Asia Cast

Asia Cast Monday 15th October

Australia’s Prime Minister John Howard shifted gear in his re-election campaign after announcing a date for the general election on Sunday.

Howard, who has been prime minister for the last 11 years, faces a tough battle to win a fifth term against Labor Party opposition leader Kevin Rudd, a Chinese-speaking former diplomat who for months has held a commanding lead over the conservative Howard in opinion polls.

Howard’s announcement marks the start of the official run-up to the elections on November 24th, though both sides have been campaigning unofficially for weeks.

Chinese President Hu Jintao opened the 17th Communist Party congress on Monday by promising modest reforms to make government institutions more responsive and admitting that the Communist Party he leads has fallen short of the people’s expectations.

The congress is a crucial test of strength for Hu after five years in power, especially his ability to work with political allies and foes to assert his vision of more balanced development.

Mr Hu, who’s expected to remain in power for another five years, surprised some by acknowledging the growing economic inequality in the country.

Saying that despite achieving a comfortable standard of living for some people, the growing gap in income distribution has not been thoroughly reversed.

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Meanwhile, as the Communist Party championed the successes of the last five years, its detractors also voiced their opinion as the persistent demand for democratic reform once again found its voice among the whirlwind of controversy surrounding the Congress.

Most often, critics and protestors argued that President Hu Jin-Tao and Wen Jia-Bao have over the last five years achieved very little except numerous empty promises

Numerous media articles have identified a raft of controversies and problems that have blighted the regime, including numerous corruption scandals, frequent industrial disasters, human rights controversies, constant public protests, and the ever-growing gap between the rich and the poor.

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Myanmar’s ruling junta has restored Internet access but upheld freezes on foreign news sites signalling a partial easing of its crackdown.

As a U.N. envoy arrived in Thailand on Sunday to rally neighbouring governments around demands for democratic reforms in the country.

U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari arrived in Asia on a trip to coordinate the region’s efforts to negotiate a solution in Myanmar, but declined to comment on his mission to reporters at Bangkok’s airport late Sunday, saying he would speak after meeting with the Thai foreign minister on Monday.

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A number of experts have claimed that the recent death from leukaemia of a farmer in China’s Shaodong County may have resulted from the farmer’s use of a radiation-polluted river.

Since the farmer’s death, a family member has claimed to visit other villages along the riverside, and discovered over twenty people suffering similar symptoms of the disease.

Experts suspect that a lead and zinc mill and uranium mine nearby are the culprits of the contaminated water suggesting unprocessed waste from the mills have been directly discharged into the river.

Local authorities are yet to respond to the allegations.

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A blast in a cinema in the northern Indian state of Punjab has killed six people and injured at least 30 others.

Police suspect a single bomb placed in the first several rows of seats in the cinema caused the explosion, which sent hundreds of moviegoers stampeding out of the cinema.

India has been on nationwide alert since an attack last Thursday on a famous Muslim shrine in the city of Ajmer, in Rajasthan, killed two people.

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More than one thousand managers from Chinese toy firms and state officials have attended a training workshop to receive lessons in product safety and quality supervision after a number of recent scares.

Recent recalls of Chinese-made toys in the US for excessive lead content have damaged China’s manufacturing image and resulted in calls for improved quality control and manufacturing procedures.

Beijing has revoked the licences of several firms found to violate procedures but it has been accused of being slow to react to the problem.

President Hu Jintao has insisted Beijing takes the issue of product safety seriously and will work with others to improve inspection measures.

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