Asia Cast

Asia Cast for Wednesday 3rd September

In this Bulletin…

- Beijing’s pollution returns as residents call for special measures to be kept;
- Falun Gong practitioners maintain peaceful protest in New York despite hate propaganda campaign; and
- Price of oil falls as Hurricane Gustav proves less destructive than feared.

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

Mirroring events on a wider political and social level, Beijing’s pollution is returning as the special measures brought in for the Olympics are being relaxed.

Most of the measures, which include reducing motor traffic, closing polluting factories and shutting down rubbish dumps, run until September 20 to encompass the Paralympics.

But after thousands of construction sites started back up, Beijing’s air was classified as being “mildly contaminated” on August 29.

Now Beijing residents are saying they want the measures kept, a reported 400,000 of them have joined online discussion groups to talk about retaining them.

**********************

The Epoch Times has revealed how an American photographer covering protests by Students for a Free Tibet in Beijing during the Olympics, was arrested and interrogated for six days before being deported.

Jeffrey Rae, 28, from New York, was approached by Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) to go to China during the Olympics to document a series of planned protests.

He was arrested after leaving a meeting in a Beijing restaurant where protesters were talking about what they were going to do.

Rae said the fact that he and a documentary maker we were creating content pictures or video and then distributing that content was a far worse crime in the eyes of the authorities then anybody holding a banner.

**********************
And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast
**********************

South Korea is claiming that the North has started to reassemble a nuclear plant, reversing steps taken under an international deal to end its nuclear programme.

The U.S. has expressed scepticism over the claims, but dispatched a negotiator to China.

Last month Pyongyang accused the U.S. of breaking an agreement to remove it from a list of states that sponsor terrorism and warned that it had stopped disabling the Yongbyon plant.

Although the disabling process is well advanced, it is reversible.

Former UN weapons inspector David Albright believes the North is unlikely to rebuild the plant, but is instead using the threat as a bargaining chip to gain further concessions.

**********************

The motorcade of Pakistan’s prime minister has been fired on by unidentified gunmen in Islamabad.

Interior ministry officials said the car was on its way to collect Mr Gilani from Islamabad’s airport.

It is not clear who carried out the attack, which is being investigated. Although Mr Gilani’s government is grappling with a growing threat from Islamist militants.

The incident represents a major lapse in security. In December former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was killed at an election rally in Rawalpindi.

**********************
You’re listening to Asia Cast on the SOH Radio Network
**********************

Falun Gong practitioners have maintained their peaceful protest in New York’s Flushing area as employees at a hate propaganda table persist in spreading false rumours about the practice, says the Epoch Times.

It has been confirmed that at least two of the people working at the table have been arrested by police for their involvement in violent attacks against Falun Gong practitioners in recent months.

Standing nearby were a few Falun Gong practitioners in peaceful protest. One of them, Hua Du, who is a resident of Flushing, explained why they felt it important to be there. “It’s our good wish that this type of thing will not continue in the community because those things are only spreading hatred and inciting some people,” said Du. “We’re very concerned.”

**********************

The price of oil has fall by more than $2 to below $108 a barrel Wednesday, as it looked as if the U.S. oil sector would recover quickly from Hurricane Gustav, and demand slowed.

Prices have fallen by more than $7 from Friday after Hurricane Gustav proved to be less devastating than feared.

Initial checks on U.S. Gulf of Mexico energy installations showed little damage, and the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), the nation’s only deepwater port, expects to resume operations in the next couple of days.

But U.S. forecasters have warned that Tropical Storm Hanna could regain hurricane strength when it approaches the U.S. East Coast later this week as more potentially deadly storms build up in the Atlantic Ocean.

**********************

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