The hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs subjected by China to detention, forced labor and cultural erasure underscores the urgency for global action, panelists said at a two-day interfaith conference on disrupting Uyghur genocide organized by The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity that wrapped up Thursday. Survivors, experts, religious leaders and activists participated in panels to discuss the situation of the Uyghurs and called on governments to promote pro-Uyghur policies and to pressure businesses that profit from Uyghur forced labor, said a notice about the conference on the foundation’s we ..read more

China’s top diplomat met the outgoing Indonesian president and his successor in Jakarta on Thursday, as Beijing deepened its engagement with future leader Prabowo Subianto, amid a competition for regional influence with the United States. The meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was part of a joint commitment to advance the partnership between the two countries, said Prabowo, who visited Beijing in early April after his landslide win in the February general election. “It is a great honor for me to welcome him [Wang] today. Thank you for the kind reception I received in Beiji ..read more

The leader of Tibet’s government-in-exile on Wednesday said he was hopeful that a U.S. bill  urging China to resolve issues related to Tibet through dialogue with the Dalai Lama or Tibetan leaders would be approved by the Senate. The Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act, also known as the Resolve Tibet Act, was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Feb. 15.  The bill, which also empowers the State Department to counter disinformation on Tibet,  was unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday, advancing the bill to the ..read more

A former opposition party lawmaker now living in Canada has asked Prime Minister Hun Manet to intervene in his case and ask prosecutors to drop criminal charges so that he can return to Cambodia to visit his ailing parents.  Hun Manet responded to Kong Saphea’s plea on Thursday, saying on Facebook that he would work on a solution. The prime minister also posted an image of a letter sent by Kong Saphea in February in which the former lawmaker expressed regret for his past actions against the government. “For Kong Saphea. I’ve received your apology letter,” Hun Manet wrote. “I welcome you ..read more

A photo shared by Chinese-speaking social media users claims to show American soldiers stationed on Taiwan's Kinmen islands this year. But the claim is false. The photo in fact shows U.S. troops attending a New York funeral in 2007. The claim was shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Feb. 27. “The year 2024 has just arrived, and US Special Forces have been stationed in Kinmen, a small island just 2 kilometers from Xiamen, after the Kinmen fishing boat incident,” the claim reads in part. Netizens on X claim that U.S. soldiers were stationed in Taiwan’s Kinmen islands. (Screenshot/ X) The ..read more

Authorities in Xinjiang have banned Uyghurs from using social media apps including Chinese-owned TikTok and tools to circumvent censorship, according to a video released from Chinese police, in what experts say could be the beginning of another major crackdown on the region’s 11 million mostly Muslim Uyghurs. A video notice about the ban was released April 8 by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a state-run economic and paramilitary organization also known as Bingtuan that has played a key role in suppressing the Uyghurs. Violators face arrest, a fine of 15,000 yuan, or US$2,100 ..read more

The U.N. Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea approved a request from UNICEF for a sanctions exemption so that vaccine storage equipment could be transported into North Korea, U.N. documents showed. UNICEF sent a letter to the committee on March 11 saying the cold chain equipment, which includes refrigeration units used to store vaccines, was critical to the successful distribution of vaccines to women and children in North Korea. The U.N. has imposed economic sanctions on North Korea since 2006 in an effort to defund the country's nuclear program. Humanitarian organizations lik ..read more

The Thai Foreign Ministry urged Myanmar’s military junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi in a statement that also welcomed this week’s move of the former de facto leader to house arrest. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate was transferred out of Naypyidaw Prison under tight security on Tuesday. It was believed that the 78-year-old had been held in solitary confinement at the prison in the capital. Her new location was unclear. Former President Win Myint was also moved to house arrest on Tuesday in central Myanmar’s Bago region.  The transfers were “a positive step in responding to the concerns of ..read more

A university professor who gatecrashed the opening ceremony of a new Confucius Institute at Spain's Seville University last week tried to warn the school authorities for years that the language and cultural centers have been linked to the Chinese Communist Party's influence operations, she told RFA Mandarin in a recent interview. Journalism professor Mar Llera jumped onto the dais along with a research team member during the ceremony, as the university's rector, Miguel Ángel Castro was welcoming participants to the ceremony on April 8, holding up a poster protesting the opening. She told secur ..read more

An ethnic armed group intercepted a junta retaliation near the Thai-Myanmar border on Thursday, according to an announcement from rebel forces. The Karen National Liberation Army, an armed branch of the Karen National Union, along with other allied groups, captured the last remaining junta Infantry Battalion 275 near a border town in Myanmar’s Kayin state on Wednesday.  In response, the junta launched state-level offensive “Operation Aung Zeya” to capture Myawaddy city, according to a Karen National Union statement released Thursday.  Karen National Liberation Army joint forces destr ..read more