmen Crash Linked to Xinjiang Mosque Raid NOV. 6, 2013— An ethnic Muslim Uyghur who plowed his car into a crowded part of Tiananmen Square last week in what the Chinese authorities called a deadly terrorist act may have been angered by a police raid on a mosque in the troubled Xinjiang region, a former official from his home village said Wednesday. Usmen Hesen, who was killed in the crash together with his wife and mother who were also in the vehicle, had publicly vowed to avenge the police raid on the mosque in his Yengi Aymaq village in Xinjiang’s Akto county, former village chief Hamut Turdi said. “I think it is highly possible that Usmen Hesen did this to take revenge for our villagers,” Turdi told RFA’s Uyghur Service. He said that Hesen, aged 33, was furious when Chinese police entered the Pilal mosque compound and tore down the courtyard, which the authorities had termed as an illegal extension of the prayer house built on funds collected from the village community. According to Turdi, Hesen had donated a significant portion of the donated funds. “This is one reason that he might have carried out the Tiananmen attack,” which had also left two tourists dead and injured dozens at the popular site and symbolic heart of the Chinese state, Turdi said. He pointed out that the Pilal mosque raid took place exactly a year before the crash in Tiananmen Square on Oct. 28—“which also leads me to believe this” motive behind the alleged attack. The Yengi Aymaq village is situated in Ujme town under the jurisdiction of the Kizilsu Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang, home to the mostly Muslim Uyghurs who say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination and oppressive religious controls under Beijing’s policies. Turdi, 55, who had worked as Yengi Aymaq village chief for 22 years before he was ousted by authorities over the Pilal mosque incident, recollected Hesen making an emotional speech soon after some 100 police officers surrounded the mosque as workers demolished the courtyard. Hesen made the speech as he told the mosque community to stand down after they argued with the armed police. “At that time, Usmen Hesen jumped in and persuaded the community to disperse by saying, ‘Today they have won and we have lost because they are carrying guns and we have nothing—but don’t worry, one day we will do something ourselves’,” Turdi said. “As Usmen Hesen finished his emotional speech, [his mother] Kuwanhan Reyim went to him crying, and hugged and kissed his forehead because of her pride in him. The crowd was also moved to tears and retreated.” When the mosque community backed down, the demolition team bulldozed the mosque’s courtyard and destroyed part of the walls, Turdi said, adding that they also removed 12 carpets from the mosque and disconnected the building’s water supply and heating system. Hesen left Yengi Aymaq village the next day and never returned, he said. Tiananmen incident The Chinese authorities have blamed the little-known East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) militant group for the Tiananmen raid. Many Uygurs refer to Xinjiang, which borders Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the former Soviet Central Asian republics, as East Turkestan. Last week, a source who claims to know Hesen’s family, suggested that he may have been on a deadly revenge attack after losing a family member during the 2009 bloody riots between Han Chinese and Uyghurs in the Xinjiang capital Urumqi. Another source—Hesen's school classmate—claimed his younger brother had died in a mysterious traffic accident several years ago that had been blamed on the majority Han Chinese or the Chinese authorities. Thousands of Uyghurs had gone missing since they were arrested in large sweep operations following the Urumqi riots, Uyghur groups have claimed. Pilal mosque Turdi said Hesen’s village community had collected around 200,000 yuan (U.S. $32,800) over three years to build the Pilal mosque and successfully applied for a permit to construct it in 2011. After the mosque was built in mid-2012, he said, the community raised another 30,000 yuan (U.S. $4,900) in August that year to lay a concrete floor in the courtyard and build a wall around it to keep the area clean for performing burial rituals. But when the courtyard project was completed, local authorities ordered it torn down because the mosque community had not applied for a new permit to build it. Xinjiang has seen a string of violent incidents in recent years as Beijing tightens security measures and extends house-to-house raids targeting Uyghur families. Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFA's Uyghur Service. Translated by Mamatjan Juma. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/demolition-11062013163042.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.

11 years, 4 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: East Turkestan Flag Found Among Bodies of Uyghur Attackers in Xinjiang

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

East Turkestan Flag Found Among Bodies of Uyghur Attackers in Xinjiang NOV.19, 2013— A group of ethnic Uyghur youths shot dead while storming a police station in China’s restive northwestern Xinjiang region last week had wanted to hoist a flag symbolizing regional independence in a possible suicide mission at the facility, according to police. The attack by the nine youths, in their late teens and early twenties, on the Siriqbuya (in Chinese, Selibuya) police station in Kashgar prefecture’s Maralbeshi (Bachu) county was believed prompted by the arrest of two men linked to the assailants, police said The nine youths, who were armed with knives and sickles, had killed three policemen in the Nov. 16 raid, which the authorities have called a “terrorist” attack. Deputy Siriqbuya police station chief Mahmut Dawut told RFA’s Uyghur Service that the youths had carried the blue and white flag that represented two short-lived independent republics set up within China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region some seven to eight decades ago. He said they were trying to take control of the station and fly the East Turkestan flag above it in emulation of a deadly attack in southern Xinjiang’s Hotan city in July 2011, when a group of young Uyghurs took hostages at a police station and took down the Chinese flag there. The flag of the republics of East Turkestan, set up in 1933 and 1944 within what is now known as Xinjiang, continues to be a symbol of independence by many Uyghurs. Ehmetjan Obul, a police officer who was on duty at the Siriqbuya station on the day of the attack, said the East Turkestan flag had been found lying among the bodies of four of the attackers killed in front of the door of the police station’s main office. “Among those who were killed next to our door, there was a blue flag with a crescent and star,” he said. Qeyim Nijat, another police officer at the Siriqbuya station, also confirmed that the attackers had been carrying the flag. Siriqbuya station police chief Liu Cheng and his deputy Hesen Ablet, who spoke to RFA on the day of the attack, did not mention that the assailants had carried a flag, saying only that the young men had stormed the guard post of the station in the afternoon and were shot dead while attempting to advance to the main office. RFA was unable to immediately contact Liu and Ablet again to verify the latest reports of the attack, the second in Siriqbuya in seven months. Two auxiliary policemen were bludgeoned to death on the spot and another policeman died on the way to the hospital in the latest attack, which ended when a crack security police team arrived and shot all nine dead. Rescue mission? Other police sources told RFA the attack could have been prompted by the arrest of two men in Alaghir village a few miles outside Siriqbuya earlier that afternoon. Police did not say how the two, who had been held in a county detention center at the time of the attack, were linked to the nine, but said that they were their “accomplices.” Dawut said the attack could have been a bid by the group to rescue the duo who they feared could reveal incriminating information about them to the police. “They attacked our police station to rescue their two collaborators, who were captured just one hour before by our co-workers and transferred to a detention center in the county,” he said. It could also have been a “suicide mission” carried out once they knew they might face harsh sentences based on information revealed by the two, he said. “They clearly knew they wouldn’t be able to rescue the two, but their extremist ideology gave them the motivation to try,” he said. "Maybe they assumed that they could face arrest and harsh punishment under the law after their partners’ confession, and that is why they chose to die by attacking the police station.” Police said that they had identified five of the attackers. Discrimination Chinese authorities often accuse Uyghurs of terrorist activities but experts familiar with the region have said Beijing has been exaggerating a terrorism threat to take the heat off domestic policies that cause unrest. Uyghurs say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination, oppressive religious controls, and continued poverty and joblessness in Xinjiang amid an influx of majority Han Chinese in the resource-rich region. The attack on the police station came amid heightened tensions in Xinjiang following a Uyghur-driven car raid on Beijing's Tiananmen Square last month. The government has blamed the Tiananmen attack on "terrorists" from Xinjiang but a former local official said the Uyghur who plowed his car into a crowded part of the highly sensitive site might have been angered by a police raid on a mosque in his hometown. Xinjiang has seen a string of violent incidents in recent years as Beijing tightened security measures and extended house-to-house raids targeting Uyghur families. Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFA’s Uyghur Service. Translated by Mamatjan Juma and Shohret Hoshur. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/siriqbuya-11192013181239.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.

11 years, 5 months

Tibetan Exile Leader Visits Radio Free Asia

by Rohit Mahajan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 15, 2013 Contact: Rohit Mahajan 202 530 4976 <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org Tibetan Exile Leader Visits Radio Free Asia 'China's hardline policies are not working': Sangay WASHINGTON - Speaking with Radio Free Asia <http://www.rfa.org/english/> (RFA) today, Lobsang Sangay, the political head of the Tibetan government-in-exile, renewed his call for China to find a resolution to the Tibetan issue through dialogue. Sangay's comments came during a live interview with RFA's Tibetan Service at RFA's headquarters in Washington. "We are telling the Chinese leadership that their hardline policies are not working in Tibet," Sangay said. "When the Tibetans inside Tibet are resisting by refusing to fly the Chinese national flag in Driru and are protesting against Chinese mining operations, this is proof that China's hardline policy cannot last. "Only through talk and dialogue can the Tibet issue be resolved." Sangay, known as the Sikyong, is the elected head of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), headquartered in Dharamsala, India. Before visiting RFA's studios, Sangay met with Under Secretary Maria Otero at the U.S. State Department, and with U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Representative Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, among other U.S. officials to discuss recent developments in China's Tibetan regions. Over the last two years, more than 120 Tibetans have self-immolated in protest of Beijing's rule. RFA's Tibetan Service has closely covered this topic <http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet> , as well as China's crackdown and the region's unrest, which recently has included large-scale demonstrations against forced displays <http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/flags-11132013170239.html> of loyalty to the Chinese state by Tibetans. Sangay's interview was webcast on RFA Tibetan's website and broadcast via shortwave radio. The full interview is available on the service's website <http://www.rfa.org/tibetan/> . # # # 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 | Radio Free Asia | Media Relations Manager <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org | O: 202.530.4976 | M: 202.489.8021

11 years, 5 months

RFA Unveils e-Book of Jailed Uyghur Writer Yasin's Writings

by Rohit Mahajan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 12, 2013 Contact: Rohit Mahajan 202 530 4976 <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org RFA Unveils e-Book of Jailed Uyghur Writer Yasin's Writings WASHINGTON - Radio Free Asia <http://www.rfa.org/english/> (RFA) today launched an e-book <http://www.rfa.org/english/bookshelf> collecting the writings of Nurmuhemmet Yasin, an award-winning Uyghur writer whom Chinese authorities sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in 2004. The collection, Caged, has been made available for the first time in digital format in the English and Uyghur languages for iPad and Kindle. It includes Yasin's allegorical essay "Wild Pigeon," the original publication of which led to his arrest and jailing, in addition to other writings and audio content. "For the first time, Nurmuhemmet Yasin's writings - which have been banned in China - can now be downloaded on mobile devices to be read and shared widely," said Libby Liu, President of RFA. "Through this e-book, Radio Free Asia is bringing Yasin's works to devoted fans in a new format while allowing those less familiar with his writing an opportunity to experience its power." RFA originally translated "Wild Pigeon" into English in 2005, a year after Yasin's arrest, in addition to producing an audio dramatization of the work for its Uyghur listeners. The essay, an allegory about the life and fate of a pigeon yearning for freedom, was first published in the Kashgar Literary Journal. RFA's dramatization is also included in this e-book. In addition to "Wild Pigeon," the English version of the e-book contains the essay, "What Is Love?" The Uyghur version includes those works in addition to others. The digital publication also contains rich illustrations, created by the Broadcasting Board of Governor's Office of Digital <http://www.innovation-series.com/tag/oddi/> & Design Innovation (ODDI), to accompany the writings. A prolific author and poet, Yasin is an honorary member of the English, American, and Independent Chinese branches of PEN, an international writers group. He published three volumes of poetry: First Love, Crying from the Heart, and Come On, Children, and his writings were included in Uyghur-language school textbooks. Yasin is scheduled to be released in November 2014, and while rumors have circulated that he may have died in prison, none have been confirmed and his family continues to deny them. Yasin was one of the few prisoners in China visited by the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture in 2005. # # # 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 | Radio Free Asia | Media Relations Manager <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org | O: 202.530.4976 | M: 202.489.8021

11 years, 5 months

Radio Free Asia Wins at AIBs for Tiananmen e-Book

by Rohit Mahajan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 7, 2013 Contact: Rohit Mahajan 202 530 4976 <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org Radio Free Asia Wins at AIBs for Tiananmen e-Book WASHINGTON - Radio Free Asia <http://www.rfa.org/english/> (RFA) last night won a top award for its e-book on the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989 in the category of innovative production technology at this year's International Media Excellence Awards, held by the Association of International Broadcasters (AIB). The award was announced at a ceremony, also known as the AIBs, in London. "This award puts a spotlight on an event that Chinese censors have attempted to blot out in the mainland for more than 24 years," said Libby Liu, President of RFA. "This recognition also underscores Radio Free Asia's hard work getting accurate news in difficult media environments. "Radio Free Asia is thrilled to be honored this year at the AIBs among some of the world's greatest journalists and news organizations." Marking the 24th anniversary of the June 4, 1989, crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing, RFA-in close collaboration with the Broadcasting Board of Governors' Office of Digital and Design Innovation <http://www.innovation-series.com/> (ODDI)-launched Remembering Tiananmen <http://www.rfa.org/english/bookshelf> , an interactive e-book in Mandarin and English, in June of this year. Consisting of multimedia content and eyewitness accounts, the digital-format publication recounts the demonstrations and eventual dead-of-night crackdown near Tiananmen Square that left an unknown number of people dead in China's capital. The e-book comprises rare video footage, audio recordings, photographs, and a timeline of events, as well as a detailed account by RFA Executive Editor Dan Southerland, then the Beijing bureau chief for The Washington Post, who covered the events on the ground with a team of reporters. Also included are interviews with surviving student leaders who discuss the demonstrations that began in mid-April and grew to about a million people in May. The publication's section titled "Where Are They Now?" focuses on the lives of these student leaders and other central figures since the 1989 crackdown. The English version is available to iPad users. The Mandarin version is available in all e-book formats: PDF, EPUB, Kindle, and iPad. Other winners this year at the AIBs include RFA's sister broadcaster, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, CNN, BBC World Service, BBC Persian, Channel 4, Radio Taiwan International, and ChannelNews Asia. # # # 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 | Radio Free Asia | Media Relations Manager <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org | O: 202.530.4976 | M: 202.489.8021

11 years, 5 months

Radio Free Asia's 'Gutter Oil' Video Goes Viral

by Rohit Mahajan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 4, 2013 Contact: Rohit Mahajan 202 530 4976 <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org Radio Free Asias Gutter Oil Video Goes Viral Exposé Part of China Food Safety Series WASHINGTON, DC Radio Free Asias shocking video <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrv78nG9R04> exposé on Chinas black market production of gutter oil has gone viral on social media and websites around the world. The video, part of RFAs investigative series <http://www.rfa.org/english/news/special/foodsafety/Home.html> on food safety in China, has reached more than 1.3 million views on YouTube, while news organizations, bloggers, and social media users have picked it up and shared it online with their audiences, networks, and friends. Chinas ongoing struggle with food safety is obviously an issue of major concern for our audience in China, as well as people around the world, said Libby Liu, President of Radio Free Asia. The popularity of RFAs video demonstrates the want and need for investigative reporting, especially in places that, like China, aggressively restrict press freedoms. The video, originally produced by RFAs Cantonese Service, shows rare footage of Chinas black market production of gutter oil. The substance is first harvested as a waste product from grease traps and sewers before being processed in plants that mix it with animal fat and other products. The finished product is eventually sold to street food vendors, restaurants, and hotels to be used as cooking oil. RFAs Poisoned at the Source <http://www.rfa.org/english/news/special/foodsafety/Home.html> , the series in which the exposé first appeared, gives an up-close glimpse into food production in China, focusing on practices in Guangdong Province. The series includes videos on the making and selling of bogus soy milk <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnI7fsb3xdg&feature=youtu.be> , the use of toxic waste as a fertilizer <http://youtu.be/yOEI4-8B-ys> for commercial farming, and practices at an illegal slaughterhouse <http://youtu.be/u0E4Zb33WFs> . From deadly infant formula to the discovery of thousands of dead pigs floating in a major river near Shanghai earlier this year, Chinese consumers increasingly worry whether the food on their tables is safe to eat, as do consumers and authorities in many countries to which China exports. RFAs video has been posted on popular social media site Reddit <http://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/1ph3az/this_video_of_chinese_street _food_made_from/> , in addition to Facebook, Google+, and Twitter, where the hashtag term #GutterOil was trending at one point among last weeks most popular topics. News sites and blogs featuring RFAs video include Washington Posts World Views blog <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/10/28/you-may-never- eat-street-food-in-china-again-after-watching-this-video/> , <http://www.theatlanticcities.com/technology/2013/10/warning-expose-chinas-g utter-oil-black-market-will-churn-your-stomach/7410/> The Atlantic, Reuters <http://news.msn.com/this-expos%C3%A9-of-chinas-gutter-oil-black-market-will -churn-your-stomach> , Mediaite <http://www.mediaite.com/tv/the-making-of-gutter-oil-expose-reveals-horrid-o rigins-of-chinese-cooking-products/> , <http://national.dwnews.com/news/2013-10-30/59342168.html> Duo Wei News, <http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/singaporeseen/this-urban-jungle/you-might -never-eat-food-in-china-again-cooking-oil-comes-from-sewers> Straits Times, <http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/world/2013/11/182_145487.html> Korea Times, HoaHoa Report <http://www.haohaoreport.com/china-news/a-look-into-how-gutter-oil-productio n-is-rife-in-china> , and Take Part <http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/10/31/sustainability-gone-awry-chinas- gutter-oil-industry> , among many others. # # # 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. RFAs 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 | Radio Free Asia | Media Relations Manager <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org | O: 202.530.4976 | M: 202.489.8021

11 years, 5 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: Vietnamese Blogger Released After Night of Questioning

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Vietnamese Blogger Released After Night of Questioning OCT. 31, 2013— An outspoken Vietnamese blogger said he was released Thursday after being held by police on his return home following a six-month trip abroad and questioned about his activities aimed at challenging his country’s strict media controls. Nguyen Lan Thang, who began blogging for RFA’s Vietnamese Service last month, was detained at Hanoi’s Noi Bai airport Wednesday night after returning from trips to Thailand, the Philippines, and Europe, where he met with U.N. human rights officials and with media and advocacy groups. Police freed the blogger on Thursday afternoon after interrogating him overnight, friends said. “I’m fine now, though I had a very tiring night last night,” Thang told RFA’s Vietnamese Service Thursday by phone. He said the Vietnamese authorities were particularly interested in his campaign for the abolition of Article 258, a provision in Vietnam’s penal code that has been used to jail dissidents, and about his training stint in the Philippines. “[The police] wanted to know about my activities related to Declaration 258 and the civil society class operated by Asian Bridge,” a Manila-based human rights and civil society organization, Thang said. Police on his trail Thang said that police have frequently followed him in the past. In an apparent rebuke to state authorities later posted to his Facebook page, Thang “apologized” for the resources taken up by his detention and questioning. “I have used too much of our people’s tax money since yesterday,” he said. Thang, who lives in Hanoi with his wife, was among a group of Vietnamese bloggers who met with U.N. human rights officials in Bangkok in July to report on rights violations in their home country. The group presented officials with a petition, titled Declaration 258, which calls for the removal from Vietnam’s penal code of Article 258, which prohibits “abusing democratic freedoms” and has been used to jail dissidents. Following the Bangkok talks, Thang went to Manila with a dozen other young activists for a training stint with Asian Bridge Philippines and then to a conference in Dublin, Ireland, before returning to the Thai capital for other meetings. 'Learned a lot' Thang said that he had “learned a lot” from the two-week training program in Manila and from his other talks held abroad, adding, “I will definitely write about that.” “There are many things I did not know before my trip. Now, I have learned many things about the operation of foreign organizations.” “Activities in civil society stem from the demands of the people,” Thang said, adding, “Through many aspects of these activities in different places, people gradually come to know their rights and roles, and their demands will be met.” “This is why the spread of such activities is irreversible, and will not be stopped by arrests or jail sentences,” he said. Family support Many of Thang’s family members, some of whom “hold important positions in society,” now support him in his work, he said. “At the beginning, many of them worried about my activities, but gradually they came to understand and support me because of the transparency in what I do.” “Freedom of expression is one of the most important human rights,” Thang said in a video sent to RFA last month. “If it is restricted, social development will be distorted because there will be no one to give feedback on public policies.” Thang has published two blog posts for RFA so far. More than 40 Vietnamese bloggers and activists have been imprisoned so far this year, rights groups say, with many jailed under vaguely worded security provisions. Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranks Vietnam 172nd out of 179 countries on its press freedom index and lists the country as an “Enemy of the Internet.” Reported by Mac Lam for RFA’s Vietnamese Service. Written in English by Richard Finney. View this story online at: <http://www.rfa.org/english/news/vietnam/released-10312013165407.html> http://www.rfa.org/english/news/vietnam/released-10312013165407.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.

11 years, 5 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: Vietnamese Blogger Held on Return from Trip Abroad

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Vietnamese Blogger Held on Return from Trip Abroad OCT. 30, 2013— An outspoken Vietnamese blogger has been detained at Hanoi’s Noi Bai airport upon his return from a three-month trip to the Philippines and Thailand, where he had met with U.N. human rights officials and advocacy and media groups, friends and fellow bloggers said Wednesday. Nguyen Lan Thang, who began blogging for RFA’s Vietnamese Service last month, told friends by telephone that he had been taken into custody Wednesday night Vietnamese time upon arrival from the Thai capital Bangkok, they said. A day before, he had posted on Facebook a brief video message indicating he expected to be arrested. “Hello my friends! When you see this video, it is certain I have been arrested by the security forces,” he said in the clip. “But don't worry, I will come home to be with you all soon,” said Thang, a fierce critic of Vietnam’s strict media controls. Whereabouts unknown Some 30 friends and fellow bloggers had been waiting for Thang at the airport, fellow blogger La Viet Dung said. “Thang had told us to come pick him up. At 8:15 p.m., he called us to let us know that he was detained,” Dung told RFA’s Vietnamese Service. Airport authorities, including immigration officials they were referred to, refused to tell them of Thang’s whereabouts or why he was being held, he said. “Now we don’t know where Thang is.” Meeting with right officials Thang lives in Hanoi with his wife, who is due to have the couple’s first child in a few months. He had been among a group of Vietnamese bloggers who met with U.N. human rights officials in Bangkok in July to report on rights violations in their home country. The group had presented the officials with a petition, known as Declaration 258, that called for a U.N. Human Rights Council review of Vietnam's treatment of activists and for the elimination of Article 258 of the country's penal code, which prohibits "abusing democratic freedoms" and has been used to jail dissidents. Bloggers Phuong Dung and Thao Chi, who also took part in the July meeting, were briefly detained on their return from Bangkok to Vietnam on August 5, sources said. Philippines trip Following the Bangkok talks, Thang went to Manila with a dozen other young activists for a training stint with a civil society organization in the Philippines before returning to the Thai capital for other meetings. His colleagues who attended the two-week 2013 Civil Society study program with rights organization Asian Bridge Philippines in Manila were held by the authorities for about a day on their return home amid suspicion in Hanoi that they might be involved in anti-government activities, according to friends and family. Asian Bridge Philippines slammed the Vietnamese government for the action, calling on Hanoi to respect the “basic rights” of all Vietnamese “to freely travel and learn about the development of civil society in other nations in the region.” The group said that as part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc of 10 nations, Vietnam should “encourage their citizens to learn about other nations’ history and society, instead of instilling fear, so that the mission of ASEAN can be soon achieved.” Aside from Vietnam, ASEAN comprises Laos, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Video message In a video Thang sent to RFA last month, he spoke out against limits Vietnamese authorities place on social media, describing controls placed on those who expose politically sensitive issues such as land grabs and corruption in the one-party communist state. “The social media network is an important tool for me to express my views. At the same time, it has gotten me and those who share my views in trouble,” he said in the video. “Freedom of expression is one of the most important human rights. If it is restricted, social development will be distorted because there is no one to give feedback on public policies.” Thang has published two blog posts for RFA so far. More than 40 Vietnamese bloggers and activists have been imprisoned so far this year, rights groups say, many of them imprisoned under vaguely worded security provisions. Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranks Vietnam 172nd out of 179 countries on its press freedom index and lists the country as an “Enemy of the Internet.” Reported by RFA’s Vietnamese Service. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/vietnam/nguyen-lan-thang-10302013153752.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.

11 years, 5 months

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