Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for Friday 22nd August

In this Bulletin…

- IOC calls for investigation into under-age Chinese gymnasts;
- Beijing police ordered to investigate Chinese citizens who speak to foreign media; and
- Monsoon rains continues to devastate South Asia.

But first, here’s our SOH focus on China.

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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed to the Epoch Times Thursday morning that it has asked the International Gymnastics Federation to investigate the fiasco surrounding under-age Chinese gymnasts.

More evidence has emerged in the last two days that He Kexin and Yang Yilin were 14 years old and not 16, as claimed by the Chinese authorities.

The Epoch Times has unearthed sources within the Chinese regime that confirm the girls’ ages.

The widely publicised blog site by hacker “stryde.hax” has detailed documents found in search engine caches that suggest He Kexin’s real birth year to be 1994, not 1992 as written on her passport. All of the links to the documents have been rapidly disappearing from live sites, sparking concerns of internet censorship.

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A lawsuit representing a hundred victims of terror in Israel and their families was filed in Los Angeles on August 21 against the Bank of China for knowingly funding Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist activities, the Epoch Times has revealed.

The plaintiffs are demanding compensation of hundreds of millions of dollars under U.S. law as the Bank of China has a branch in America.

According to the charges, the Bank of China transferred regularly, over a period of time, amounts of about US$100,000 to the private bank account of a senior Hamas official located China.

The money was used to buy merchandise which was shipped to Gaza, where it was resold by senior Hamas officials. The profits were used to fund terrorist activities.

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Tibet’s government in exile is preparing to lay down a detailed program for autonomy in the disputed region when it resumes talks with Chinese authorities in October, says the Epoch Times.

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Spokesman for the Australia Tibet Council, Dr Simon Bradshaw, said despite high hopes of successful negotiations at the earlier meeting, the talks had concluded “without concrete progress”.

“At the meeting in October I understand they will be tabling a detailed program for autonomy for Tibet to try and progress the negotiations,” he told the Epoch Times.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast.
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Beijing police have been ordered to investigate Chinese civilians who have been interviewed by western media during the Olympics official documents reveal.

The claims have been made by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and are backed up by copies of the official directives published on the media watch-dog’s website.

Reporters Without Borders said that the instructions clearly told police to investigate Chinese people who talk to foreign media. Another directive, dated the day before the games began, gave clear directions to the police on how to quickly deal with any religious demonstrations.

Reports have already been made of Chinese civilians being arrested for talking to foreign press about issues deemed sensitive by communist authorities.

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You’re listening to Asia Cast on the SOH Radio Network.
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In India, desperate victims of the monsoon flooding attacked government officials today, demanding food and shelter as the rains continued to spread misery among millions of people across South Asia.

Rising rivers have crumpled embankments, swamped farmlands and destroyed homes, killing almost 1,000 people since the monsoon rains began in June.

Most deaths have been reported in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, home to 170 million people.

Indian officials on Friday reported 50 more deaths, raising the toll there to 710 this season.
Monsoon rains have killed at least another 130 people in other parts of India this year, while Nepal has reported some 65 deaths and Bangladesh another 30 so far.

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The Pakistan People’s Party has nominated the widow of assassinated former leader Benazir Bhutto to be Pakistan’s next president, a party spokesman said Friday.

Asif Zardari will decide whether to accept the nomination by Saturday, information minister Sherry Rehman added.

Pervez Musharraf stood down as president on Monday as the Pakistan People’s Party and its ruling coalition partners threatened to begin impeachment proceedings.

Under Pakistan’s constitution, parliament has to elect a new president within 30 days of the resignation. An election is scheduled for September 6.

Zardari moved to the fore of Pakistan politics after Bhutto’s was killed by a suicide bomber while she was leaving an election rally in December 2007.

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And now for our daily round-up of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
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In the modern pentathlon, German Lena Schoneborn went into the 3,000 m run with a 19-second advantage, more than enough for her to take gold. Great Britain’s Heather Fell, hung on to take silver ahead of Victoria Tereshuk of Ukraine who got bronze.

Tim Brabants powered to a superb victory in the final of the men’s K1 1000m to win Great Britain’s first ever canoeing Olympic gold medal and adding to his world and European titles.

American Bryan Clay cruised to decathlon gold after a devastating display over two days to finish with 8791 points in Beijing. Andrei Krauchanka from Belarus won silver, and Cuba’s Leonel Suarez managed to grab bronze.

Steve Hooker claimed Australia’s first athletics gold of the Beijing Games when he won the pole vault with a final jump of 5.90 m. After sealing victory, the Commonwealth champion went on to set a new Olympic record of 5.96 m.

For more in depth coverage of events at today’s Games, why not check out Inside China Today, at www.insidechinatoday.net.
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“Asia Cast… keeping you across the top headlines from Asia and the World.”