Asia-Cast

Asia Cast Monday 16th July

A strong earthquake in north-western Japan has killed at least five people and injured more than one hundred and fifty.

The quake of preliminary magnitude six point eight struck off the coast, some two hundred and sixty kilometres northwest of Tokyo.

A number of houses were damaged, and a fire started at the nuclear plant. But officials said there was no risk of a radiation leak. The reactor – like several others ¨C was shut down automatically.

A tsunami warning was issued, but it was later lifted.

Earthquakes are common in Japan, which is situated in one of the world’s most seismically active areas, and the country regularly holds safety drills.

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United Nations inspectors have verified the shutdown of North Korea’s main nuclear reactor, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed saying it¡¯s a step in the right direction.

Analysts say that while the shutdown is important, it¡¯s just one stage in a long process to disable the reactor.

Talks between representatives from the six countries involved in the deal – North Korea, Japan, China, Russia, the United States and South Korea – are to resume this week in the Chinese capital, Beijing.

While the delegates welcome the news of the shutdown, analysts admit there is a long road ahead.

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The President of Taiwan, met with Falun Gong practitioners recently to discuss the deportation of Taiwanese Falun Gong practitioners from Hong Kong on July first.

The practitioners who met with the president included the secretary of the Taiwan Falun Dafa Association; a professor of political science at the National University of Taiwan, a human rights attorney who has personally been deported twice by the Chinese Communist regime and a reporter from the Sound of Hope Radio who was deported from Hong Kong earlier this month.

At Hong Kong Customs, they were treated violently and were detained. The practitioners asked President Chen to condemn the actions of the Hong Kong government on behalf of the Taiwanese people.

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Recently, in China, the local government at the West Lake District sent out over two hundred staff to forcefully dismantle a private property of a local resident.

The chief of the Folks Life Observation Studio pointed out that the barbaric eviction imposed on people under duress has deteriorated.

With realty on the skyrocketing, the government colludes with developers to purchase the land from residents at bottom prices to profiteer from the steep gap in price.

A government is supposed to safeguard social equity and justice. Yet, the authority acts by resorting to violence on effected victims.

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An explosion occurred at a coalmine in Shanxi Province, China. Of twenty people caught in the blast, sixteen were rescued while four are still missing.

Official media in Mainland China reveals that the explosion happened at a coalmine in Xia-hua County of Hejing City.

Chinese coalmines are the most dangerous business in the world.

An official report disclosed that two thousand eight hundred and forty five of the coal mine accidents in China last year claimed four thousand seven hundred and forty six lives with an average of thirteen people added to the death toll daily.

Yet, the statistics of independent workers unions state that twenty thousand people die from mine accidents each year in China.

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The Huai River basin located in central China recently suffered the worst flooding in more than fifty years. The number of victims was estimated at more than seventeen million people.

The authorities have attempted to divert the torrent to Anhui province, and evacuated a half a million people living in the flood diversion districts.

Recent heavy rains have resulted in floods in the central and southern regions of China.

By July twelfth, these disasters have killed three hundred and sixty people, affecting over sixty six million people and resulting in economic losses exceeding three billion US dollars.