RFA Unplugged

Archive for May, 2008

The joy of modern appliances in North Korea

Oh, the magic of modern conveniences! Back in the American 1970s, realtors used to write “ALL MOD CONS” in flyers to indicate the presence of life-changing, labor-saving devices such as electric washers and dryers, and (don’t swoon) gas ovens. Then along came the slow-cooker, and suburban homemakers took off for paying jobs in the city. [...]

Sichuan: Anger at local officials in An county

I would say, the wrath of heaven is merciless but the officials in our county are even more merciless. – Resident of An county, Sichuan [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJgeBMcQl9A] The soldier on relief work in this interview is saying that there are basically no more signs of life in Beichuan county, Sichuan, where two-thirds of the population was [...]

Sichuan: Town menaced by subsiding mountain, lakes

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL7rM-aW2KA] May 22, 2008 by RFA Cantonese service reporter Hai Nan In the countryside near Mianzhu city, Sichuan province, the earthquake has cut off major communication routes, leaving people to struggle across the deep valleys on foot as best they can. Many are now on the move to enquire about loved ones. One woman anxiously [...]

Who’ll stop the pain?

Under the 2004 North Korean Human Rights Act, the United States offered fast-track processing for North Korean asylum-seekers. So far, 53 North Koreans have been granted refugee status here. Some tell stories that remind an old Asia hand of the worst Khmer Rouge atrocities. Others just remind us that evil is mostly banal—and sometimes the [...]

Sichuan: Pingwu primary school devastated

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTe5g0bSL8g] This video shows the main gate and dormitory area of what used to be a primary school in Pingwu county, Sichuan. Children’s drawings are still taped to the wall.

Sichuan: "The city of Beichuan no longer exists"

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy6rzt-JRDI] The man in this video explains to Lin Di that there is an entire village; houses, people, everything, buried under the large mound of earth as a result of the earthquake. He says the river waters were building up against the landslide until the People’s Armed Police came and blasted the earth away to [...]

Sichuan: Video from aftershock epicenter

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQih7wo093M] Reporting by Mandarin service reporter Lin Di Tr. Luisetta Mudie PINGWU COUNTY, Sichuan–The dusty road from Jiangyou city to Pingtong township is obstructed at every turn by hooting traffic and fallen lumps of concrete. Five kilometers from the worst-hit area, buses are forced to halt and their passengers begin to walk towards the scene [...]

Lyric and lament from North Korea

Jang Jin-sung is most accurately described as a former “court poet,” since North Korea’s secretive leader, Kim Jong Il, runs his government rather the same way European royalty hundreds of years ago ran theirs. Early Modern literati won grand favors for depicting the leader of the day as, say, anointed by God, worshipped by all, [...]

Burma: "They're faking it everywhere"

They’re faking it everywhere. They fake it by video taping, and then leaving that area. They’re just looking for an opportunity to video tape when authorities come. People are suffering from the storm. They are building elaborate stages, with velvet backdrops, and writing things like who is donating what for the storm victims. They want [...]

Sichuan: Video and interviews from Dujiangyan

RFA Mandarin service Hong Kong-based reporter Lin Di reports from Dujiangyan, Sichuan province: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUMccbt5Le0] These forces are specialists in getting people out from under collapsed building, this officer says. They are usually stationed in Yunnan. They have been in Dujiangyan for three days.  “There are forces here from Sichuan, Yunnan, and many other provinces,” he [...]