RFA Unplugged

Archive for October, 2007

Cantonese: Two land protests

Six villagers’ representatives from Wanglou village, Funing County in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu were detained on the night of Oct. 28 over a land compensation dispute, sources told RFA’s Cantonese service(ZH). The wife of one detained man, Yang Jiaren, said: “About 7 or 8 policemen intruded into our house and brought Yang away [...]

Missing lawyer Gao Zhisheng's book comes out in English

“There are many reasons why a writer may be unable to attend the publication of his own book. For me however, it is particularly painful not to be present at the release of my book, for it is not merely a matter of personal regret for the writer himself to be absent on such an [...]

Ban the Banners: Bao Tong on the Party Congress

This essay by Bao Tong, a former top aide to the late ousted premier Zhao Ziyang, was broadcast by RFA’s Mandarin service on Oct. 23(ZH). I have included the Chinese text below. You can read previous essays by Bao Tong posted in English on this blog here. “It is my opinion that there is nothing [...]

Burma Internet censorship – a report by the OpenNet initiative

ONI has released a report on the Burmese government’s shutdown of the Internet. It’s a technical analysis of the Internet’s uptime, documenting a complete shutdown, followed by intermittent periods of up-time throughout early October. It also includes interesting observations about the use of Internet by both sides: the demonstrators and the military regime.  You can get the report [...]

Burma: Comedian had 'nice room' in Insein

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue2XFjU4BCA] When I first read this I assumed that ‘military dogs’ means government soldiers. But then the presenter takes him literally … this man brings a bowl and a plastic spoon home from Insein prison as souvenirs of his stay there, and describes his cell as ‘nice’. Life, it seems, is beautiful… Announcer: The 47-year-old [...]

Burma: A musician's view of Insein prison

Intro: U Ye Lwin is a 60-year-old guitar player and singer-song writer from Myizzima Hlaing, the famous music band. On Sept. 27, he sat on Pansodan main road and prayed and demonstrated along with the monks and the public, and was released from prison on the 18th of this month. While in Insein prison (pictured [...]

Burma: Monks' leader speaks

Image from NikNayman’s blog. U Gambira, a leader of the All-Burma Monks’ Alliance that spearheaded nationwide protests in Burma in September, became a fugitive following the deadly Sept. 26-27 crackdown on protesters nationwide. “My situation is not good. I have slept without shelter for two nights. I am not very well now. My security is [...]

Burma: Detentions continue. Activist fears for her children.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UqQaizM15Q] Thet Thet Aung (female) was one of the activists hunted down by authorities for supporting the Sangha (monks’) movement. She and her husband both supported the Sangha movement, like many others. On 10/8/07 authorities tried to arrest Thet Thet Aung and her husband (Chit Ko Lin – her husband)) near Mingalar market in Rangoon, [...]

China: Tight Internet controls during Party Congress

The following is translated from RFA’s Mandarin service, reporter: Ding Xiao. You can read and hear the original in Chinese here: There’s no point. They already have instructions about what they can publish and what they can’t. For example, my article asked whether or not the 17th Party Congress could be like the fall of [...]

Mandarin: Listener comments on 17th Party Congress

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6EuPUCiQuc] The video shows then President Liu Shaoqi giving his work report at the 8th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. Mao sits behind him on the podium, probably plotting Liu’s downfall… Callers to Jill Ku’s call-in show appeared largely disappointed at the more than two hour-long speech given by President Hu Jintao at [...]