External-List May 2021

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Radio Free Asia, WHYNOT Win Hong Kong Human Rights Award

by Rohit Mahajan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : May 6, 2021 Contact : Rohit Mahajan | 202.530.4976 | mahajanr(a)rfa.org Radio Free Asia, WHYNOT Win Hong Kong Human Rights Award WASHINGTON – [ https://www.rfa.org/ | Radio Free Asia ] (RFA) and its online affiliate [ https://www.wainao.me/ | WHYNOT ] were announced as winners of the 25th annual Hong Kong-based [ https://humanrightspressawards.org/ | Human Rights Free Press Awards ] . RFA’s Mandarin Service reporter Amelia Hei Loi earned the top prize in the audio category for her [ https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/shehui/AL-10032020033853.html | series ] on the tensions between the Vatican and Beijing over regulation of the appointment of Chinese bishops. WHYNOT contributor Jieping Zhang won in the commentary writing category for her essay [ https://stories.wainao.me/---the-truth-isn-t-dead---you-just-don-t-believe-… | The truth isn’t dead: You just don’t believe it anymore ] . “We are extremely proud of our journalists for their timely coverage and commentary on the struggle for human rights in Hong Kong and China,” said RFA President Bay Fang. “This recognition is a testament to our incisive brand of journalism, which is more crucial than ever in providing real, unbiased information to authoritarian countries that censor their own citizens and the news they receive. “ With these awards, we are reminded of the important responsibility we bear over 25 years of bringing free press to closed societies.” RFA Mandarin’s series on the push and pull between the Vatican and Beijing over bishop appointments followed developments in the lead-up to the renewal of an agreement between the two sides in October 2020. Explaining the complex dynamics of relations between the two parties, the series touched on the surprise resignation of the Bishop of Fujian province, implications of the developments for the Catholic church in Hong Kong, and the impact that the Vatican’s cooperation with Beijing has on Chinese Christians. In her commentary for WHYNOT The truth isn’t dead: You just don’t believe it anymore , contributing writer Jieping Zhang traces the history of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) recent efforts to discredit independent thinkers like popular Weibo users and bloggers, the upgrade of CCP censorship efforts for a new information age, and the implications of disinformation for a Hong Kong increasingly under Beijing’s thumb. Her argument urges readers against the temptation to give into despair as forces of misinformation aim to discredit fact-based reporting and journalism-- one of the pillars of democracy and a source of oversight seen as threatening by authoritarian regimes the world over. Other [ https://humanrightspressawards.org/25th-human-rights-press-awards-2021-winn… | winners ] in this year’s competition included pieces submitted from Reuters, Rappler, and Apple Daily, among others. The Hong Kong Human Rights Awards are organized each year by the Foreign Correspondents Club of Hong Kong, Amnesty International and the Hong Kong Journalists Association. The stated [ https://humanrightspressawards.org/ | goal ] of the awards is to increase respect for people’s basic rights and to focus attention on threats to those freedoms. # # # Rohit Mahajan Vice President of Communications and External Relations Radio Free Asia

3 years, 4 months

Radio Free Asia President: Crucial to fill a gap for local news

by Rohit Mahajan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : May 3, 2021 Contact : Rohit Mahajan | 202.530.4976 | mahajanr(a)rfa.org RFA President Calls for Justice for Journalists on World Press Freedom Day WASHINGTON -- Marking World Press Freedom Day amid alarming global trends toward the spread of disinformation and a growing distrust in fact-based journalism, [ https://www.rfa.org/english/ | Radio Free Asia ] (RFA) President Bay Fang renewed a call for an end to the persecution of reporters. Highlighting the darkening media environments in Hong Kong and Myanmar, Fang urged for the protection of the independence of news outlets and safety of journalists. “The brutal decline of press freedom during the pandemic underscores an urgent need for responsible journalism, which should never be on trial. Increasingly sophisticated tactics employed by censors in Hong Kong, Myanmar, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and Vietnam, mean that RFA’s reporting has become ever more crucial in filling the gap for local news,” Fang said. “In Myanmar, the military junta has shuttered all domestic independent media outfits, depriving Burmese citizens of trustworthy information when it’s needed most. “Authorities in Vietnam and Cambodia have unjustly charged and jailed former RFA contributors for their work amid wide-ranging crackdowns on critics and citizen journalists. The Chinese government has gone so far as to make an RFA Uyghur journalist the target of a smear campaign while pursuing an endless persecution of her and her colleagues’ families. The recent arrests and prosecutions of Hong Kong journalists have all but blighted hopes of a local free press surviving in the territory for much longer. “As RFA marks its 25th consecutive year of bringing free press to closed societies in Asia, we reiterate the essential role of journalism in lifting up the voices of the unheard and holding the powerful accountable to those they purport to serve.” In Vietnam, RFA contributors [ https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/conviction-of-nguyen-tuong-thuy-a-2018bl… | Nguyen Tuong Thuy ] , [ https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/condemns-conviction-03092020120832.html | Truong Duy Nhat ] and [ https://www.usagm.gov/news-and-information/threats-to-press/nguyen-van-hoa/ | Nguyen Van Hoa ] are serving sentences of 11, 10 and seven years respectively. In Cambodia, former RFA journalists Yeang Sothearin and Uon Chhin have remained in a [ https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/chhin-and-sothearin-appeal-decision-0127… | legal limbo ] two years after a judge ordered their re-investigation, despite a prior investigation finding no conclusive evidence of wrongdoing. And in China’s Uyghur region, relatives of at least eight RFA journalists have been [ https://www.rfa.org/english/news/special/uyghurfamilies/ | detained in retaliation ] for RFA’s Uyghur Service’s explosive coverage of the internment of over a million Uyghurs and other minorities in the province. Chinese authorities made unfounded accusations against RFA Uyghur journalist Gulchehra Hoja as part of [ https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/smear-04132021191322.html | a smear campaign ] against expatriate Uyghurs who have publicly spoken out about the prison state in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. In commemoration of World Press Freedom Day, RFA also launched a [ https://twitter.com/RadioFreeAsia/status/1387542142277586944 | social media campaign ] emphasizing a free press’s role in ensuring transparency. Across [ https://twitter.com/RadioFreeAsia | Twitter ] , [ https://www.facebook.com/RFAEnglish | Facebook ] and [ https://www.facebook.com/RFAEnglish | Instagram ] , the campaign highlights recent RFA exclusives -- from the exposure of police brutality against Burmese protesters and volunteer medics, to the disappearance of Chinese whistleblowers who aimed to tell the world about COVID-19, and many more -- that shed light on events that otherwise would be blotted out by censors. In its recently released [ https://rsf.org/en/2021-world-press-freedom-index-journalism-vaccine-agains… | 2021 Press Freedom Index, ] media freedom watchdog [ https://rsf.org/en | Reporters Without Borders ] (RSF) noted a general “dramatic deterioration in people's access to information and an increase in obstacles to news coverage” around the world, and highlighted the seriousness of the situation in Asia. The report cited the rising threats to free press in Hong Kong (which dropped seven places in the global rankings to 80th place) in its assessment of China (ranked 177th out of 180 countries). The report also pointed out China’s increased efforts to promote its own repression as a model for other nations’ governments to squash independent journalism and dissent. # # # Rohit Mahajan Vice President of Communications and External Relations Radio Free Asia

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External-List May 2021