AsiaCast

Asia Cast Monday 26th November

In this Bulletin…
- French envoy finalise trade deals with China;
- Pakistan police attempt to detain Sharif supporters; and
- Earthquakes and severe weather cause havoc in South-East Asia.

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French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and an envoy of industrialist dignitaries are visiting China and say they have finalised trade deals worth almost thirty billion US dollars.

They say China has agreed to buy Airbus planes and other business as well as two nuclear reactors from French company, Areva.

The announcements came as Mr Sarkozy on his first trip to Asia since his election in May, held a second meeting with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao.

Following the signing of these deals Mr Sarkozy is set to hold further talks in Beijing and will then travel to Shanghai to meet Chinese business leaders.

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Pakistan police detained thousands of supporters of Nawaz Sharif yesterday in an effort to prevent them from welcoming the former prime minister on his return from exile in Saudi Arabia.

U.S. ally President Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency rule on November 3rd to safeguard his own presidency, but under pressure from Saudi King Abdullah has reluctantly acquiesced to the return of Sharif, the leader he deposed in a bloodless coup eight years ago.

Sharif’s aides say there is no deal between the two old foes in the run up to a parliamentary election due on Jan. 8.

Western governments fear that stifling democracy could benefit Islamist militants threatening nuclear-armed Pakistan.

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Two major earthquakes measuring 6.4 and 5.0 hit the island of Sumbawa in eastern Indonesia within hours of each other on Sunday and Monday.

The countries health ministry have reported that so far a child has been killed and 45 people injured.

On Sunday, a strong earthquake shook the island of Sumatra and many people fled their homes fearing devastation after a series of major earthquakes in the region in recent months.

A tsunami warning was issued, although for technical reasons it failed to reach some media.

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Typhoon Mitag slammed into the north-eastern Philippines late Sunday after killing at least eight people in other parts of the country, while a deadly storm that blew away days earlier returned on Monday, complicating emergency preparations.

Mitag roared into the coastal town of Palanan in Isabela province with winds achieving speeds of one hundred and ten to one hundred and fifty kilometres per hour.

After hitting land, it veered toward the country’s mountainous northern provinces, where authorities evacuated thousands of people due to fears of landslides.

Mitag has been the most erratic of the 13 typhoons and major storms that have hit the Philippines this year. It first headed for the populous Bicol region, where more than two hundred and fifty thousand people were evacuated, but shifted on Saturday to the north.

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And now for original SOH news direct from China
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A tunnel collapsed at a railway tunnel construction site near China’s massive Three Gorges Dam last week after a massive landslide on Tuesday.

Chinese state media had earlier reported that one worker was dead, one injured, and two missing. But on Friday, a bus carrying 30 people was also found in a nearby road tunnel, and there were no signs of life on board. The local police will carry out DNA tests to identify the bodies of the victims.

The collapses appear to be the latest warning of geological threats around the rising dam.

In Badong, one of the hilly areas along the reservoir, locals told Reuters that they have seen more landslides and tremors since the water level rose last year, increasing pressure on brittle slopes.

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An expert advisor on Biological Diversity to the Chinese and European Union, Ma Jing-Neng, has advised that about 20% of animal species in China are now endangered and that species diversity in the country is facing catastrophe.

Mr Ma Jing-Neng stated at the Green Home Journalist Salon that scarce water resources coupled with other environmental problems such as flooding, acid rain, and deforestation are leading to the gradual demise of the ecological system in China with more perilous environmental disasters on the way.

During its recent economic growth, China has chosen to ignore many pressing environmental problems in pursuit of global development opportunities.

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