Asia Cast Monday 27th August
The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has agreed to a preliminary free trade pact with Japan.
ASEAN members aim to turn the whole region into a free trade zone.
Japan is a key ASEAN partner, accounting for twelve per cent of the bloc’s world trade in two thousand and six.
As well as trade, members discussed the issue of product safety at the event following a series of recalls of toys made in China.
A series of product recalls from China – ranging from pet food and toothpaste to toys – has pushed the issue into the spotlight.
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It is reported that recently, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has interviewed several leaders of the Chinese Student and Scholar Association (CSSA) at universities throughout the east of the United States.
A resident from New York told the reporter that in the last few days, because of the pressure from the FBI’s investigation, several of Beijing’s special agents who were stationed at the Chinese associations in New York have escaped to China.
Mr. Xu said when the FBI started investigating similar cases in the past, Chinese special agents who were undercover among democracy activists also fled back to China.
This time the FBI’s investigation was very intense, and Beijing’s special agents were especially intimidated.
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According to the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, China has further tightened its control over media in the run-up to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s seventh National Congress.
It is estimated that over one hundred radio stations throughout the country have been shut down.
Radio Free Asia (RFA) reporters placed international calls to multiple programs of the Nanjing Radio Station, yet the only person they could reach was an advertising executive.
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Journalists without Boundaries, headquartered in Paris condemn Beijing for confining one of its dissidents to a mental hospital.
Reported by Chinese Broadcasting News recently, the dissident named He Wei-Hua, residing in Hunan Province, used to issue articles over the website, criticising the practices of Communist regime.
Despite the fact that He Wei-Hua is very healthy, he has been forcibly confined to a mental hospital. Amnesty organizations condemn the Communist regime of its barbaric practices, demanding the release of him.
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In Guangdong Province where a large-scale conflict broke out between armed police and local residents days ago, the local government has again ordered the armed force to crack down on Dongzhou residents.
According to Free Asia Radio, the residents at the town were discontent with the local authority pending land seizures. A thousand residents went to protest against the construction of a power plant.
The local authority sent a large group of armed police and anti-riot force to drive off petitioners with water guns and tear gas.
At least three residents were injured with two seriously hurt.
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Flood victims in eastern India have been eating raw wheat flour to survive, as devastating monsoon floods in South Asia continue to spread misery among millions.
Snakebites, drowning, diarrhoea and collapsing homes have killed nearly two thousand people since July, when swollen rivers burst their banks, inundating huge areas in eastern India and Bangladesh.
The toll rose by seventy-four over the weekend.
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