Asia Cast

Asia Cast for Sunday 27th April

In this Bulletin…

- Iranian Conservatives claim Parliamentary majority;
- Mugabe set to lose majority rule in Zimbabwe; and
- The Dalai Lama welcomes invitation to talks with China.

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Conservative party representatives in Iran have claimed about 80 percent of the 82 parliamentary seats in the country’s runoff election held on Friday.

Election official, Mohammad Forouzandeh, told the country’s semi-official FARS news agency that although the final results are not in yet, so far the Fundamentalists have 53 seats, Reformists have 12 and the rest went to Independent candidates with fundamentalist tendencies.

FARS also published the names of the 11 winners of the Tehran constituency. Ten were conservatives and one was a reformist.

Iran is scheduled to hold its presidential election in the spring of 2009. Current President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has not announced whether he will run for a second term.

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A much anticipated partial recount of votes has confirmed that Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe’s party has failed to win back control of the country’s parliament.

Mugabe had refused to allow a recount after the March 29 election, but international pressure saw a recount of 23 out of 210 constituencies commence yesterday.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said 14 out of the 23 seats had been recounted so far, and the original result was confirmed in all of them.

The win for Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change marks the end of a 28-year majority rule for Mugabe’s ruling ZANU-PF Party.

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Australia’s Federal Government has denied pressuring Chinese investors to withdraw their applications to buy into Australian resources while it reviews foreign investment rules.

The Government says it is reviewing its policies to ensure Australia’s national interest is maintained, but denied allegations that foreign investment is not on hold during that process.

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South Korean officials have said the Olympic torch will be guarded by 8,000 police officers as it is paraded through the capital Seoul on the latest leg of its world relay.

As the torch arrived in South Korea from Japan, police warned anyone trying to disrupt the relay would be severely punished.

Human rights groups have said thousands are preparing to protest over China’s forced repatriation of North Korean refugees and its crackdown in Tibet.

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Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has issued a statement welcoming China’s offer to meet his representatives, but has warned that the discussions must be serious.

The Dalai Lama says he has not yet received any details from China, but wants to discuss how to tackle the problems in Tibet.

The spiritual leader’s remarks came a day after China’s official Xinhua news agency reported that Chinese officials would soon meet with one of his envoys.

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And now for our original SOH news direct from China
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Hu Jia’s wife Zheng Jin-Yan has appealed for her husband’s release to obtain medical treatment outside of jail.

Hu Jia, a rights activist who was charged by the Beijing authorities for ‘subversion of state power’ and sentenced to three and a half years imprisonment in China. Since his imprisonment there have been a number of reports of beatings, torture and maltreatment of Hu.

According to his wife, Hu Jia, is suffering from cirrhosis, is not receiving adjuvant therapy drugs, and has not been given necessary medical examinations. She is appealing to authorities through the media to allow Hu access to proper medical treatment.

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With the Beijing Olympics’ approaching, authorities have launched a series of large-scale actions to intercept petitioners to Beijing.

Public Security officers have been randomly intercepting people on the streets as well as strictly monitoring tenants on leased properties. They have also intercepted and arrested petitioners at the Letters and Complaints Office.

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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 continues its four days of performances in Vancouver, Canada, while another troupe will give its last day of performances in Kansas, in the US.

Fa Yu, a Buddhist practitioner of 22 years, saw the Spectacular in Vancouver and explained that she felt the show was of a very, high level of culture and was also of a very high level Buddhist philosophy.

The Spectacular has been on an international tour since January of this year, reviving the true traditional Chinese dance and music and bringing it to the global community.

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

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This has been Wilma Reynolds from the SOH Radio Network.