Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for Monday 24th March

In this Bulletin…

- Baghdad’s Green Zone under attack;
- Cheney warns Israeli-Palestinian peace will be a painful process; and
- China’s fights to protect image ahead of Olympics.

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Police have said that at least 17 people have been killed in a number of rocket attacks on Baghdad’s fortified “Green Zone”.

The attacks were part of a wider increase in violence in the capital and in the northern city of Mosul, underlining warnings by U.S. military commanders that recent security gains in Iraq are both fragile and reversible.

In the past, the U.S. military has blamed such attacks on the Green Zone on rogue elements of Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al- Sadr’s Mehdi Army militia. Sadr has imposed a ceasefire on the militia, but there have been signs that it is fraying. 

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US Vice President Dick Cheney said on Sunday that achieving Israeli-Palestinian peace would require painful concessions from both sides. 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who met Cheney at the Palestinian Authority’s Muqata headquarters, blamed Israeli settlement expansion, military checkpoints and raids for blocking progress towards peace.

Mr Cheney also met with Israeli President Shimon Peres, who told him “time is of the essence” in U.S.-brokered negotiations with the Palestinians that Washington hopes can lead to a peace deal by the time George W. Bush leaves office in January. 

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This month’s anti-government violence in Tibet and neighboring provinces has turned into a public relations disaster for China ahead of the Olympics, which it had been hoping to use to bolster its international image.

The latest blemish was expected late on Monday in Greece, where a pro-Tibet independence group has vowed to protest at the official lighting of the Olympic torch.

The torch is scheduled to travel through 20 countries before the Beijing Olympics open on August 8.

China plans to take the torch relay through Tibet and to the top of Mount Everest, something that has upset Tibet activist groups.

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The small south-Asian nation of Bhutan is going to the polls for its first parliamentary elections, ending over a century of royal rule. 

Monday’s vote for the 47-seat National Assembly completes the country’s peaceful transition from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. 

The contest is between only two parties: the People’s Democratic Party and the Bhutan Harmony Party. 

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And now for our original SOH news direct from China
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Reports have been received from Kego Township in the mountains of Tibet that as many as twenty local residents have been killed by Chinese police whilst protecting the symbolic Lion Flag.

The incident occurred when a number of military police tried to remove the flag which Tibetans consider their national flag.

A number of residents of the town went to stop the police and were fired upon by the police. The incident is a further escalation of China’s oppression of Tibet and their use of extreme violence in the face of a Tibetan uprising.

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Reports have been received of a public rally by hundreds of people in Longhua District of Haikou City.

According to reports, hundreds of people from villages in Longhua arrived at the gates of the Haikou City Committee to request resettlement or compensation for their land which was forcibly resumed by local authorities.

The villages knelt at the gates and pleaded with authorities but were broken up and sent away by police officers using water cannons and security dogs.

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And now for our daily update on the NTDTV Divine Performing Arts “New Year Spectacular” show.
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Today the European troupe of the Divine Performing Arts Spectacular continues its seven day tour of Stockholm, Germany, while the Asian troupe will give its last day of performances in Daegu, South Korea.

Amongst the audience members enjoying the show in Stockholm was Kenneth Lindquist, a European Community Advisor involved in international projects. 

Mr Lindquist said he thought the show was excellent and that he particularly liked the mixture between Western feelings and Asian tradition.

He found the cultural message of the show to be different from the usual politically motivate shows, observing that this one feels a little bit more independent. 

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

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