Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for Wednesday 17th September

In this Bulletin…

- Dramatic increase in number of babies affected by contaminated Chinese milk powder;
- Massive protest in Jishou City; and
- Global stock markets fall.

But first, here’s our SOH focus on China
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On Monday the vice-director of China’s Health Ministry, Ma Xiaowei, said more than 1,200 infants had been made sick as a result of consuming contaminated milk powder.

Today that figure was quickly revised to 6,200 and is expected to rise further.

There have been three confirmed deaths linked to the Sanlu brand of milk powder, which has been found to contain melamine and cause acute kidney failure.

It has been reported that experts advised Sanlu in Aug. that their products had been tainted, but that the relevant government agency only made it public six weeks later.

There has been no convincing response to the question of whether or not the delay was due to the Olympics Games.

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Protests continue to brew in Jishou City over a billion-dollar investment scam that has left at least 200,000 people angry and penniless, an investigation by SOH and Epoch Times reporters has revealed.

According to the locals the companies, which included real estate enterprises or private financial institutions, cheated the public out of at least US$1.5 billion (10 billion Yuan).

Over 30 companies are believed to have set up dodgy investment schemes in the region. None had full financial backing from established banks, which made repayments virtually impossible.

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In Heilongjiang Province, more than 300 farmers gathered in a large-scale protest in front of Harbin City’s Provincial Committee on Sept. 11.

They accused the local government of corruption and embezzlement after they failed to deliver farm machinery to around 1,000 farmers who had invested US$7 million (50 million Yuan) in a government scheme.

The farmers had not received any responses to their previous appeals.

It is reported that the authorities sent 500 special police to break up the protest forcibly. The police beat the petitioners and arrested several of them.

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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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The President of the China Interim Government, renowned political critic Mr. Wu Fan, criticized two elected officials for their alleged role in defending pro-communist Chinese allegedly involved in a string of violent actions against Falun Gong practitioners in Flushing, New York City.

Mr. Wu told The Epoch Times that New York City Council member John Liu and New York State Assemblywoman Ellen Young were helping “a tyrant do evil.”

The U.S. government is currently conducting an investigation of the two officials in response to complaints received from some New York City residents.

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Fears that the bailout of insurance giant AIG would not be enough to dispel the gloom engulfing the financial world, led the U.S. stock market to sink today.

Finance firms fell with Goldman Sachs 15 percent lower while Morgan Stanley saw shares 25 percent down in afternoon trade.

Investors were unnerved by recent dramatic events, including Lehman Brothers’ demise, leading European indexes to end down.

The Dow Jones industrial average shed 2.1 percent having fallen more than 4 percent.

The FTSE 100 closed 2.2 percent lower while France’s Cac 40 shed 2.1 percent and Germany’s Dax shed 1.7 percent.

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

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