Read about this topic in Khmer. Cambodia threatened Monday to ban imports of Thai fruit and vegetables within 24 hours as a border dispute deepened after bilateral talks at the weekend failed to breach the impasse between the Southeast Asian neighbors. On Sunday, Cambodia formally requested the International Court of Justice, or ICJ, resolve claims over four areas of the disputed 800-kilometer (500-mile) Thai-Cambodia border. Thailand reiterated Monday that it rejects the compulsory jurisdiction of the court. The developments pointed to prolonged tensions over a territorial spat that stirs nationalist…
Category: RFA
Lao democracy activist seriously wounded in knife attack in France
Exiled Lao democracy activist Joseph Akaravong is recovering in hospital after emergency surgery following a knife attack in southwestern France by an unidentified assailant, the activist and a human rights group said Monday. French news portal Sud Ouest reported that a man in his 30s was stabbed three times in the throat and torso around noon on Saturday in the center of the city of Pau then rushed to hospital there. It said the attacker was still at large. On Monday, Akaravong posted on Facebook a photo from his hospital…
China labor rights group shuts down in latest setback for civil society in Hong Kong
A Hong Kong-based labor rights group founded by prominent Chinese labor activist Han Dongfang has announced it is shutting down after three decades of tracking workers’ protests in China, citing financial difficulties and debt woes. The closure of China Labor Bulletin, announced Thursday, came as authorities launched a new national security investigation into six unnamed people and one organization suspected of “colluding with a foreign country.” Shortly after officials launched the probe, China Labor Bulletin – which receives funding from various foundations based outside China – announced its closure, saying:…
Hong Kong bans gaming app that police say incites ‘armed revolution’ against China
The app makers call it a “war saga” where gamers can choose a rebel faction from Hong Kong, Taiwan and even Tibet and then play at fighting Chinese communist forces – or if they choose, fight for the communist side instead. But it seems like whichever side you choose, it could get you into trouble in Hong Kong. This week, the city’s police issued a stark warning against downloading the mobile app “Reversed Front: Bonfire” on the grounds that the game is “advocating armed revolution and the overthrow of the…
Hong Kong exiles seek to preserve democracy’s memory through Lennon Walls in Taiwan
Exiled Hong Kongers are looking to revive the city’s famed Lennon Walls in Taiwan to serve as powerful reminders of a democracy movement that Beijing has sought to erase, even as no commemorative events were allowed in their home soil to mark the sixth anniversary of Hong Kong’s massive anti-extradition protests. “The Lennon Wall is an important collective memory for us (Hong Kongers),” said Hong Kong artist Kacey Wong, who moved to Taiwan’s Taichung city in 2021. “From 2014 to 2019, it was the place where we spread our democratic…
Tax enforcement drive in Vietnam leads to mass closures of shops, small businesses
Images of deserted markets and shuttered shops are circulating across Vietnamese social media – not the result of a pandemic, but as the visible impact of a government policy. In recent weeks, the Vietnamese government has rolled out a sweeping campaign to crack down on counterfeit goods and to enforce a new tax collection regime. The primary targets have been small businesses. The prime minister issued a directive on May 24 urging all levels of government to “step up the fight against counterfeit goods.” The government also introduced Decree 70,…
US resettlement freeze leaves Vietnamese refugee fearing deportation from Thailand
Vietnamese asylum seeker An and his family had one foot in the door to resettlement in the United States — until President Donald Trump issued an executive order that closed it. The Jan. 20 executive order was just the beginning of his problems. On May 27, his wife Ngoc got a phone call from her husband. “I’ve been arrested by the police,” An told her. He’d been arrested by Thai police in Bangkok where his family of four had sought asylum seven years earlier and were waiting patiently for resettlement.…
Scorsese reflects on ‘spiritual act’ of making film about the Dalai Lama
NEW YORK — The making of Martin Scorsese’s 1997 Oscar-nominated film Kundun was a “spiritual act” and a “very personal and special project,” the legendary filmmaker said at a rare public screening of the film on the big screen at the Tribeca Festival in New York. Friday’s screening was part of global celebrations honoring the Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday. Kundun chronicles the early life of the Tibetan spiritual leader, from his discovery as the 14th Dalai Lama as a young child in Tibet to his escape into exile in India…
Chinese police crackdown on writers of online erotic fiction
Police in northwestern China are cracking down on writers of online erotic fiction across the country, including many college students, according to RFA sources and media reports, amid concern that officers are punishing people outside their jurisdiction. Police in Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province, have been summoning writers who don’t even live there. A report from Caixin media group said some have been referred to police for prosecution, and anecdotal evidence indicates writers are facing substantial fines. A source who spoke to Radio Free Asia on condition of anonymity…
OPINION: Lessons from testing AI on the truth of Tiananmen
Last week marked the 36th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Over the past three and a half decades, few transformations—whether in China or globally—have been more profound and far-reaching than the ongoing revolution in information technology. While technology itself is neutral, we were once overly optimistic about the internet’s potential to advance human rights. Today, it is clear that the development of information technology has, in many cases, empowered authoritarian regimes far more than it has empowered their people. Moreover, it has eroded the foundations of democratic societies…