Asia Cast

Asia Cast for Friday 14th November

In this Bulletin…

- Chinese economic rescue package could make things worse;
- Human rights groups condemn harsh sentences of activists in Burma; and
- NTDTV launches on Canadian cable TV.

But first, here’s our SOH focus on China
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Chinese premier Wen Jiabao has admitted that the effect of the global downturn on China is “worse than expected”, according to reports.

The remark was made just days after China announced a US$586 billion package to prevent the economy slowing.

However, Dr Cheng Xiaonong, Editor-in-Chief of Contemporary China Studies magazine, commented that the root cause of China’s economic crisis is the unreasonable economic structure and substandard corporate quality.

Dr Cheng added that such a rescue plan would not solve the problem and would instead impose a huge additional burden of debt on the regime.

Even before the global financial meltdown the Chinese economy was showing signs of deterioration. The recent factory closures in Guangzhou are a continuation of this trend, not a new phenomenon.

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As a murderer trial in Shanghai enters the death sentence review phase, it has been revealed that a vital witness was been forced to receive psychiatric treatment by the authorities.

Yang Jia is accused of stabbing six policemen to death and injuring another four in July. He has had much public support during his trial as the Chinese police are seen as little more than gangsters.

His lawyer told the court that Yang was mentally unstable at the time of the attack and requested a psychiatric assessment, but this was refused.

Yang’s mother, Wang Jingmei, an important character witness disappeared after assisting police with their initial investigation and has been missing for the past four months.

The nature of her reappearance has prompted Yang’s lawyer to request a retrial, says Radio Free Asia.

The case continues to attract much interest in China.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast
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Thailand and Cambodia have agreed on steps to prevent further clashes around a disputed temple after three days of talks.

Markers are to be placed along their common boarder and troops withdrawn. The move comes after four soldiers were killed in an exchange of fire last month.

But they say obstacles remain to settling sovereignty of the land around the temple, which lies inside Cambodia.

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong described the talks as a “big practical step forward”, and his Thai counterpart Sompong Amornwiwat said they had achieved “99 per cent” of what they had hoped.

In reality, though, all they agreed was to start hammering out a deal on the border, and to scale down the armed stand-off around the ancient Preah Vihear temple.

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The harsh sentences handed down to pro-democracy activists in Burma have been condemned by human rights groups and Western governments.

Dissidents were this week given sentences of up to 65 years.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch deplored what they said were efforts to curb dissent ahead of planned elections.

Burma’s military junta has cracked down harshly on dissidents since crushing monk-led protests in mid-2007.

At least 23 activists were each sentenced to 65 years in prison on Tuesday, while a leading blogger and a poet who wrote a coded criticism of junta leader Than Shwe were among six people sentenced to up to 20 years in jail on Monday.

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The assets of 26 individuals and 17 firms tied to drug trafficking in Burma have been frozen by US authorities.

Targeted were those linked to the United Wa State Army, the most powerful drug trafficking organisation in southeast Asia, said a Treasury Department statement.

They were named “Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers” by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.

The Treasury said its “action freezes any assets the 43 designees may have under US jurisdiction and prohibits US persons from conducting transactions or dealings in the property interests of the designated individuals and entities.”

Violating the Kingpin Act could result in fines of up to ten million dollars and prison sentences of 30 years.

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New Tang Dynasty Television, a media partner of the SOH radio network, celebrated its launch on Canadian cable television this week.

The independent Chinese-language network is known for its hard-hitting coverage on China and issues related to the Chinese communist regime.

Among attendees at the event was Senator Consiglio Di Nino of Ontario, who highlighted the challenges the network went through to get on the air and criticized the quality of news coming out of China.

“The Chinese government, represented in this country by their bureaucracy, the embassy and the consulate general, are not necessarily happy to see an organization like NTDTV present a different view of the news that comes from China, or about China…because very often what we are seeing and what we are hearing about are at least filtered if not totally misrepresented.”