AsiaCast

Asia Cast for Wednesday 15th October

In this Bulletin…

- China suffers amid global financial crisis;
- Vietnamese journalist jailed for uncovering government corruption; and
- New York officials condemn hate crimes directed at Falun Gong practitioners.

But first, here’s our SOH focus on China
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China’s largest Taiwan-funded steel factory has been declared bankrupt without any forewarning. The Kehong Company, which is located in Changshu City, Jiangsu Province, had outstanding debts of up to 5.2 billion Yuan (US$761 million)

There are worries that the collapse of this major enterprise could lead to a kind of domino effect given the present financial climate. Businessmen and other enterprises in Taiwan are paying close attention as to how the situation develops, according to Taiwan’s Economic Daily.

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As the current global financial crisis continues to take grip, foreign investors in the Chinese property market are selling-up and pulling their cash out. Chinese developers are starting to panic as the market, which has previously benefited from foreign investment, dries up.

For a long time China’s “Golden week”, a long holiday celebrating National Day, has been synonymous with a boom in the housing market. However, despite high expectations for this year’s holiday by Chinese real estate developers, it appears that most are having to sell at cut-down prices.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast
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A Vietnamese journalist who reported on a major corruption case in the country’s ministry of transport has been sentenced to two years in jail.

Nguyen Viet Chien, 56, was found guilty of, “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state.”

Chien and another journalist vigorously pursued the story, which claimed several high-level scalps, but their reportage was later condemned by authorities as inaccurate and harmful.

Chien pleaded not guilty, insisting that, “The information used in my press articles was provided by police officials.”

The case has attracted criticism from abroad, with Reporters Without Borders saying, “The outcome of this trial is a terrible step backwards for investigative journalism in Vietnam.”

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A clash between Cambodian and Thai soldiers along a disputed section of their border has left two Cambodians dead.

Thailand has urged its nationals to leave Cambodia after this latest incident near to the ancient Preah Vihear temple.

Tension has been high since July, when hundreds of soldiers on both sides faced off metres apart.

Both sides have said they want to find a peaceful solution and will hold talks to discuss the conflict.

Thailand and Cambodia both claim they own the area around the temple, which recently became a Unesco World Heritage site.

Officials from both countries have claimed the other side fired first.

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Local officials in New York have spoken out against recent hate crimes in the city’s Flushing area, where Falun Gong practitioners have been verbally and physically abused, says the Epoch Times.

The officials, including City Councilman and mayoral candidate Tony Avella, spoke at a forum held to educate the American public about the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) activity on American soil.

Falun Gong was banned by the Chinese communist regime in 1999 because the regime saw the peaceful spiritual practice as an ideological threat.

Since May 17, Chinese Consul General Keyu Peng of New York encouraged mobs of Chinese to verbally and physically attack local adherents of the peaceful spiritual practice Falun Gong. Some local Chinese report having been offered money to do so.

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The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) publicly urged Presidential candidates Barrack Obama and John McCain to speak openly about immigration reform, reports the Epoch Times.

“We’ve had two Presidential debates and a Vice Presidential debate, and there hasn’t been a single word spoken about immigration reform,” said Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the NYIC.

“400,000 immigrants live on long Island, it is the largest suburban immigrant community in the US” said Patrick Young, the program director for the Central American Refugee Center.

“We know from polling that immigration is one of the top five issues in the country,” Young stated, “Whoever is President will have to address that issue.”

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