AsiaCast

Asia Cast for Friday 23rd May

In this Bulletin…

- Ban Ki-moon to meet with Burma’s leaders;
- Protests in Afghanistan turn deadly; and
- Violence in New York allegedly incited by Chinese Consul.

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After touring cyclone-hit areas of Burma, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is to meet with the country’s military leader, Gen Than Shwe,

Mr Ban said his mission was to urge the Burma’s rulers to accept more aid, but aid agencies are concerned the military junta have ignored relief requirements and are focussing on reconstruction instead.

About 78,000 people have died and another 56,000 are missing from Cyclone Nargis which struck on the 2nd of May.

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A protest by over 1,000 people in Chagcharan, Afghanistan turned violent after the crowd tried to storm a NATO base.

Two civilians and a NATO soldier were killed during the protest which was triggered when a copy of the Koran was found riddled with bullets at a shooting range in Iraq.

President Bush apologised earlier this week for the Koran incident, and promised the soldier responsible would be prosecuted.

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Beijing’s top official for Taiwan, Chen Yunlin, has said that China and Taiwan are working to resume dialogue and have a rare opportunity to improve relations.

Chen’s comments came two days after the new president took office in Taiwan.

Ma Ying-jeou wants better ties with China and has called for a “new chapter of peace” between the two sides.

His predecessor, Chen Shui-bian, had angered China with moves towards formal independence, and relations had been severely strained.

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The death toll from the Sichuan earthquake has increased to more than 51,000, with another 30,000 people missing.

Officials revised the figure as they made a renewed international appeal for 3.3 million tents for survivors of the quake.

Three days of national mourning for victims of the 12th of May disaster has now come to an end.

The Olympic torch relay has resumed, but organisers said the Sichuan leg would be delayed because of the quake.

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A violent attack on Falun Gong adherents in New York City on Tuesday morning appears to have been incited by Chinese Consular officials.

Video reports by China’s State-run Xinhua News released on the Internet reporting on the confrontation in Flushing, New York were typical of reports aired for the last several days with a theme being a claim that Falun Gong practitioners don’t care about the victims of the Sichuan earthquake.

Observers in New York say the reports couldn’t be more wrong, with the riots starting after a small rally of Falun Gong practitioners were overwhelmed by a crowd of angry Chinese protestors.

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And now for our original SOH news direct from China
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According to Mainland Chinese Media, people throughout China have demanded a thorough investigation of the Sichuan earthquake forecasting procedure.

On May 19th, Mainland media ‘South Weekend’ reported that a school in Wenchuan received an emergency notice one hour before the earthquake, and school teachers and students were able to be evacuated with no casualties.

Xiamen Evening News reported on May 14th that families from Guangyuan were also evacuated before the major quake after receiving warnings from the local government.

Those that did not receive any sort of prior warning are demanding an explanation from authorities.

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Experts in Sichuan have reported that the Wenchuan earthquake has caused serious damage to 187 reservoirs in the region.

Of particular concern are 25 in a critical situation which could fail and flood townships downstream.

Officials of Jiangyou City Water Authority said they are unsure of when the reservoirs will be repaired and that evacuated residents will need to stay away until repair work is complete.

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