Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for Saturday 26th April

In this Bulletin…

- Ukraine remembers Chernobyl disaster;
- A bomb kills 23 in Sri Lanka; and
- Activist Groups say they will protests against Olympic sponsors.

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Ukraine has held a memorial to pay homage to victims of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe.

Chernobyl called the disaster – the world’s worst nuclear accident -a “planetary drama.

Overnight, about 100 Ukrainians, including President Viktor Yushchenko and other top state officials laid wreaths at the monument to the victims of Chernobyl in Kiev and lit candles during a religious service held for the tragedy, the presidential press service said.

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A bomb explosion on a bus yesterday has killed 23 people and injured over fifty in a suburb of the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo.

The vehicle was stopped at a crowded bus station in Piliyandala when the bomb exploded, they said.

A military spokesman said the attack took place at 6.45 p.m. local time, and he blamed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels, The Associated Press reported.

The bombing came two days after more than 100 Sri Lankan soldiers were killed and another 400 wounded during an advance on a Tamil stronghold in the northern Wanni region.

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Activist group: Dream for Darfur, says it will organize protests against Beijing Olympics sponsors that it says have failed to press China to help end fighting in Darfur.

The group released a statement claiming 16 companies including General Electric Co., Coca-Cola Co. and Microsoft Corp. have shown “moral cowardice.”

With actress Mia Farrow as its spokeswoman, Dream for Darfur is the most prominent activist group lobbying companies to pressure Beijing, a major investor in Sudan.

Dream for Darfur said it would protest at company headquarters and urge viewers to turn off commercials during the Games in August. The first demonstrations are planned against Coca-Cola in Atlanta on Saturday and New York on Sunday, and Staples in Boston on Sunday.

Coca-Cola responded with a toughly worded statement, saying the report focused only on a willingness to lobby Beijing but ignored the company’s charitable work in Sudan, including a $5 million (3 million euro) donation to water projects.

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Robert Menard, the Secretary-General of the Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF), says he is going to stage a demonstration against the Chinese regime as the torch passes through Nagano today.

Menard said the purpose of his trip in Japan is to urge President Fukuda to speak “very clearly and strongly” on Tibet and on China’s human rights issues to Hu Jintao during Hu’s visit to Japan planned for May 6.

He emphasized that with 100 days left before the summer Olympics in Beijing, he thinks it is very important for a democratic country like Japan to state very clearly and strongly its attitude towards the Chinese regime, as Japan is a neighbour of China with strong economic power.

The torch relay has already been the focus of protests in Nagano after commencing that leg of the relay this morning (local time).

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And now for our original SOH news direct from China
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Initiated by a number of overseas organizations, the “Human Rights Torch Relay’s Leg of Journey in China” has entered Mainland after the Oath Announcement in Hong Kong on 23rd March 2008.

In just a month, it has journeyed to Beijing, Shanghai, Jinan of Shandong Province, Shijiazhuang of Hebei Province, Changsha of Hunan Province, Hubei Province, Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Jiangsu, Inner-Mongolia, Chongqing, Guangdong Province and other areas.

The “Human Rights Torch Relay” is represented by the theme slogan: “The Same World, the Same Human Rights.”

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Struck by the recent appreciation of the Ren-Min-Bi (RMB) and the impact of inflation, coupled with Mainland China’s newly issued labour law policies, Hong Kong enterprises reported facing great challenges in making a profit in the Pearl River Delta area in Guangdong.

Liu Da-Bang, the Chairman of Hong Kong Small and Medium Enterprises Association, stated that up to 4,000 Hong Kong enterprises in PRD have recently closed down.

A survey also pointed out that nearly 60% of the respondents among Hong Kong manufacturers are pessimistic or very pessimistic about prospects for the next two years.

The survey also showed that 20% of the respondents planned to give up production lines, or even to end their businesses.

Based on the result of the survey, the trade association projected that over 10,000 enterprises might close down or collapse.

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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 Divine Performing Arts Spectacular continued its four day tour of Vancouver, while another troupe opened shows in Kansas City in the US.
Dick Raskey, a retired police officer who has been in Seattle since 1957 was one of the audience members at the Seattle show.

Mr Raskey heard a lot about the Chinese Spectacular but did not know what to expect, so he looked at the preview online and thought it looked interesting enough to come see the real show.

He took his Chinese friend to tonight’s show and stated, “I sure have not been disappointed, it’s been very good.”

Dick also added, “The action of the people is so fluid, you almost think that they aren’t human. It’s something from heaven.”

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

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This has been Karen Chang for the SOH Radio Network.

“Asia Cast… keeping you across the top headlines from Asia and the World.”