Month: September 2024

Read RFA coverage of this story in Tibetan. A Tibetan monk has been sentenced to over 18 months in prison on charges of sharing a speech by Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on social media, Tibetans living in exile told Radio Free Asia. Chinese authorities arrested Jampa Choephel of Penkar Thang Monastery in Rebkong county, Qinghai province, shortly after he shared a speech by the Dalai Lama on March 10, they said. The date marks Tibetan National Uprising Day, the start of a failed Tibetan rebellion against Chinese rule in 1959. Possessing or sharing photos or videos of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader who has resided in northern India since 1959, is considered an act of separatism and has been a punishable offense in Tibet for decades. Choephel’s case is part of a broader crackdown on Tibetan Buddhist clergy and intellectuals, many of whom are imprisoned in undisclosed locations for extended periods. Most have been arrested for expressing their views or sharing information about conditions in Tibetan areas under Chinese rule. The monk was held in the county’s Gurathang Prison until his “secret” trial in August when he was sentenced, said the sources, both of whom declined to be identified so they could speak freely without reprisal. Choephel’s family was not informed about the trial because Chinese authorities considered it politically sensitive, the first source said.  Following the trial, Choephel was held for an additional month in the same jail, and the total six months he spent in detention were counted as part of his sentence, according to the sources.  An aerial view of Rebkong county in western China’s Qinghai province, Oct. 26, 2017. (Eric Lafforgue/Art In All Of Us/Corbis via Getty Images) Authorities monitor family In the meantime, Chinese authorities are closely monitoring the monk’s family, the second source said. “This constant surveillance has created a climate of fear and anxiety for them, preventing them from inquiring about his well-being,” he said.  On Sept. 22, Choephel was transferred to a prison in Xining, capital of Qinghai province, where he will serve the remainder of his sentence, the sources said. Chinese authorities tightly control Tibetans who live in Rebgong, called Tongren in Chinese, a restive area of Malho, or Huangnan, Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, restricting their political activities and peaceful expressions of cultural and religious identity. Choephel, originally from Rebgong Medpa, went into exile in India in 1986. He spent 10 years studying at a Tibetan monastery in Dharamsala from which he graduated in 1996.  Upon returning to Tibet, he resided at Penkar Thang Monastery in Rebgong, where he devoted himself to meditation.  A master of Tibetan calligraphy, Choephel also taught writing and English. But he remained under constant surveillance by the Chinese authorities, with police frequently monitoring and issuing warnings around his residence during significant occasions.  Additional reporting by Dechen Wangmo. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi and Dawa Dolma for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Joshua Lipes. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

North Koreans are growing weary of being bombarded by “Friendly Father,” an upbeat propaganda song praising leader Kim Jong Un that has been blanketing the country for months now, sources in the country tell Radio Free Asia. People are forced to sing it before every public event and a loudspeaker car drives through cities blaring it, said a resident of Ryanggang province in the north on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “He is holding his 10 million children in his arms and taking care of us with all his heart,” go the lyrics. “The love you give me is like the sea. The trust you give me is like the sky,” says verse two. “You are always by our side, and make all our wishes come true.” The Ryanggang resident said that he has heard the song every day since it was introduced in April, except for a three-day break in early May due to the death of a high-ranking official.  “Every factory, company, school, work unit, and neighborhood-watch unit in the province has both children and adults sing this song whenever the opportunity arises.” he said. Music video The government created a high-quality music video for the song depicting people from all walks of life enthusiastically singing along to it. Friendly Father was inspired by an earlier propaganda song called “Friendly Name” that sung the praises of Kim’s father and predecessor Kim Jong Il. The melody is different but many of the lyrics in “Friendly Father” are callbacks to the earlier song, which most North Koreans know by heart. North Korean students sing in music class at the Pyongyang Orphans’ Secondary School in Pyongyang, North Korea, Sept. 1, 2016. (Jon Chol Jin/AP) The order to promote the song comes from the Central Party of the ruling Korean Workers’ Party, the Ryanggang resident said. It’s gotten to the point where people actively avoid places where the song is played publicly if they can help it, he said. Deserted park For example, in the city of Hyesan, on the border with China, there is a park where retired people gather to spend their free time by talking, singing, dancing, playing games or exercising.  But when the park turned off their music and began playing “Friendly Father” over the park’s public address system, the senior citizens went home, according to the resident. “The manager forced them to stop dancing to a folk song but to dance in praise of the marshal instead,” he said, referring to Kim by his military rank.  RELATED RFA CONTENT RFA Insider podcast Episode 6 (Timecode 13:50) Upbeat video casts Kim Jong Un as North Korea’s father figure  North Korea bans karaoke, saying it smacks of ‘rotten’ capitalist culture  North Korea bans more than 100 patriotic songs that refer to reunification “The elderly people stopped dancing and began to return home. The song … rang out in the empty park where everyone had left one by one … until it was deserted.” The park, which used to teem with old folks from sunrise to sunset, is now empty almost every day, he said. Respect thy elder Another problem with the song stems from Korea’s Confucian culture.  Often complete strangers are expected to grant older people a certain amount of respect simply because they are older, with the promise that they will receive the same respect from the young when they reach the same age. However, “people in their 70s and 80s are being forced to call Kim Jong Un, who is only in his 40s and is about the same age as their sons, their ‘friendly father,’” the resident said. North Koreans sing at a picnic gathering at a park in Pyongyang, April 18, 2012, a national holiday celebrating the birthday period of the late leader Kim Il Sung.  (Vincent Yu/AP) The government’s push of “Friendly Father” is even more aggressive than its efforts to promote songs from the reigns of Kim Jong Un’s father and grandfather, a resident of the northeastern province of North Hamgyong told RFA who also asked not to be identified. “Back then, their songs were sometimes played on broadcasting cars, but they did not make people sing at the start of every learning session or lecture session, nor was it forced upon the elderly, as they are doing right now,” he said. People scoff at the notion that Kim Jong Un could be their “friendly father,” because they do not trust his leadership abilities, the second resident said. “They have no hope in their leader, but they are forced to familiarize their eyes, ears, and mouths with the image of him as their friendly father through the song,” he said. It seems that the propaganda efforts are getting bigger and louder as people’s dissatisfaction with society increases, he said. Translated by Claire S. Lee and Leejin J. Chung. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika