Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for Thursday 11th September

In this Bulletin…

-Falun Gong practitioners illegally detained in Sichuan earthquake stricken prisons;
-Death toll rises after a rock and mudslide in Northern China; and
- A series of major earthquake strike around the world.

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

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In Northern China, the death toll has risen to 128 after a mud and rock slide on Monday, the state media reported on Wednesday. However local fear that over 1,000 people might have died in the sludge of mud and rock which covered a market and flattened two villages.

Rescue work efforts are continuing to locate people who remain trapped, according to the state media which also claimed that the mud slide was due to torrential rain at the unlicensed Tashan Mine, which operated illegally in Xiangfen, a county in China’s Shanxi Province.

These claims were refuted by locals who said there was no torrential rain in the area recently, and the Epoch Times reports that local weather statistics showed that there was only 15 mm of rainfall between Sunday and Monday, and there was no rainfall for the previous 9 days.

Locals also said that the mine where the tailing dam collapsed has not operated for 20 years, but had accumulated a large amount of water over the years.

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Officials have held a series of press conferences to dispel rumours that a major earthquake might happen in mid-September in the island province of Hainan.

According to source in China, since the beginning of the year, a number of strange phenomenon have occurred in Hainan, including rising well water levels, bubbling of shrimp breeding ponds, crabs climbing tress and well water heating up. These along with minor earthquakes in Guangdong and Shenzhen have prompted rumours amongst locals that a major earthquake will happen in mid-September triggering a tsunami.

Hainan’s Deputy Governor and seismologist experts have attempted to dispel the rumours, warning that anyone spreading the rumours will face severe punishment. Some locals however seemed to have made up their minds with 60% living in rental properties leaving the island to return to the mainland.

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According to sources in China, many prisoners had died in Guangyuan prison during the earthquake that hit Wenchuan on May 12 and the cells of the prison have been in a state of disrepair since then, but nearly 30 Falun Gong practitioners have been suffering persecution there.

Falun Gong practitioners are subjected to forcible brainwashing and reformation in the prison, where the police frequently carry out vicious, violent attacks by hitting and using torture instruments. Falun Gong practitioners are forced to work non-stop as part of the slave labour workforce in the prison’s brick factory and cement plants.

The news source expressed that the kinds of persecution carried out in Guangyuan prison form criminal evidence and adds further examples to the Chinese communist regime’s clear disregard for human life.

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You’re listening to Asia Cast on the SOH Radio Network
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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast
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South Korea’s president convened an emergency meeting of his cabinet to prepare for possible changes in North Korea after speculation its leader Kim Jong-il had suffered a stroke, an official said on Thursday.

Kim, 66, has led communist North Korea for 14 years under which the reclusive country has seen it economy shrink, its ballistic missile arsenal swell and U.N. sanctions imposed due to its nuclear program and first atomic test two years ago.

U.S. and South Korean intelligence officials said earlier that Kim had suffered a stroke. The South’s intelligence said Kim was recovering well, while North Korean officials reportedly said there was nothing wrong with their leader.

The statement said the South had spotted no unusual troop movements in the North but President Lee Myung-bak had asked his government to step up readiness plans for possible contingencies.

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A recent spate of earthquakes above magnitude 6.0 have occurred around the world with two powerful quakes occurring around the same time in Japan and Indonesia.

Indonesian authority issued a tsunami warning after a magnitude 7.6 quake hit the town of Ternate but this was shortly called off. The 7.2 Japanese quake struck off the main Island, Hokkaido and there are no reports of damage or casualties from either quake.

12 hours earlier, an earthquake in southern Iran killed at least 7 people, and there has been no reports of casualties or major damage from a magnitude 6 that rocked northern Chile.

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A South Korean bulk carrier off Somalia’s coast was hijacked by pirates on Wednesday who failed in a separate attempt to seize a Greek ship, a maritime official said.

The surge in attacks has prompted the U.S. Naval Central Command to establish a security corridor patrolled by an international coalition of warships.

Noel Choong of the piracy watchdog International Maritime Bureau said the bureau was informed that the South Korean ship, with 21 crew members aboard, was seized in the Gulf of Aden, but he could not provide details.

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

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