NEW DELHI, India — The Dalai Lama has undergone surgery on his left knee on Monday, his personal physician confirmed. Dr. Tsetan D. Sadutshang, the Tibetan spiritual leader’s longtime personal physician, appeared in a video statement from New Delhi, where the Dalai Lama, 90, is recuperating following the procedure. “Today, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama had a very successful knee surgery on his left knee, and his right knee was done in New York in 2024,” Dr. Sadutshang said. “I am here to relay this message to all the…
Category: RFA
Satellite pics reveal Vietnamese construction boom in disputed Spratly chain
Vietnam is building military and maritime infrastructure at 27 sites across at least 18 reefs in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, satellite imagery analyzed by Radio Free Asia revealed. The improvements include ports, runways, military facilities and communications arrays that will improve Hanoi’s maritime and airspace awareness, experts told RFA. “Hanoi is likely hoping that this development will deter Chinese action against Vietnamese economic activity at sea, including fishing and offshore oil and gas,” Harrison Prétat, deputy director of the Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, or…
No vigils: Hong Kong’s Victoria Park silent on Tiananmen crackdown anniversary
Read the original version of this story on RFA Mandarin. Hong Kong’s Victoria Park is now much quieter on the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, and residents told Radio Free Asia that they find it jarring. The park had once been the epicenter of peaceful democratic resistance as hundreds of thousands turned out for yearly candlelight vigils to remember the victims of Chinese government’s June 4, 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Beijing. Now on that day, pro-China showcases are held in the park, and there’s no mention of…
Exclusive: Tiananmen victims’ families banned from visiting graves on anniversary
Read the original version of this story in Mandarin. Days before the 37th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, several relatives of victims of the crackdown learned they would be forbidden this year from visiting their graves, they told Radio Free Asia. Members of the Tiananmen Mothers group that represents the families said they received notice from the Beijing Municipal Security Bureau that for the first time in more than 30 years, they will not be permitted on the premises of Wanan Cemetery, the final resting place of many of…
EXPLAINED: Why Taiwan wants U.S. weapons and why Washington supplies them
With Taiwan hoping for swift delivery of a US$14 billion weapons sale approved by the U.S. Congress in January, a U.S. official said last week in a Senate hearing that foreign military sales are on pause to protect munitions stockpiles as conflict in Iran continues. U.S. weapons sales have been an integral part of Taiwan’s security since Washington ended diplomatic recognition of Taipei in favor of Beijing in 1979. Despite the loss of recognition, through arms sales and other agreements, Washington is still a de-facto military protector of the democratic…
Aung San Suu Kyi transferred to house arrest
Updated on April 30, 2025 at 7:42 p.m. ET Myanmar’s former leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been transferred to house arrest, the country’s military-controlled state media announced Thursday. Kim Aris speaks about his mother Aung San Suu Kyi’s transfer from prison to house arrest (RFA Video) The 80-year old state counselor was moved from Naypyidaw prison to “the designated residence” to serve the remainder of her sentence, state-run MRTV reported without specifying exactly where this residence was. State media also showed a the first public photo of the former…
Award-winning Burmese journalist Shin Daewe released from prison
YANGON — Myanmar’s military junta Friday released award-winning documentary filmmaker and former RFA contributor Shin Daewe who had been in detention since October 2023 for buying a video drone. Outside of Yangon’s Insein Prison, Shin Daewe, who was handed a life sentence for “abetting terrorism” in 2024, told Radio Free Asia that there are still many on the inside that were in need of prayers. “I am the happiest,” she said. “Whether it’s me or one of the others, we all just wanted every day to see our families. I…
Myanmar junta says it seized 30 Starlink receivers in scam center raid
Myanmar’s junta said on Monday it raided one of the country’s most notorious cyberscam centers and seized Starlink satellite internet devices. Myanmar government media The Global New Light of Myanmar said the military “conducted operations in KK Park near Myanmar-Thai border” and had “seized 30 sets of Starlink receivers and accessories,” according to the AFP news agency. AFP said that number is only a fraction of the Starlink devices they identified using satellite imagery and drone photography. On the roof of one building alone in KK Park, images showed nearly…
Myanmar junta admits it’s unable to conduct election across entire country
The European Union’s Special Representative for Human Rights Kajsa Ollongren said on Thursday that they would not send observers to an election in military-ruled Myanmar, as it was unlikely to result in a credible outcome, according to the Reuters news agency. It follows Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing admitting on Wednesday that the military-backed administration will be unable to conduct an upcoming general election across the entire country, as a civil war triggered by a 2021 coup rages on. myanmar-elections Election officials display a ballot as they count votes…
South Korea issues travel ban after nationals trapped in Cambodia scam centers
RFA Perspectives — South Korea issued a “code-black” travel ban for parts of Cambodia on Oct. 15 and dispatched a team of high-level officials to help nationals lured into working in scam compounds and secure the release of those held against their will, according to the Reuters news agency. More than 1,000 South Koreans are believed to be among about 200,000 people of various nationalities involved in the scam compounds in Cambodia, South Korea’s National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac told reporters. Video: Why Cambodia and Southeast Asia became a scam…