Asia Cast

Asia Cast for Tuesday 16th September

In this Bulletin…

– Thousand year old murals found in China;
- Zimbabwe agree a power sharing deal; and,
- Gao Zhisheng’s book published in Germany

 

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

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Shanxi sources reported that after a huge dam-break of mine tailings occurred at Xinta Minging Ltd, Linfen City, 254 people have been confirmed dead so far.

The estimated death toll is around 1,000 Chinese people. The governor of Shanxi province, Meng Xuenong, took the blame and resigned from the post of governor position. Zhang Jianmin was dismissed from the vice governor of Shanxi province.

Local people believe that the government have been aware of potential safety problems for a long time. The families of the victims expressed dissatisfaction that the officials did not avoid the disaster in advance.

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Practitioners from Falun Gong have been bypassing the internet blockade in China to send greetings to their Teacher, Mr Li HongZhi.

The continuation of the spiritual practice has demonstrated the potency of the Falun Gong belief system under even greater pressures than that which helped establish the 2000 year old religion of Christianity.

The repression of Falun Gong has been rendering peoples views of the Communist regime in China, throughout the world.

In a recent Asian Human Rights meeting in the US capital, the member for the House of Representatives, Chris Smith, remarked Falun Gong has become “an obsession with the Chinese government”. Instead of indicating strength, he said it showed “a manifestation of weakness on the part of the government to resort to such brutish and thuggish methods …”

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

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According to Chinese media, in March 2008, some consumers had already reported a problem with Sanlu tainted milk powder to China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

New Zealand’s Fonterra Farmer’s Cooperative, a joint venture partner holding 43 percent of the stock in Sanlu Group, found out about the contamination and reported to the group’s board on August 2—six days before the Olympic Opening Ceremony—and requested more than once that Sanlu immediately recall the contaminated formula, but were denied by local Chinese authorities.

“We, together with Sanlu, have done everything that we possibly could to get the product off the shelf,” Fonterra chief executive Andrew Ferrier stated, as reported by the AFP.

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Workers recently discovered a relic consisting of ancient Tibetan Buddhist stone inscriptions, a mural, and Tibetan writing in Qilian County, a Tibetan Autonomous Region in Qinghai province, China.

After authentication, the experts say a senior Tibetan Buddhist monk who was propagating Buddhism 1,300 years ago created the relic.

The three Buddha statues appear calm and at ease, each with a fazhuang or religious banner hanging above their heads, and Tibetan writing engraved below. The set is engraved on a polished rock wall that is three meters high.

Professor Zhou Ta of Lanzhou University, indicated that the relic was made in the ninth century AD. The writing is in an old Tibetan font used in the Tufan period of the ancient Tibetan Empire. The inscription says, “Long live the Tibetan Emperor and all beings”.

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

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Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe signed a power-sharing agreement with opposition rival Morgan Tsvangirai on Monday, giving up some of his powers for the first time in nearly three decades of iron rule.

The deal followed weeks of tense negotiations to end a deep political and economic crisis compounded by the veteran leader’s unopposed re-election in a widely condemned vote in June. Under the agreement, Tsvangirai will become prime minister.

“This agreement sees the return of hope to all our lives,” Tsvangirai said after the signing ceremony.

Zimbabweans hope the agreement will be a first step in helping to rescue the once prosperous nation from economic collapse. Inflation has rocketed to over 11 million percent and millions have fled to neighbouring southern African countries.

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At the ceremony introducing Gao Zhisheng’s book, China’s Hope, it was almost as if the Chinese attorney were present himself.

In a video made in Beijing in 2007, Gao openly discussed his life experiences, related the demeaning treatment he had received at the hands of the Chinese State Security agents, and offered his conclusions. This video was made two months prior to his kidnapping by Communist agents.

On Sept. 12, 2007, he wrote an open letter to members of the U.S. Congress, detailing the capital crimes committed by members of the communist regime, particularly the ruthless persecution of Falun Gong’s belief system.

He was arrested ten days later, taken to an undisclosed location, and his whereabouts are still unknown.

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