Stories about East Asia from August, 2017
Okinawans Protesting US Military Base Asked If They ‘Understand Japanese’
"Okinawa has historically been discriminated against because of its dialect and has suffered under American occupation. It's hard to forgive such language."
Netizen Report: Vietnam Targets ‘Illegal Cyber Information’ — and Political Speech
Global Voices Advocacy's Netizen Report offers an international snapshot of challenges, victories, and emerging trends in internet rights around the world.
The Evolution of China's Great Firewall: 21 Years of Censorship
Technically speaking, circumvention technologies have outwitted the Great Firewall. Yet the new legal regime has changed the rules of the game.
Thousands of Rohingyas Fleeing Violence Are Stranded on the Bangladesh-Myanmar Border
"Desperate scenes at Bangladesh's border as Border Guard try to prevent entry to fleeing #Rohingya"
Chinese Tech Firms Are at the Cutting Edge of Artificial Intelligence — But at What Cost?
China has a more open attitude toward new technology, but is their success built upon a lack of awareness of individual rights?
Cambodia Shutdown of Media Outlets: Tax and Licensing Issue or Censorship?
"It appears that the Cambodian government has been using legal technicalities to hide behind its real aim of silencing independent voices."
China to Ban Anonymous Online Comments, Blacklist Users
"With or without real name registration, they know who you are. What they intend to do is to make you fearful."
Chinese Police Arrested a Man for Complaining About Hospital Food. Netizens Say It’s Police Abuse.
Even state-affiliated media outlets are criticizing police actions against a man who publicly complained about the price and quality of food at a state hospital.
A Popular Japanese Cosmetic Surgeon Is Called Out for Admiring Nazism
"The last thing our world needs today is the embrace of Nazi ideology, under whose banner physicians carried out unspeakable crimes in the name of ‘progress.’"
Scholars at Home and Abroad Call for Withdrawal of Protest Charges Against Five Thai Academics
"How can we achieve reform when the state still treats those who voice concern about public issues as its enemies?"
My Complicated Relationship With Cockroaches
He was in his 20s before he ever set eyes on a cockroach. Today, he's a skilled exterminator of the creatures that plague Japanese homes.
A New Documentary Shows the Human Side of Male Sex Work in Japan
"The clients are powerful," says one interviewee in "Boys For Sale." "I end up giving in... So no matter what the customer forces me to do. I cannot really refuse."
Cambridge University Publisher Removes 300 Academic Articles for the China Market
' If this is what they demand, CUP should give up its China- based site and carry on elsewhere. '
Seventy-Two Years Later, Japan Remembers the End of a Devastating War
Prime Minister Abe's remarks on the anniversary of the end of World War II did not express Japan's guilt. The emperor's remarks expressed feelings of "deep remorse".
Malaysian Political Cartoonist Zunar Sues Police for Unlawful Arrest, Seizure of Books
"You can ban my books, you can ban my cartoons, but you cannot ban my mind. I will keep drawing until the last drop of my ink."
‘You Can Lock Up Our Bodies, But Not Our Minds': Hong Kong Court Sends 16 Activists to Prison
"The appeal and jail sentence is a form of institutional violence and political suppression – it has ‘created’ the youngest group of political prisoners since the handover."
Global NGOs Call for the Release of Cambodian Land Rights Activist Tep Vanny
“Even though I am in jail, I am handcuffed and I am wearing prison uniform, the reality is that I am forever innocent.”
‘Dagdag Gastos’ Calculator Debunks Philippine Government Claim That Tax Reform Will Benefit the Poor
"Ultimately, more Filipino families will have to shoulder added expenses to their already gravely inadequate incomes."
On Anniversary of Nagasaki Bombing, Japanese Government Criticized For Refusing to Sign Ban on Nuclear Weapons
“Whose country are you leader of anyway?” — a representative of survivors of the 1945 bombing lashes out at Prime Minister Abe Shinzo
China’s Taobao Faces Storm For Selling Personalised Messages Delivered by African Children
"Disgraceful! Taobao should put an end to these shops and investigate vendors for false advertising and malicious anti-black racism!"
Thailand's Broadcasting Authority Suspends TV Network That Called Junta Leader a Dictator
"The order punishes the entire station including all programs regardless of content, and all personnel regardless of role."
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