AsiaCast

Asia Cast for Saturday 1st December

In this bulletin …
-Iraq pledge by Australia Prime Minister-elect
-Phone ‘did not kill’ South Korean
-China accused of trying to pressure Queensland MPs on human rights

Australia’s prime minister-elect says by the middle of 2008 the country’s 550 combat troops will leave Iraq.

Kevin Rudd, who beat incumbent John Howard in last weekend’s election, had previously promised a gradual withdrawal of Australian troops.

He made the pledge in an Australian radio interview, but said there had been no discussions yet with the US.

Under Mr. Howard Australia was a keen supporter of the US-led invasion and made an early troop commitment.

Most of Australia’s 1,500 troops are based in the south of Iraq, focusing on security and the training of Iraqi forces.

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A South Korean man who was thought to be killed by an exploding mobile phone battery was in fact crushed by a quarry vehicle.

The man was found dead on Wednesday with a melted battery in his pocket and his heart and lungs punctured.

But police in Cheongju said a colleague later confessed that he had backed into the victim while reversing a construction vehicle.

They said the colleague had tried to cover up the accident.

The body of the 33-year-old South Korean was found in a quarry where he worked in Cheongwon County in North Chungcheong Province, 135 kilometres (85 miles) south of Seoul.

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With the Olympics in China to be held soon, a group of dissidents are proceeding with their plans to use the games to highlight China’s human rights record, leading to crackdowns from the Chinese Government.

Lateline’s Virginia Trioli reported that with the world’s finest athletes and the Chinese building industry racing to be ready in time for the Beijing Olympics, another group critical to the success of the Games is also preparing.

China’s dissidents are proceeding with their plans to use the Games to highlight Beijing’s human rights record.

The Chinese Government is highly sensitive to such criticism, even threatening a group of Queensland parliamentarians who took part in a recent human rights rally in Brisbane.

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In the mountains near the town of Isparta in central Turkey, a Turkish budget airliner has crashed, killing all 56 people on board.

The 165-seat MD 83 plane, manufactured by McDonnell Douglas, crashed in the early hours in mountains in the Isparta province of central Turkey. It had been flying from Istanbul with 49 passengers and seven crew.

It was not immediately clear what had caused the crash, which occurred 12 kilometres from Isparta’s airport.

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And now for our original SOH news direct from China.
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On the thirtieth of November, Zhou Zheng-Yi, formerly the “richest person” in Shanghai, was on trial at Shanghai Second Intermediate Court.

According to a media report of the Communist regime, Zhou Zheng-Yi was charged with crimes categorized as “bribing companies and staff in charge, issuing fictitious value-added invoices and removing public funds.”

Yet, the court had not mentioned a word over the alleged crimes he committed in financial swindles that has been pursued for justice by residents at Dong Ba-Kuai, Jing-An Region in Shanghai and other fraudulent contracts.

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The official estimation in Mainland China, by end of 2007, of the number of AIDS-infected sufferers and AIDS patients will reach seven-hundred thousand.

Reported by Voice of America on the twenty-ninth of November, China had six-hundred and fifty thousand AIDS patients and AIDS infected sufferers at the end of 2006.

By October this year, two-hundred and twenty-three thousand people were diagnosed as AIDS infected patients.

Among the newly discovered cases, 45% of cases are derived from infection via the spread by the opposite gender, 42% acquired through injection of drug abuses and with over 12% by homosexual behaviour.