Asia Cast

Asia Cast for Sunday 23rd November

MI6 says Islamic terrorists may soon be able to make a 'dirty bomb'. (By markwgallagher/Flickr)

In this Bulletin…

- More melamine toxin scares in China;
- ‘Dirty bomb’ becoming a closer reality; and
- APEC says no to ‘protectionism’.

But first, here’s our SOH focus on China
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Sources in Mainland China reported on November 21st, that Beijing Officials have acknowledged for the first time more than 19,000 students had died from the earthquake that occurred in Sichuan Province in May earlier this year.

The earthquake resulted in more than 90,000 people being reported dead or missing.  Still to this day though, no official figures have been reported about the number of casualties caused by the earthquake from the Chinese Communist Party.

Most students were killed when their school buildings collapsed. According to a report from Voice of America, the Deputy Governor of Sichuan Province, Wei Hongxing has repeatedly denied that the quality of school buildings resulted on the impact of the accident.

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Sources in Mainland China reported that a few days ago, a veterinarian from the Heibei Animal Medicine company, Miss Wang Haizhen, has exposed the dark side of the industry to the outside world.

As early as 2005, it had been found that animal feeds contained melamine and even more toxic materials. After the cattle, pigs and chickens ate the feed, they would produce toxic milk and eggs and there flesh would contain these harmful toxins as well.

After the Sanlu incident came to light earlier this year, Wang decided that she would take up the cause of bringing this information to light for the world.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast

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According to the Wall Street Journal, the US automaker General motors is now considering all options to deal with its crisis, “including bankruptcy” says its board of directors.

The paper, citing people familiar with the board’s thinking, said the stance puts it in conflict with chief executive Rick Wagoner, who told lawmakers this week bankruptcy is not a viable alternative for the company.

GM, in a statement to the newspaper, said the board has discussed bankruptcy, but said the board did not view it as a “viable solution to the company’s liquidity problems.”  A GM spokesman told the paper that management is doing everything it can to avoid a bankruptcy filing.

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

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MI6 has issued a global priority warning to all security services that Islamic terrorists are now closer to obtaining material to create a “dirty bomb” to launch against Western targets.

Osama bin Laden has long made this a priority and reinforced it with regular messages from his mountain hideout in the north-west province of Pakistan.  He has repeatedly said every “true Muslim must make it his duty to assist in all ways possible to find the next powerful weapon to destroy our enemies”.

After the election of the new Pakistani president, the controversial Asif Ali Zardari, who has served a nine-year jail term on corruption charges which he has strongly denied, MI6 has expressed its fear that there will be little ability to provide strong leadership against the new wave of Islamic extremism that al-Qaeda has launched across the country.

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The Asia Pacific Leaders have pledged at the recent APEC in Peru, not to raise trade barriers in response to the global financial crisis.

In a statement issued at an APEC summit meeting, the leaders stated that protectionism would only worsen a difficult situation.

US President George W Bush urged APEC countries, which account for half the world’s economic activity, to rely on free markets to resolve the crisis.  The meeting is Mr Bush’s last scheduled foreign trip as US president. The statement was issued at the half-way point of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

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The persecution of Falun Gong continues in China. Relatives of three Falun Gong practitioners have demanded answers why the three were pushed to the brink of death in police custody.

Since the death of Mr. Dong Fengshan, Ms. Zheng Youmei and Mr. Lu Daixin, some of their relatives refuse to cremate their bodies, calling for forensic investigation into the cause of death.

Most of the practitioners were detained for handing out information about the persecution of Falun Gong. Some reported that their homes had already been ransacked.

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

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