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China honors late general linked to Cultural Revolution cannibalism
China, Top News

China honors late general linked to Cultural Revolution cannibalism

Yitong Wu and Kit Sung for RFA Cantonese The ruling Chinese Communist Party has enshrined the ashes of a general who presided over a Cultural Revolution massacre that included cannibalism of those deemed “enemies of the people” by late supreme leader Mao Zedong. On Oct. 24, officials reburied the ashes of People’s Liberation Army founding general and former Guangxi regional party chief Wei Guoqing – 35 years after his death. The full-honors burial ceremony at Beijing’s Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery – the resting place of China’s high-ranking leaders and revolutionary heroes – was attended by high-ranking guests, including the descendants of late revolutionary leaders Zhu De and Peng Dehuai. China-enshrines-cultural-revolution-leader-guangxi-massacre-cannibalism_02 A poster showing...
As China sentences prominent dissidents, others protest behind bars
China, Top News

As China sentences prominent dissidents, others protest behind bars

  FILE - Chinese lawyer Yu Wensheng is seen working at his office in Beijing, Feb. 24, 2107. On Oct. 29, 2024, a court in Suzhou, China, sentenced the human rights lawyer and his wife, Xu Yan, to prison on charges including "inciting subversion of state power." taipei, taiwan — A court in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou on Tuesday sentenced Chinese human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng and his wife, Xu Yan, to prison. Yu and Xu were detained by police in April 2023 while on the way to meet with high-level European officials visiting China. They were later charged with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and “inciting subversion of state power,” two crimes that Chinese authorities often use against dissidents. Yu was sentenced to three years in prison, while Xu, who had a...
Life sentence for Vietnamese tycoon already facing death penalty
Asia-pacific, Top News

Life sentence for Vietnamese tycoon already facing death penalty

Businesswoman Truong My Lan was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday in relation to a multi-billion-dollar fraud for which she already faces the death penalty, Vietnamese media reported. The Chairwoman of property developer Van Thinh Phat appeared at Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court to hear the verdict after a month-long trial. Lan, 68, was found guilty of fraud, money laundering and cross-border currency trafficking. In April, Lan was sentenced to death for embezzling US$12.5 billion, and a total of 40 years for bribery and violating bank regulations. The court ordered her to repay $27 billion in loans to companies in the Van Thinh Phat group from Siam Commercial Bank, or SCB, in which she holds a 91% stake. Lan’s lawyers said she planned to appeal the death sentence, althou...
Panel urges Secret Service overhaul in response to Trump shooting
Top News, World

Panel urges Secret Service overhaul in response to Trump shooting

An independent panel formed to investigate the performance of the Secret Service after an assassination attempt in July against former President Donald Trump has called for extensive changes to the agency, including the installation of new leadership from the outside. In a report issued Thursday morning, the panel praised the bravery of the individual agents who work to protect political figures in the United States. However, it blasted their leaders for creating an internal culture that has become "bureaucratic, complacent and static," with the result that "the Secret Service does not perform at the elite levels needed to discharge its critical mission." Without "fundamental reform," the panel warned, other attacks on the agency's protectees "can and will happen again." In a stat...
US extends immigration protections to Lebanese nationals
Top News, World

US extends immigration protections to Lebanese nationals

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Thursday new guidelines offering temporary immigration protection to some Lebanese nationals in the United States, allowing them to remain and work in the country. These protections include Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) and a new Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for Lebanon, following months of escalating conflict and instability in the region. Eligible Lebanese nationals who have been continuously residing in the U.S. since October 16, 2024, will be allowed to apply for TPS. However, those who arrived after this date will not be eligible. DHS plans to publish a notice in the Federal Register in the coming weeks, outlining the application process for TPS and employment authorization. Additionally, under Presi...
China hosts World Media Summit in Xinjiang amid human rights concerns
China, Top News

China hosts World Media Summit in Xinjiang amid human rights concerns

washington — China hosted its sixth World Media Summit this week in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, in northwestern China. Organizers say more than 500 participants from 208 leading media organizations participated in the event, which was cohosted by state-run Xinhua News Agency and the Xinjiang regional government. The three-day summit, which ended on Thursday, focused on "Artificial Intelligence and Media Transformation." Chinese media highlighted the potential benefits of global AI collaboration, but the choice of Xinjiang as the event's venue was criticized by activists concerned about China's alleged human rights abuses in the region. Adrian Zenz, director of China studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, told VOA he believes organizers chose Urumqi to draw a...
Russia forming North Korean battalion amid soldier shortage: report
Asia-pacific, Top News

Russia forming North Korean battalion amid soldier shortage: report

Russia is forming a special battalion consisting of up to 3,000 North Koreans to help push Ukraine’s forces out of Kursk amid a manpower shortage on the front lines due to heavy casualties, Ukraine’s media reported. The North Koreans will form part of the “Special Buryat Battalion,” organized within the 11th separate airborne assault brigade of the Russian Armed Forces, said The Kyiv Post, citing sources in Ukraine’s Military Intelligence. “[Vladimir] Putin is doing everything possible to delay and avoid the decision to conduct a new full-fledged wave of mobilization on the territory of the Russian Federation,” the source said. The battalion is expected to include up to 3,000 North Korean troops and is currently being supplied with small arms and ammunition, the newspaper reported...
INTERVIEW: Vietnamese activist says she spoke up for a ‘more just society’
Asia-pacific, Top News

INTERVIEW: Vietnamese activist says she spoke up for a ‘more just society’

Nguyen Thuy Hanh, a former Vietnamese political prisoner who raised money for families of political dissidents, was released from prison on Oct. 7 after completing a 3 1/2-year sentence. Hanh participated in many protests against the Chinese government following several clashes between Chinese forces and Vietnam’s coast guard ships and fishing boats in the South China Sea in the early 2010s. She ran as an independent candidate for the National Assembly in 2016. In 2018, she founded the 50K Fund, a charity that encouraged people in Vietnam and abroad to contribute just 50,000 dong (about US$2) each so that defense lawyers could be hired for people jailed for their political or religious views and to provide support for their families. She announced the fund’s closure in late 2020. ...
China to seize 3.1 billion yuan in assets linked to exiled former vice mayor
China, Top News

China to seize 3.1 billion yuan in assets linked to exiled former vice mayor

Authorities in China are moving to seize more than 3 billion yuan (US$435 million) in assets belonging to a former high-ranking official from the northeastern province of Heilongjiang who has fled to the United States, claiming to be a persecuted critic of the government. According to the Mudanjiang Intermediate People's Court, former Jixi vice mayor Li Chuanliang stands accused of holding illegal assets including real estate, companies and engineering equipment worth 3.1 billion yuan, according to details it published in the Oct. 11 edition of the People's Court Daily, a specialist legal newspaper. Li, 61, who has served as vice mayor of both Jixi and Hegang cities, stands accused of embezzling public assets, accepting bribes and appropriating public funds by awarding contracts to c...
Lebanese refugee crisis raises political tensions in Iraq and demographic concerns in Kirkuk
Top News, World

Lebanese refugee crisis raises political tensions in Iraq and demographic concerns in Kirkuk

Washington/Kirkuk, Iraq — Israeli airstrikes against Hezbollah are driving tens of thousands of Lebanese into Iraq — with more expected as the security situation deteriorates. The sudden influx is generating political concerns, especially in Iraq’s volatile Kirkuk region. Iraqi officials say that as of October 9, about 8,000 Lebanese refugees have entered Iraq. Kirkuk, a multi-ethnic province contested by Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens, is already burdened with unresolved demographic and political tensions. The situation has been acute since many internally displaced Iraqis from the war against Islamic State have settled in Kirkuk rather than return to their original provinces. A senior Kurdish official there expressed apprehension that the arrival of Lebanese refugees could further co...