I am Qin Yongmin’s ex-wife. My name is Li Jingfang. My hope is that the authorities will show some leniency, understanding and generosity to those in prison at this time, with the approach of the Olympic Games. I really hope that Qin Yongmin will be released from jail a little earlier. He has already served 10 years in jail, since 1998. Continue reading »
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 the 17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. [Read more in English from RFA.]
Dr. Chen, a physician from Shanghai, said the meeting was over before it started. “According to the Party, everything is great, nice, and complete. The social grievance is so strong, but they only ignore it.” Continue reading »
Online newspaper Irrawaddy reports:
A resident of Shwegondine, Bahan Township, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that she saw a group of four dogs with pictures of the regime’s top generals around their necks.
Sightings were also reported in four other Rangoon townships—Tharkayta, Dawbon, Hlaing Tharyar and South Okkalapa.
Some sources said the canine protest had started at least a week ago, and was keeping the authorities busy trying to catch the offending dogs. “They seem quite good at avoiding arrest,” laughed one resident. Continue reading »
MANDARIN: Interview with Li Heping (09/30/07)
MC: Li Heping, a lawyer from Beijing Gaobo Longhua law firm, has engaged in quite a few rights-protection legal activities. On Saturday, he was suddenly kidnapped by a group of unknown gangsters. It was reported to the RFA station that the kidnappers took Li Heping to an unidentified building and beat him up. They plundered his mobile hardware from his computer and the chip from his cell phone, and they copied the contents of his laptop. After about six hours, Li Heping was dropped by the kidnappers in the outskirts of Beijing. He returned home afterwards. Continue reading »
I have received this petition twice in my Inbox this morning by e-mail. The image is part of an advertisement campaigners plan to take out in major newspapers Saturday. The following is a translation of an interview by RFA’s Burmese service with a Rangoon resident:
Man: Around 2 am in the morning they came with their trucks and woke up everyone in the houses and asked them to get out of their houses. It was around 3 am. They left only old people in the houses. Those who’d been asked to leave the houses were asked to bring three sets of clothing. I don’t know where they were taken. They were all put onto the trucks and taken away with their heads bowed, and their hands on their heads. Continue reading »
This rather shaky video was taken on Danxian Road, and appears to show the authorities removing banners attached to the roof of the apartment building.
More than 200 residents of an apartment block in the eastern coastal city of Qingdao have begun a protest after being ordered to vacate their homes, RFA’s Cantonese service reports. Continue reading »
UYGHUR: Man Tortured For Listening to RFA Programs (09/03/07)
Reporter: Abdulla
Man: I was arrested by the authorities for listening to RFA programs. Some people, er, my arrest was linked to some people, er, some traitors who had reported me [to the authorities]. The radio used to broadcast here for about a half an hour from 7:00 a.m. to 7:30 a.m., er, a half hour.
Right after finishing the program, I left the house to go home. As soon as I came out of the house, two policemen came towards me with an arrest warrant, er, the arrest warrant in their hands. Continue reading »
MANDARIN: Reporting Corruption on the Internet (08/10/07)
Xiao Qiang (XQ): Today, I would like to talk about the underlying problems of reporting corrupt officials on the Internet. A new trend is emerging as the use of the Internet becomes popularized in China. That is, grass-root Web sites, that encourage the public to report corrupt officials, are popping up all over the Internet. On one hand, the Chinese government is imposing control over the contents on the Internet. But, on the other hand, the government hopes that this new medium will help curb the widespread corruption among local officials by soliciting the help of the netizens in the monitoring and supervision efforts. As a result, many government branches launched Web sites that allow citizens to report corruption via email, with promises that the complaints will be heard and handled accordingly. Continue reading »
The following are translated extracts from interviews done by RFA’s Burmese service:
Eyewitness Account
09/27/07
Speaker: I saw it at Myintha Project area. That was the Number 31 old bus terminal. I went there because I heard people couldn’t stand it any more, so they had surrounded the security forces and attacked them with knives. It’s really true that with knives they were attacking people holding guns. According to unconfirmed news [Translator’s Note: Unclear], even the guns have arrived. The military arrived after we did. They came in their vehicles, and there were at least 15 people in a vehicle. I saw four vehicles. I saw them shooting, with my own eyes. I saw them shooting, and I saw people shot at. I don’t know whether they died or how many corpses there were. Continue reading »
RFA’s Mandarin service interviewed this man last night. You can read the interview in full below, and go to our English Web story for more background and context. [Photo via Ko Htike.]
“I’m a citizen of Singapore who lives in Rangoon. At around 4:00 in the afternoon today (Thursday), my wife and I were on our way back to my office… We were some 500 meters from a huge crowd of protesters who were surrounded by troops. We heard gunshots, lots of gunshots. The road to my office was blocked. I got out of the car to see what was going on. All of a sudden, a truck carrying soldiers pulled up. More than 20 soldiers got out and started shooting, firing rubber bullets. I told my wife to duck. One of the soldiers shot me twice with rubber bullets, one in the left leg, one in the right foot. They kicked me and the other people around me and told us to squat down in a ditch. Continue reading »