Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for Saturday 13th September

In this Bulletin…

- Chinese communist regime fails to stamp out torture;
- Bolivian talks to end violence; and
- Deadly head-on train collision near Los Angeles

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

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AIDS has topped the list of killer infectious diseases in China for three consecutive months, according to the latest report on epidemic disease published by the Chinese Ministry of Health.

The Infections Disease Epidemic Communiqué released for the month of August, showed that there were 363,877 cases of Type A and B infectious disease, and 1014 deaths. Of these AIDS accounted for 1150 cases and 400 counts of deaths. Type A infectious diseases according to China’s Infectious Disease Prevention law are the plague and cholera, while type B includes 25 different disease like AIDS, tuberculosis and anthrax.

Pathology expert Mr. Hu Zongyi from United States National Institute of Health says that the actual number of AIDS cases in China is likely to be much higher than that disclosed by official data.

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Rights group, Human Rights in China has said in a report that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has not made sufficient efforts to put an end to torture. The Report lists evidence showing that Chinese police, national security personnel as well as prison officials still extort confessions by torture and uses torture as a political oppression tool.

Representative of Human Rights in China, Tang Jingchang said in the report that criminal suspects as well as people defending the rights for others, including lawyers, environmentalist and petitioners who are brave enough to stand up to injustices have all become victims of torture.

The report points out that while Chinese State institutions have regulated against extracting confessions through torture, these rules are yet to be properly implemented to be effective in reality.

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Chinese police have questioned 78 people in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, over contaminated baby milk powder formula that has caused at least 1 infant death and at least 80 cases of kidney related illnesses.

Investigations have discovered the chemical Melamine, which causes kidney failure when ingested, in the Sanlu brand milk powder. Sanlu’s head of quality control Su Changsen denies the chemical was added during production and blames milk suppliers for adding Melamine to increase the protein content of milk. Some experts have queried this claim, however, as melamine – a solid chemical, is only slightly soluble in water and is difficult to be added to milk without being detected.

Sanlu Group also exports milk products and there are concerns that contaminated products have been exported. The World Health Organization has stepped in stating that it is monitoring the situation in China and implications for other countries.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast
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With a September 15 deadline for a troop pullout looming, Russian troops have withdrawn from around the Georgian Black Sea port of Poti on Saturday the 13th. The troop pullout is in accordance with the first phase of an agreement which will also see EU monitors move in. The port in Poti provides services critical to the agricultural and energy resource segments of Georgia’s economy.

Since last month’s violence in the breakaway region of South Ossetia, Russian troops have held positions to maintain “security zones” in Georgian territory.

While Russia has agreed to recall troops from the “security zones” in Georgia, it has declined to draw down troop numbers in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

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On Saturday, talks have been held in Bolivia between the government and opposition in an attempt to calm nationwide violence. The talks come just hours after President Evo Morales declared martial law in the Pando region where violence left 15 people dead.

Proposed socialist reforms are behind the violence with the opposition and anti-government protestors calling for a greater share of profits from energy resources.

Food and fuel shortages have occurred in eastern Bolivia where anti-government protesters have been blocking roads since earlier in the week.

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10 people have died and 100 more were injured in a head-on collision between a freight train and a commuter train west of Los Angeles around 4.30pm PDT (pacific daylight savings time) on Friday. The death toll is expected to increase and rescue work has continued into the night.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has called a city-wide “tactical alert” to enable rescue workers to be drawn from across the metropolis.

It remains unclear why the two trains were travelling in the opposite directions on the same track. Spokespersons from Metrolink, an LA railway operator, have stated that the causes of the crash will be investigated. Meanwhile police are concentrating efforts on identifying the deceased and injured.

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