FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 19,
2010
Contact:
John Estrella 202 530 4900 estrellaj@rfa.org
Rohit Mahajan 202 530 4976 mahajanr@rfa.org
Beijing-based RFA Contributor Wins Women’s ‘Courage’
Award
But Chinese Authorities Bar Woeser from Accepting
Honor in Person
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Radio Free Asia contributor and
freelance Tibetan blogger Tsering Woeser was honored with the 2010 Courage in
Journalism Award by the International Women’s Media Foundation at a ceremony in
New York. However, Woeser, who is based in Beijing, has long been denied a
passport from the Chinese government, and could not attend the ceremony held in
New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel to accept the award in person.
“Courage is the defining trait in Tsering Woeser’s life
and work,” said Dan Southerland, Radio Free Asia’s Vice President and
Executive Editor, who attended the ceremony. “If only she were here in
person to receive this distinguished award and know firsthand the recognition
and respect she commands among her journalistic peers.”
Undeterred by orders and threats from official quarters,
living under constant police surveillance, and subject to repeated attacks on
her blogs and e-mail accounts, Woeser has persevered in reporting human rights
abuses in the Tibetan region. Woeser continues to publish commentary on Radio
Free Asia’s website and break stories about crackdowns in Tibet on her
Chinese-language blog, Invisible
Tibet. Because Woeser is a banned writer in China, her website is
hosted abroad.
In April 2009, The New York Times cited Woeser’s blog as one
of the few reliable news outlets for those able to circumvent China’s Great
Firewall. Unfortunately for Woeser, this recognition also means living with risk.
Sources and friends with whom she speaks are subject to detention and
interrogation.
Woeser originally was a reporter and eventually became an
editor for a government-controlled Tibetan literary journal. After the
publication of her best-selling book Notes on Tibet, which was banned in
late 2003, Woeser was told by authorities to change her point of view in order
to keep her job. She refused. Woeser then moved to Beijing and began
blogging. In a 2006 interview with Radio Free Asia, Woeser said she would
never stop writing.
She said, “While I was working in an office in Lhasa, I was
paid well. But I never felt free, and it bothered me ... When I was fired
from the job, the incident led me to the freedom to express myself in writing.”
Here is a link to RFA’s website slideshow on Woeser’s
life in pictures: http://www.rfa.org/english/multimedia/WoeserSlideshow-10012008162026.html
Here is a link to Woeser’s most recent
English-translated commentary for RFA: http://www.rfa.org/english/commentaries/languages-09222010105909.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.
Rohit
Mahajan
Media
Relations Manager
Radio
Free Asia
2025
M Street NW
Washington
DC 20036
Desk:
(202) 530-4976
Cell:
(202) 489-8021
Email:
mahajanr@rfa.org