Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for Friday 29th February

In this Bulletin…
- Kenya’s President and Opposition Leader agree on power-sharing deal;
- Former Thai PM returns to Thailand; and
- Nepal’s Government reach agreement with opposition movement.

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After months of violent protest, Kenya’s President and Opposition Leader signed a deal to create a power-sharing government on Thursday. President Mwai Kibaki and his rival Raila Odinga were under intense pressure from the international community and Kenya’s 36 million people to find a solution to forestall more bloodshed and help restore their country’s reputation as a stable, prosperous regional anchor. The deal will hopefully end months of post-election crisis that plunged the country into its worst turmoil since independence.

Exiled former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra has returned to his homeland, 17 months after being deposed in a military coup.

After being welcomed by thousands of supporters Mr Thaksin was taken straight to court to face charges of abuse of power during his time in office – charges he insists are politically motivated.

He was granted bail and told not to leave Thailand without permission.
Mr Thaksin said he intended to stay out of politics now he is back in the country.

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Nepal’s Government and an ethnically-based political movement have reached an agreement which is set to put an end to a general strike.

The strike, called by the Madheshi community based in Nepal’s plains, has paralysed the south of the country and created a nationwide fuel shortage and a hike in food prices.

The agreement provides for a certain degree of autonomy for the southern plains and other parts of Nepal with specifics to be decided after elections to an assembly which is due to write a new constitution.

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US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill left Beijing on Thursday after spending an extra day in the Chinese capital to discuss ideas for restarting the stalled process of dismantling North Korea’s nuclear programs.

Hill left Beijing on Thursday morning without giving any details about his discussions, U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Susan Stevenson said.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Hill met with his counterpart, Wu Dawei. They talked about problems in the negotiations and how to “create favourable conditions for the talks to enter into the next stage,” spokesman Liu Jianchao said.

Rice had said all six parties involved — the United States, China, Japan, Russia, and North and South Korea — were looking at how to better “synchronize” the process.

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In Shanghai this month, at the CCP’s change of officials meeting, only 10 of the 23 bureau chiefs retained their offices.

One of the most notable changes was Wu Zhiming, a member of standing committee of Shanghai city, nephew of former head of China Jiang Zemin.

He lost his position as chief of the Public Security Bureau to Zhang Xuebing, the chief executive of the new territory of Pu Dong in Shanghai.

It is widely believed that Wu Zhiming is directly implicated in the two important court cases, one involves bribery of city officials, and the other involves social security fraud.

Recently, an embezzlement case being exposed in Shanghai involves as much as 1.2 trillion, and Jiang Mianheng and Wu Zhiming are said to be important men behind the case.

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In Beijing, the annual Government “Two Congress” conference will be opening in early March.

The duration of the congress will be extended due to a proposed discussion on a bill involving the organizational restructuring of the State Council, and the name list of officials at ministerial level.

According to a report by Radio Free Asia, to ensure security, the authorities will deploy even more security personnel than the half a million they used last year for the conference.

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Today the Divine Performing Arts Spectacular show opened in Paris and Tainan in Taiwan. The shows will continue in these cities for 3 days before moving on to other venues in Europe and Asia as part of its world tour.

Audience members such as Mr. Kim Gwang-Han, a former radio music program host had high praise for the show. Mr Gwang-Han expressed the views of many audience members when he explained in an interview that Chinese traditional culture as expressed by the Divine Performing Arts will have a significant effect on all Asian countries.

Mr. Kim discussed the show with an Epoch Times reporter. Mr. Kim said that unfortunately, Korean media did not widely report such a pure and righteous artistry to expose such art to a wider circle of people.

He continued, “Such a wonderful performance should be seen by more people. I hope the Divine Performing Arts’ show will make Korean people more appreciative of Korean traditional culture.”

For more information about the Divine Performing Arts world tour, please visit: www.divineperformingarts.org