AsiaCast

Asia Cast for Friday 14th September

The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a non-binding declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples after 22 years of debate.

The document proposes protection for the human rights of the 370 million native peoples around the world, and for their land and resources.

It passed despite opposition from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States who have claimed it is incompatible with their own laws.

Campaigners say the world indigenous people are under greater pressure than ever, as developers, loggers, farmers and mineral extractors move in on their land.

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Japan’s Finance Minister, Fukushiro Nukaga, became the first to launch a bid to lead the country on Thursday as the ruling party scrambled deal with the backlash of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s shock resignation.

Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmakers decided to hold an election for party president¡ªand hence prime minister¡ªon September 23.

A former defence and economics minister, Nukaga has twice had to step down over scandals but was one of several veterans tapped by Abe for a revamped cabinet just last month.

Abe’s decision to step down has sparked criticism and concern that the ensuing confusion could stall vital decisions on policies such as tax and fiscal reform.

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Hong Kong¡¯s former Chief Secretary, Anson Chan, who is often referred to as “Hong Kong’s Conscience¡±, has announced her campaign for a vacancy in the Legislative Council.

Chan stressed that she will work with the pan-democratic parties although she will run as an independent. At the same time, she hopes to establish a constructive partnership with the Hong Kong government and lay an effective channel of communication with Beijing.

She stressed that she didn’t want to be the leader of the pan-democratic parties in HK and has no intention of fighting Beijing. Chan will announce her election platform and campaign later.

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The global Human Rights Torch Rally is now on its way through Vienna, after significantly passing through Timisoara, the Romanian city where the Communist Revolution of 1989 started.

The race started in Athens and will be travelling the world ahead of the Beijing Olympics next summer to bring awareness to China’s human rights record.

In Romania, a former communist ruled country, the Chinese authorities have played an important role in controlling democratic activities especially those related to the observance of human rights in China.

So far, the people in the streets of each city have shown a lot of support for the torch relay and persecuted Falun Gong practitioners in China before the start of the Olympic Games, because they understood very well that crimes against humanity cannot coexist with the Olympic spirit.

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In yet another abuse of human rights in China, activist Zhang Wen-He was abducted by authorities whilst celebrating the Moon Cake Festival with friends earlier this week.

The grounds for the detainment alleged by the State Security officers were that Zhang was partaking in an ¡°illegal gathering¡±.

The abduction has caused an outcry in the activist community with renewed calls for an international boycott of the Olympic Games unless China ratifies its human rights policy.

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A recent report out of China indicates that there is an increase across the country of babies being born with congenital disabilities.

The report states that each year one million babies are being born with congenital defects, which is equivalent to 6% of the total birth numbers and is three times higher than in other developing countries.

Health experts warn that the phenomenon is caused by an increase in the age of mothers and generally less healthy lifestyles, while the official media are claiming it is more to do with the environmental issues.

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In the wake of Chinese Communist Party spies being caught infiltrating into western Internet databases, a senior CCP official says the regime has suffered “massive” losses of state and military secrets through the Internet.

The official would give no details of either the stolen secrets or who was responsible, but experts are indicating that the secrets are supposedly from the Party’s Ministry of Public Security and propaganda offices.

Details of how the information was leaked or lost have not yet been provided.