Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for Wednesday 26th March

In this Bulletin…
- Aid not getting to Afghanistan;
- Pervez Musharraf swears in Pakistan’s new Prime Minister; and
- China under pressure from UN over Tibet.

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A group of 94 aid agencies has confirmed that as much as $10 billion US dollars in aid promised to Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban has still to be delivered.

The Agency Coordinating Body For Afghan Relief (Acbar) says that two-thirds of aid bypasses the Afghan government with as much as forty per cent of aid returned to donor countries in consultant fees and expatriate pay.

As a result, it warns that the prospects for peace in Afghanistan are being undermined.

The statement comes as British-based Jane’s Information Group ranked Afghanistan as the world’s third most-unstable country after the Gaza Strip and West Bank, and Somalia.

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Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf has sworn in Yousaf Raza Gilani as Pakistan’s new prime minister on Tuesday.

The swearing-in ceremony took place at Musharraf’s residence in Islamabad. The men stood side by side in front of a bank of microphones, Gilani repeating the oath as Musharraf recited it.

Gilani was elected prime minister Monday by an overwhelming parliamentary majority.

Immediately afterward, he directly challenged Musharraf calling for the release of dozens of judges that Musharraf put under house arrest last November.

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China has come under pressure at the United Nations’ human rights forum on Tuesday.

The European Union, in a speech to the U.N. Human Rights Council, urged Beijing to refrain from force against a wave of Tibetan protests that began on March 10—the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule—and led to riots.

The United States, Australia, Canada and Switzerland also called on China to lift restrictions on movement and information from Tibet, where a ban on foreign media has made it difficult to know whether rights abuses are taking place.

In related news, French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he has not ruled out boycotting the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in China over the situation in Tibet.

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After years of strict control, the BBC media agency was pleased to announce that people in China are able to access English language stories on the BBC News website in full.

The Communist authorities often block news sites such as the BBC in a policy dubbed the “great firewall of China”.

But BBC staff working in China now say they are able to access news stories that would have been blocked before.

However, the firewall remains in place for Chinese language services on the website and for any links in Chinese.

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And now for our original SOH news direct from China
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On the 22nd of March the Chinese Communist Party has warned that it will not hesitate to suppress and stop the “turmoil” in Tibet at any cost.

To date the Communist Party’s official statistics said that 19 people had died in the past week of protests, while Tibet’s government-in-exile said it had confirmed that at least 99 Tibetans were killed under the bloody suppression by the Communist authorities.

Although China has promised to relax restrictions for media reporting of the Olympic Games, authorities continue to prohibit foreign journalists from going to Tibet and the surrounding areas.

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According to reports from the Greek City of Olympia there were several people protesting at the official Olympic Games torch lighting ceremony in the city.

When the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games, Liu Qi was giving his speech, there were a number of members of the Reporters Without Borders organization including the Secretary-General Robert Menard demonstrating for freedom of speech and free media.

During the ceremony, campaigners also broke through police lines and unfurled a Tibetan flag before being dragged away.

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And now for our daily update on the NTDTV Divine Performing Arts “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 other troupe will tomorrow commence one day of performances in Linkoping, Sweden. On Friday, the Divine Performance Arts group will begin their tour of Australia.

The Divine Performing Arts have been well received by appreciative crowds at Stockholm’s Circus Theater.

The show completely sold out in Stockholm on Easter Monday, with standing ovations and four curtain calls.

Martin Falkenström, a contractor engineer in a construction company, was interviewed during the intermission. He said everyone with an interest in China should see the show.

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

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This has been Wilma Reynolds from the SOH Radio Network.